{"id":19800,"date":"2022-11-16T14:16:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T22:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/?p=19800"},"modified":"2022-11-30T11:16:53","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T19:16:53","slug":"fungal-acne-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/fungal-acne-treatment","title":{"rendered":"What Is Fungal Acne\u2014and How Do You Treat It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fungal acne is having a moment on social media; the sheer number of TikTok videos dedicated to the subject, much of them revolving around dandruff shampoo as a treatment, is proof positive. But here’s the thing: the buzzed-about condition isn’t a type of acne at all. “The term ‘fungal acne’ is a misnomer. It’s actually folliculitis, an infection of the hair follicles caused by yeast that manifests as bumps that resemble acne,” says New York City board-certified dermatologist Dr. Joshua Zeichner<\/a>. While it can be tricky to diagnose, the good news is that it’s fairly easy to treat—so long as you take the right approach. Spoiler alert: traditional acne treatments<\/a>, such as Accutane<\/a>, are not the way to go. Here’s everything you need to know about fungal “acne” (we’ll keep referring to it as such, just to keep things easy).<\/p>

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What is fungal acne?<\/h2>

The Internet may be throwing around the term fungal acne<\/em>, but Dr. Robyn Gmyrek<\/a>, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City, underscores the fact that dermatologists refer to it as fungal folliculitis (technical term: pityrosporum folliculitis). Folliculitis refers to any type of infection of the hair follicle, and, in this case, the infection is caused by a yeast (a type of fungus).  Essentially, it’s a yeast infection on your skin. Sure, there’s a certain ick factor here, but keep in mind that there’s yeast present on everyone’s skin—more specifically, a ubiquitous variety known as malassezia, usually found in the oil glands because it flourishes on sebum, says Dr. Gmyrek. Normal levels of malassezia are not problematic in the least, “but when there’s an overgrowth, it elicits an immune response that leads to inflammation and the formation of acne-like papules and pustules,” she explains.<\/p>

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A post shared by GALINA ☁️ | SKIN POSITIVITY (@healmyskinfromwithin)<\/a><\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>