Adult Acne - What Causes It?

According to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), around 80-90% of people between the ages of 13 and 18 will suffer from acne in some form or other in their lifetime.

Many acne sufferers, especially young people, will be able to treat themselves and manage their condition with medication purchased over the counter (without prescription). However, for some people more intensive treatment will be required and therefore a visit to the doctor or perhaps a dermatologist will be required. Many authorities on the subject suggest that by the time most young sufferers reach their early 20s they will no longer suffer from acne. Although occasionally people with extremely sensitive skin may continue to suffer from the condition well into their 40s. There is also late onset acne which is only experienced when someone reaches adulthood.

Acne has no gender preference and both men or women can fall prey to this condition. However there are differing types of skin irritation and spots. It has been said that men tend to get more severe, longer lasting acne whereas women may be more likely to get the condition due to hormonal issues, menstrual cycle, and even as a result of a reaction to cosmetics used on their skin.

Widespread statistics would also suggest that men are less likely than women to seek advice for their acne from a dermatologist.

Acne and Hormones

Sex hormones play a major part in the flourishing of acne, as do hormones generally. During puberty, large amounts of hormones are produced, including testosterone which is the main hormone produced by males and progesterone and oestrogen which are the main female hormones. Interestingly enough, women also produce testosterone as oestrogen is made up from testosterone by special cells found in the ovaries. However not all of this testosterone is used therefore some of it will pass into the blood stream and work its way around the body. Testosterone is the hormone that encourages the sebaceous glands to expand and become over stimulated thereby accelerating the condition of acne.

Differing types of acne

Many types of acne have been recognised by dermatologists and some are listed below.

· Occupational acne

· Adolescent acne

· Infantile acne

· Keloid acne

· Cosmetic induced acne

· Drug induced acne

Each of the above listed types of acne can become apparent in people of any age, apart obviously from infantile acne which as the name suggests only becomes apparent in babies.

The most common form of acne is the adolescent type which is mainly due to the increased hormone levels during puberty.

Drug induced acne can be caused by medication or some types of drugs.

Cosmetic induced acne can be caused by using certain types of cosmetics too frequently.

Keloid acne is usually thought of as a more severe type of acne and usually manifests itself by way of bumpy unpleasant spots.

Occupational acne is generally caused by close contact with harsh chemicals.

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Causes of adult acne – Why, after all these years?

Adult acne seems like the most unreasonable thing that mother nature can throw at you as you move into your late twenties and thirties. As trade-offs go, having to hold down a job and pay bills is probably a fair price to pay for not having your teen acne bringing you down. But then adult acne shows up and all of a sudden you have the worst of both worlds. What is going on? Your voice broke years ago, you aren’t getting any taller and you’ve stopped blushing at the most inopportune of times. So why are you all of a sudden dealing with blackheads and zits again?

The chances are that you fall into one or more of three categories. The main three causes of adult acne are hormones, stress and genetic predisposition. Hormonal imbalances can be caused by a number of different factors, some of which are environmental and others which are down to more specific factors. Either way, it can trigger a case of acne. Alternatively you may be experiencing a great deal of stress in the workplace or in your personal life. Stress causes the overproduction of stress hormones, which are a guaranteed way of causing acne.

Finally, genetics are known to play a part in causing adult acne – if your parents, or one of them, were prone to it then you may well be too. In fact, if even one of your parents was a sufferer of adult acne, the chances that you will be as well quadruple. Hardly fair, is it?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 14th, 2011 at 9:57 pm and is filed under Acne Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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