Adult Onset Acne
You had acne when you were 15 years old and you thought you were out of woods when puberty ended until you woke up with pimples on your face. While it’s hard to believe, acne is actually really common in adults and about 1 in 5 adult women struggle with it every day. Adult acne can be very bad for your skin and if you fail to treat it fast enough, can result in permanent scars on your face. So, while there are many causes for the skin disease in older people there are also fortunately, a lot of cures for it too.
Causes of adult acne vary from person to person. Some adults get acne because of hormones or things that change their hormones. Birth control, pregnancy, the menstrual cycle, and stress can all be contributors to break outs. While some hormonal changes are temporary, take a pregnancy for example, others, like stress induced acne, can strike you any time and can be hard to prevent. Other causes of adult pimples and acne could be diet and exercise (or lack thereof), environmental conditions like smoke and chemicals, or cosmetics that you put on every day. Depending on what is causing your acne, you can get rid of your skin problem by changing or eliminating those causes.
Adult acne shows itself as black and white heads. Blackheads, while they resemble a dirt mark, are actually a pore that has been clogged with dirt and bacteria that has turned black due to exposure to air. If that clogged pore becomes inflamed it turns red and will begin to spread to pores around it which will cause more pimples. When a clogged pore turns into a whitehead, its because it has become infected and is now filling up with pus and white blood cells (hence the white color). If whiteheads burst, they can end up bleeding as well as cause permanent scars. To prevent something terrible like that from happening, you need to start preventive treatment of your acne now.
Treatments for adult acne are the same as what you would’ve used as a teenager. Depending on the severity of the symptoms, your choice of cures can change. There are many topical creams and cleansers that you can find at the local drugstore that are very good for getting rid of acne for a fairly low price. If you have a larger budget, there some great products (Kinerase products can be great for treating adult onset acne) that are great for getting rid of adult acne. If you have extremely painful, infected, or large amounts of acne, you should go see your dermatologist right away. Also, if you’re pregnant, you should talk to your doctor before starting any acne regimen.