How do doctors differentiate between moderate and severe acne? (photo)

Hi,

The severity grading of acne is generally based on the number of inflammatory lesions as well as the nature/size of the inflamed lesions.

Moderate acne is generally defined as having about 10-20 small inflamed lesions.

Severe acne is generally defined as having multiple larger inflamed nodules and cysts. Larger inflamed lesions are more likely to cause scars.

The key purpose of acne severity grading is really to guide the doctor in prescribing the appropriate treatment for the patient and to track treatment progress.

From the photo, your acne is considered severe. You should seek effective medical treatment early to control the inflammation and reduce scarring.

Hope this helps!

Hi there,

Grading scales are used to grade the severity of acne and these can be in the form of pictorial scales, location of acne, number of acne lesions and type of acne lesions.

Using a combination of both and from your photo, the entire area is affected with the addition of nodules and cysts. This does put you in the severe category and should seek treatment asap so as to help prevent subsequent scarring as mentioned by Dr Chin.

Hope that helps.

All the best!