The Evil Rule of Adult Acne
Many people associate acne with the teenage years, and this condition can be a big problem for a lot of people during puberty. However, passing through adolescence without so much as a pimple certainly does not mean that you have conclusively escaped the evil clutches of acne. You could find acne appearing well into your twenties or thirties, and it may not be quite so easy to get an effective adult acne treatment at this age. Getting acne as an adult can be very stressful and traumatic. These are the years when you are developing your career, forming relationships, enjoying an active social life and generally having fun. However, the appearance of acne can really turn this around, robbing you of self-confidence and often making life seem difficult and unfair.
Adult Female Acne
Aging is turning out to be a complete surprise in so many ways, especially when it comes to my skin. As a teenager, I was blessed with fairly clear skin. Now that I’m forty something, I expect to see those ubiquitous lines and wrinkles. But here’s the biggest surprise now I have blemishes! Where’d they come from?
I’ve never been the type of person who takes the challenge lying down, so I began to investigate. I learned, after only a bit of research, that post-adolescent acne is a common problem for both men and women. Males continue to get breakouts, mostly hormonal in origin. Career-related stress a common culprit as well. Improper shaving habits can also bring out those stubborn “zits.” To use a tip from “Queer Eye,” men should shave with the grain to avoid irritation.
Women’s acne is also triggered by stress and hormone levels. Women like me, who had clear skin as teens, may find themselves faced with acne for the first time later in life. I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but my middle age breakouts seem to be more stubborn. Tough to understand, until you think about caring for aging skin. Cell turnover slows down, just like everything else, it seems. So it makes sense that mature skin means pores more likely to become clogged. Once I thought about it, it made perfect sense. I had always heard that chocolate and fatty or acidic foods cause pimples. A total myth, I found out. Do you know anyone who has no stress in her life? Didn’t think so. Stress too can aggravate your skin. How? Apparently, hormones called androgens produce a sticky oil in hair follicles, that just sits there waiting to erupt for weeks. Combine that with all the hormonal chaos of menopause, and it’s no wonder that middle aged women suffer breakouts. Brace yourself for the warm weather too since hot humid days provide a great breeding ground for pimples.
When does acne stop? Many teen acne sufferers enjoy relief with adulthood. But, for those who develop adult acne, blemishes don’t begin to surface until they are in their 20s, 30s or even 40s.
Some of the effects of acne can last a lifetime. Don’t pick! Acne scarring is another scourge of aging. Modern science is perpetually searching for answers to clearing skin and slowing the aging process. I have to believe that good basic skin care keeping the canvas clean is the best answer.
Causes and Facts of Adult Acne
I remember standing in front of the bathroom mirror one night, performing my usual anti aging skin care ritual. Cleanser, toner, serums, moisturizer the typical routine. While brushing my teeth, I suddenly felt an ever so slight stinging sensation at one corner of my mouth. Nothing very unpleasant. I ignored it at the time.
What a rude awakening the next morning! The pinpoint stinging had grown into a nickel sized ache. Stumbling into the bathroom, I turned on the light and stared into the mirror at one of the biggest, ugliest, white headed monstrosities I had ever seen. A mega zit. Hold on a hot minute. I was already experiencing the first mood swings and “private summers” of menopause. Never in my wildest dreams, had I ever thought to regress to the awful 14-year-old day when my first serious acne breakout threatened to ruin my school picture.
Quick squeeze it, said my impulse. My hands rose to my face, and I stopped myself just in time. I surely didn’t need any more marks of time’s passage.
Only teenagers get pimples, right? Well, no acne flare ups can continue to plague us into adulthood and even into middle age. A majority of adult acne sufferers are female. As if we don’t have anything else to obsess about! Not a mere trial of coming of age, acne breakouts can keep even the hardiest souls behind closed doors, whether they’re 15 or 50. If you “face up” to the problem you recognize that acne isn’t attractive or welcome to anyone and there are many solutions and treatments out there. Just jump online or consult a physician.
Isn’t it interesting that those zits can appear at those two most vulnerable times of a woman’s life on the threshold of puberty, and at the gate of menopause? Arm yourself with knowledge it’s everywhere. Jump off the hormonal roller-coaster long enough to treat the problem wisely. You can stay ahead of it and move blemish free through the prime of your life.
Adult Acne Breakouts
Acne isn’t just a problem for teenagers. Adult acne is becoming far more prevalent than many would like to think. No longer is acne viewed as merely a part of adolescence, pimples can follow us into adulthood and even into middle age.
For years, many people of the adult persuasion took a cavalier attitude towards acne, considering it a minor annoyance confined to young people. Adults today, however, are making the unwelcome discovery that skin diseases can actually worsen as we age and can actually speed up the aging process of the skin. We’re talking life long effects, decades of breakouts and sometimes permanent scarring.
