Many of you would have suffered from that annoying acne problem. The pain and irritation it causes is something that might gives you sleepless nights, and stop you from stepping out. Moreover, an acne breakout is enough to ruin your looks, and leave your skin damaged. This damage caused due to the scars left behind after the acne clears off, might take even longer to cure. So starting from that tiny pimple to the dark brown spot on your skin, it goes through various stages. While curing it at initial stages is always easier, ignorance might lead to a severe acne breakout. To cure it on time and recognize the problem in its initial stages, here are the details of various stages of acne. Different Stages Stage #0 Well, you might be confused with this, right? Stage zero means there are extremely minor signs of acne, which you really don't need to worry about. This includes occasional appearance of tiny zits. You can ignore them until you notice that zits are growing in size or spreading around. These might suddenly appear, and vanish within a day or two. You can take steam, and try popping zits to get clear skin. #1 This is where acne is in its initial stage. It starts with whiteheads and blackheads. You can notice a few white spots on your face, especially on the tip of your nose, corners of the nose, and below your lower lip. Basically this happens when your hair follicles get blocked due to dirt, and dead cells. This leads to collection of sebum in the follicles leading to white heads. These do not cause inflammation, and would be noticed only after a close look at your face, especially in these areas. You might ignore this. A few days pass and you find some black spots on the same areas. The acne is developing, and you have got blackheads which might be noticeable, especially those on the nose tip. You can take steam and clean the whiteheads and blackheads with a sterilized black head remover tool. Acne prevention and control at this stage is much easier. Well, if you ignore, there are many chances that the acne develops further. #2 You would observe very mild inflammation on a few spots of skin. This will also be accompanied with some papules. These are the skin lesions that are slightly raised, small in size and solid. This is also known to be amongst the mild stages, as you can treat it with the best over-the-counter acne treatment. Topical creams containing salicylic acid are known to be effective in controlling acne at this stage. #3 In this stage of acne, you can notice frequent breakout of papules. Also the papules that already present on your skin will start developing further, and look inflamed. Getting papule treatment by consulting a dermatologist will help. #4 Now the acne has developed into pustules. You can see a number of pustules developing on your skin. These are basically filled with pus, look inflamed, and have white tips. Remember, after the four stages, it is completely developed, and you need to seek immediate medical attention. #5 While you ignore the above stages, or if this skin problem is not under control, it will enter this severe stage. Nodules and cysts start appearing on your skin at this stage. The pustules further develop into cysts on face which contains pus, dead skin cells, white blood cells, bacteria, and sebum; which can lead to scars after bursting. A nodule is also an inflamed lesion, but extends much deeper into your skin and causes pain. Being developed deep inside your skin, it causes scarring. #6 At this stage you will experience bursting of cysts and nodules filled with pus. You might also see reddened skin. Blood might also appear while the cysts and nodules burst. This stage can lead to infection, and increase in acne breakouts. #7 In this stage you will notice continuous bursting of cysts and nodules. The medication will help clear off all the nodules and cystic acne containing pus. Remember that you must follow the treatment prescribed, and precautions mentioned by the dermatologist for acne control, and further acne breakouts. #8 This is one of the healing stages where you can see scars and spots in place of acne. Well, you need special treatment for scar removal as well to avoid permanent scarring. Remember that once the problem enters severe stages of acne, the treatment is very difficult. Consulting a dermatologist on time, and getting proper treatment depending upon the acne causes is the best solution to control acne. Do not ignore this problem, and start treating it in the initial stages to have a plain and problem-free skin.