Why Is My Acne Still Flaring Up in Adulthood and What Can I Do About It?

The past is a funny thing — there’s a lot that we’re nostalgic for, such as that toned, wrinkle-fee skin we all had in our youth, but there are other things that we want to shut the door on, such as acne.

Unfortunately, for many adults, acne is still alive and well in adulthood, especially for women. By the numbers, about half of women in their 20s, a third in their 30s, and a quarter in their 40s still get acne. 

This problem is so prevalent that adult acne is one of the more common reasons why people come to seek the expertise of the skilled team of skin care specialists at Dutch Hollow Medical Day Spa. Given this experience, here’s what we want you to know about adult acne and what we can do to help you fight back.

Acne in adulthood

When it comes to skin conditions, acne is by far the most common and affects about 50 million Americans each year. While a large percentage of this number belongs to teens, as we discussed earlier, adults are also part of the overall picture.

The reality is that adult acne flares up for the very same reasons it does in adolescence and boils down to 4 factors:

1. Excess oil (sebum) production
2. Clogged pores
3. Bacteria
4. Inflammation

What influences these 4 factors in adulthood, however, are a bit different. For example, the reason why adult women are more vulnerable to acne is largely due to hormonal fluctuations and menstrual cycles. Other influences include makeup and skin care products that clog pores and women tend to use these more than men.

The last influence we want to touch on is stress, which is in abundant supply in adulthood for both men and women. When you’re stressed, your body can experience system-wide inflammation and this inflammation can create the right environment for acne to flare up.

So, when you combine all of these, you can see why adults can still struggle with acne they thought they’d left behind as a teenager.

Tackling adult acne

No matter what age your acne develops, the skin care protocols are the same and the tools we have for addressing acne are continually getting more and more effective, including:

• Prescription medication, such as topical tretinoin and oral isotretinoin
• Hormone treatments
• Laser light therapy
• Skin resurfacing
• Chemical peels
• HydraFacial® to unclog pores

This list doesn’t cover some key lifestyle efforts, such as never going to bed with makeup on and eating a diet that reduces inflammation in your body (sugar is a primary culprit behind inflammation).

The bottom line is that there’s a lot that we can do to clear your skin of adult acne and we’re happy to sit down with you to figure out the best plan of attack for your skin and your lifestyle.

To get that ball rolling, we invite you to contact us at our med spa in Godfrey, Illinois, today to schedule an appointment.