Unless acne breakouts are treated quickly, they can leave behind scars, uneven texture, and dark marks. Dig a bit further into the biochemistry of acne, especially cystic acne. Fighting off this skin disease can actually deplete those antioxidants we’ve all been hearing so much about in the media. Those vitamin and mineral compounds that fight the signs of aging. Once in a while breakouts can lead to unevenness of the skin’s surface, and earlier wrinkling. The translucent skin of youth seems to thicken and dull.
Your acne medication should go right to the source of the problem. It should block breakouts from rising to the surface, clear out the pollutants, debris, and oils that clog pores, and help the active blemishes heal with minimal scarring. It’s always best to consult a dermatologist to decide the best course of action. Or, at least educate yourself by using the many online resources available. Acne medication can help, but you’ll also need to supplement those antioxidants to create and maintain the clear skin you deserve.
Adult Acne Rosacea Causes
Just when you thought you’d really survived puberty. Later in life, acne can still pose a major challenge. Acne rosacea is commonly called adult acne. The thick red skin on the nose and cheeks, pus-filled blisters, small red bumps and blood vessels visible on the skin surface. There’s really no single cause of adult acne. Possible causes run the gamut from blocked hair follicles, over-productive oil glands, bacteria and pollutants accumulating on the skin, too many culprits we’re just beginning to discover. Stress, hot spicy foods and alcohol consumption can also trigger the rosacea reaction in adults.
Acne rosacea is capricious. It can go into remission and then rear its ugly head suddenly, usually at the worst possible times. Physicians frequently prescribe antibiotics and topical medications to lessen the intensity of the flare-ups. Topical medications containing salicylic acid or sulfur can help to unblock clogged hair follicles and stop the burning sensation that acne brings. Benzyl peroxide kills bacteria and slows down overstimulated oil glands.
Retin-A has also gained an impressive reputation as a treatment. By drying up the blemishes and preventing new pimples from forming, it can make dealing with the condition a bit easier. Antibiotic creams or lotions have also been found to be very effective treatments.
Unfortunately, these preparations can also produce extremely dry skin and peeling which only exacerbate the visible effects of aging, and make the victim uncomfortable. Retin-A and many other forms of retinol can also cause added problems if you spend too much time in the sun. Either way with the rosacea or with its treatments the skin experiences heightened sensitivity to the environment.
Another derivative of Vitamin A isotretinoin can sometimes eliminate acne outbreaks for extended periods, even years. Its drawbacks, however, may make you think twice. Muscle pain, headache, and itching may result, and pregnant woman should be concerned about possible birth defects. Serious cases of adult acne are sometimes treated with steroids either taken orally or injected directly into pimples (ouch!).
Estrogen slows skin oil production, making it a possible treatment. But estrogen has a downside, including the formation of blood clots, and possible links to cancer formation. Needless to say, it is rarely used.
Your physician or dermatologist will become your best friend and will steer you towards the best treatment for your particular situation.
Natural Adult Acne Cure, Treatment, and Solution
When you say the word “acne,” most people will think of pimples on the face or neck, teenage angst, and “that time of the month.” But that’s not the end of the story since many adults are also plagued by body acne. The condition targets the chest, back, and buttocks of both teenagers and adults. Blemishes and cysts on the body share many of the same causes as facial acne breakouts. Fluctuating hormones are common culprits.
However, body acne has other cases that it doesn’t share with the facial variety. Particularly among adults, perspiration and tight-fitting clothing are two of the most widespread causes. In our body-conscious world of health clubs, gyms and Spandex athletic clothing, it makes sense that many physically active men and women suffer from body acne.
Much so-called athletic clothing simply doesn’t “breathe.” Perspiration gets trapped against the skin and mixes with surface oils. The resulting chemical barrier can clog pores and cause blemishes. Adult body acne comes in many varieties we’re all familiar with blackheads and whiteheads. But, cystic body acne is all too common as well, producing more permanent blemishes and eventual scarring, not to mention a great deal of pain and embarrassment. If you know anything about skin care, it would make sense that treatments for body acne are similar to those for facial acne. Blemishes on the back and buttocks may be tougher to reach in order to apply medication, making breakouts more difficult to treat. Body skin is also thicker than facial skin, so body blemishes may tend to run deeper. And, of course, constant rubbing of clothing can irritate any lesions, making them itchy and leading to scratching. Well, you get the picture.
Salicylic acid can be your best friend when you’re looking to subdue those body acne breakouts. Many popular body cleansers contain salicylic acid. To keep that irritating skin barrier from forming, you should take care to wash off perspiration quickly to prevent it from reacting with body oils. Alpha-hydroxy acids can help exfoliate the skin and remove cellular debris that can clog pores anywhere on the face or body. Its anti-aging effects are an added bonus. For direct treatment of the actual blemishes, it’s always a good idea to spot-treat them with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide at night.
Adult Acne Treatment
If you have developed acne as an adult, the chances are you have tried just about every acne treatment going in order to get rid of this condition. However, the harsh chemicals used in some acne treatments can not only exacerbate the problem for some people but can also cause side effects. The last thing you want is to worsen the problem, so you must be very careful about using strong chemical-based treatments. This means that it can be very difficult to find an effective treatment to clear up adult acne.