Sebum is part of the oil that is found on the surface of the skin. Other ingredients of the oil on the skin are- sweat, lipids and environmental dirt. It is sebum, which contributes a lot to our body odor. Sebum itself is odorless but its bacterial disintegration produces odor. That is why if you keep your skin clean of bacteria with anti bacterial soaps regularly, you can reduce body odor to a great extent. Sebum reaches hair follicles



and coats the hair and also reaches the skin through the hair follicles. Many people experience oily hair if hair is left unwashed for few days. That happens because of sebum. The Latin meaning of sebum is fat.

How sebum is produced- sebum is produced by sebaceous glands. These glands are found on most parts of the body. Except few, most sebaceous glands open into a hair follicle. These are the sites of acne formation.

What does sebum do- sebum protects skin from bacterial infection. Sebum also reduces the natural water loss of body from the skin. Increased sebum production can cause acne.

Sebum production- sebum production decreases with age. Particularly in women it reduces after menopause. Adult females produce less sebum than men. Sebum production may experience jump at the time of puberty in men.

There are some common theories about sebum. Some people believe that drying excess sebum with blotting oils will reduce sebum production. Some believe that if you use products supposed to control oil production that will increase sebum production. Both are wrong conclusions. Drying excess oil will only remove surface oil. And using oil control products will not increase sebum production. Sebum is required to protect our skin, but increased production of sebum leads to oily skin and frequent acne flare-ups.

Acne is caused because of sebum. If sebum were not there, acne would not be there. Can i block sebum like we do with sweat? If I can do that, I will never get acne. How do I block sebum? Let me answer.

Sebum is the oil rich in lipids. Sebum is produced by sebaceous glands that are attached to hair follicles. Except for places such as lips etc, we have hair all over our body. And so we have the glands that produce sebum all over our body.

What does sebum do?

Sebum is acidic oil. It forms an acidic layer over the skin. This layer is called acid mantle. This acid mantle stops all the bacteria that want to invade the skin. It kills them. This acid mantle also protects the top layer of the skin made of dead cells and keeps the moisture inside the skin. Otherwise the moisture will evaporate fast.

Acne and sebum- the connection

When we produce more sebum, we get oily skin. Similarly when our glands produce more sebum and because of block on the glands the sebum gets blocked in the glands, we get acne. Why do the glands get blocked? That has a connection with hormones. Unless the glands are blocked, you will not get acne. The sebum will flow out. To know more about acne and sebum, please click here- http://www.doctorgoodskin.com/ds/acne/skincare.php

Sebum- can we block it?

Till now nothing has been found to block the sebum production. With aging it reduces , but in young age, you can not block it with any method. You can remove the excess from your skin with oil absorbent cosmetics and skin care products. To think of stopping sebum is not good, because sebum is a very good friend of our skin. What we need to do is to stop acne with other methods so that the glands don't get blocked.

This article is only for informative purposes. This article is not intended to be a medical advise and it is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult your doctor for your medical concerns. Please follow any tip given in this article only after consulting your doctor. The author is not liable for any outcome or damage resulting from information obtained from this article.