Wouldn’t it be great to return to that tight, toned skin you had when you were younger? Odds are good that most people would jump at the chance, but with one caveat — leave the acne behind.
Acne is the most common skin condition in the United States and affects about 50 million people yearly. And if you’re assuming that this large number only includes teenagers, you’d be wrong. The fact is that plenty of adults get acne, including 33% of women in their 30s and 25% of women and 12% of men in their 40s.
As skincare experts for clients of all ages, the team at Orange Coast Dermatology understands all too well how acne can follow you into adulthood, and we’re here to help.
In the following, we explore why adults still get acne and what we can do to clear your skin.
Medically speaking, the causes of acne remain the same no matter your age and include:
What fuels these issues as you age can be slightly different, and we want to touch on those here.
There is a good reason women are more prone to adult acne: fluctuating hormone levels. Menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and hormonal birth control can all cause hormone levels to drop and rise, and when they rise, so does oil production in the skin.
Adults tend to have more stress in their lives, which can lead to an uptick in androgen hormone production and the aforementioned increase in oil production.
If you use more skin products and makeup as you get older, you risk clogging your pores, which can lead to adult acne.
If your diet encourages inflammation, you can become more susceptible to adult acne. One of the primary culprits of system-wide inflammation is sugar, which can also raise blood sugar levels that activate sebum (oil) production.
The good news is that we have better tools than ever for addressing acne. Once we figure out what’s triggering your adult-onset acne, we can work to clear your skin.
In most cases, we recommend several approaches, which might include one or more of the following:
If you want to put acne firmly in your rearview mirror, it’s a good idea to sit down with one of our acne specialists so that we can figure out which treatments will work best for you.
To get that ball rolling, please contact one of our offices in Rancho Santa Margarita, Orange, or Mission Viejo, California, today to schedule an appointment.
