Most people think acne or pimples to be just part of any teenager’s life. It’s just a stage of life, most parents say. It’s there on your face because you’re young and you have overactive oil glands that cause them. In due time, your oil glands won’t be very active and your acne would heal naturally.
Well, we can only wish this is true. Because acne is a skin condition that must be taken seriously. Consider this: Pimples can last for months. Non-inflammatory acne (whiteheads and blackheads) can last for a long time if left untreated. Inflammatory acne (papules, pustules, cysts, nodules) usually last between four days and two weeks. However, if you pick or pop it, it will last even longer and be more likely to leave a mark or scar.
What Causes Acne? The hair follicles, or pores, in your skin contain sebaceous glands or oil glands. These glands make sebum, which is an oil that lubricates your hair and skin. Most of the time, the sebaceous glands make the right amount of sebum. As the body begins to mature and develop, though, hormones stimulate the sebaceous glands to make more sebum.
Pores become clogged if there is too much sebum and too many dead skin cells. Bacteria (especially one called Propionibacterium acnes) can then get trapped inside the pores and multiply. This causes swelling and redness — the start of acne.
If a pore gets clogged up and closes but bulges out from the skin, you're left with a whitehead. If a pore gets clogged up but stays open, the top surface can darken and you're left with a blackhead. Sometimes the wall of the pore opens, allowing sebum, bacteria, and dead skin cells to make their way under the skin — and you're left with a small, red bump called a pimple (sometimes pimples have a pus-filled top from the body's reaction to the bacterial infection).
Clogged pores that open up very deep in the skin can causenodules, which are infected lumps or cysts that are bigger than pimples and can be painful. Occasionally, large cysts that seem like acne may be boils caused by a staph infection.
I had bad acne in my early 20s during the most stressful time of my life. I devoted one year teaching the juniors and sophomores of a technical school after college. Since it was a pioneering school in Quezon City at that time, I, along with newly grads, accepted the challenge for overloaded load of teaching from 7am to 9pm, Monday to Saturday. It was hard but I eventually love the job – only to be told later that I won’t be given teaching load on the second year. Well, that caused the stress – my body had been used to work hard – then suddenly I was jobless and I have no income to support my family. Aside from acne, I suffered from dysmenorrhea and other sorts of body pain until I learn to accept my ‘fate,’ relax, enjoy life and eventually found my journalism career which I enjoy to this day.
People plagued with acne and pimple breakouts are a lot luckier these days. Information about acne, over the counter meds and skin products are readily available. Moreover, dermatologists and skin clinics abound in the metro. Piel Acne and Skin Center, conveniently located at the second floor of Alphaland Makati Place, for one, specializes in severe cases of acne treatments and undertakes the highest standards of acne treatment available in the Philippines today. Piel’s first branch is in New York City, USA, where it has been operating successfully for years. Owner Sylvia Cancio brought Piel in the country to share her expertise and knowledge among her fellow Filipinos.
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| Sylvia Cancio and Dr. Nonoy Zuniga pose with the highly-trained aestheticians at Piel Acne and Skin Center |
Cancio is a Filipino New York-Licensed Esthetician who also owns and runs the very first Professional Aesthetic School in the country, the La Manille School of Esthetics and Wellness in Makati. La Manille is proud to be the first and only ITEC-Accredited SkinCare School (Aesthetics School) in the Philippines affiliated with the International Therapy Examination Council (ITEC). ITEC is the largest multi-disciplinary international examination board, based in London that issues Beauty Specialist (Esthetician) Diploma recognized and respected by employers in 39 member countries worldwide. La Manille offers the most comprehensive 300-hour Certificate Course. After the course, one gets a certificate which could entitle her or him for immediate employment (local or international). With this certificate, he may also establish his own business like Facial Center (Skincare Center), SPA or Salon.
Nonoy Zuniga, the country’s singing doctor, is one of the consultants at Piel. He also does part-time lectures at La Manille. And he was with us during the interview with a select group of media representatives.
Piel’s staff are trained from Ms. Cancio’s school and they treat acne in a holistic manner. “We have to establish gynecological causes of acne among our female patients. We suggest them to see their OB-Gyne for a workup. If findings point out to hormonal cause, this underlying cause is corrected. Patients are also advised to change their lifestyle with regards to their diet and sleeping patterns," Cancio said.
At Piel’s they make sure that they give each client a professional skin analysis before undergoing any procedure or treatment. "This is an SOP in our clinic as we'd like to give our clients personalized and tailor-made treatments and services based on their skin needs," she said.
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| The interior look of Piel clinic |
Aside from acne treatment, Piel (or ‘Skin’ in Spanish) also got rejuvenating, non-invasive cosmetic treatments as handled by highly-trained aesthetic and licensed professionals in a safe and calming environment. The clinic offers an extensive range of skin care treatments for complexion rejuvenation, skin tightening such as Eye and Lip Lift, European Facial, Enzyme Peel as well as Diamond Peel, Skin Dermabrasion, Warts removal, among many others. The skin care center features state-of-the-art machines that targets your skin problems.
With the proliferation of various skin clinics today, we asked Cancio how to distinguish a dermatologist from skin aesthetician. According to her, dermatologists are doctors by professions who can better address concerns on all skin care problems from skin cancer, moles and other skin growths, eczema, psoriasis to rashes. Dermatologists are trained to perform fillers, injections, and laser treatments.
“But when it comes to skin care per se, it’s a whole lot better to see a professional aesthetician. Why? Because a professional aesthetician takes care of procedures such as microdermabrasion, extraction, pore cleansing, exfoliating treatments, radiofrequency procedures, skin irregularities treatment among others. He does a skin analysis and cleansing through non-invasive procedures and non-prescription products. He is not a doctor but he attended a formal training to become a medical aesthetician,” Cancio explained.
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