Ok, this one requires a little background, I suppose.
I moved to Atlanta in November 1999, from Mississippi. During the summer of 2000, my face began to break out worse than it ever has. I thought that maybe it was stress, seeing as how I started a new job in May, or perhaps the difference in pollution levels in the city.
Well, it’s January, I’ve been on this job almost 9 months. I don’t think that I’m still stressed about the job. It’s January, the humidity is down, and I didn’t have this problem last winter. My eating habits have not changed significantly, and where they have changed, they have changed for the better- more fruits and vegetables, more water as opposed to soda.
So, here’s my question: is adult acne caused by different things than teenage acne? Or, phrased slightly differently, can there be different triggers as we get older?
For the record, I do have a dermatologist appointment in a couple of weeks, but I’m just looking for some answers, and maybe some additional questions that I should ask him when I see him
Acne is not caused by stress or diet or “pollution.” It is caused by interactions between normal bacterial inhabitants of the skin, oil produced by glands in the skin, and your body’s reactions to the bacteria and their products. Since oil production is affected by hormones, acne can come and go with changes in hormones. Your hormone production has probably changed since you moved to Atlanta, not because of your job or the air in Atlanta but becuase you are older now than when you lived in Mississippi.
Acne in adults is worse than acne in adolescents because one grows out of adolescence and adolescent acne in a few years but one does not grow out of adulthood and adult acne so fast. Fortunately, there are now quite a few excellent treatments for acne so that no one has to go around being called “moon face” any more.
Lsura - you may have acne rosacea, which is not the same thing as acne at all. Note that normal OTC acne treatments can actually make rosacea worse and won’t help at all. You do want to get it treated because rosacea has long term effects, but they are strictly cosmetic.
Your dermatologist will know for sure, but you may want to check out some rosacea sites
Lsura, I thought my skin was being really weird, or that I was the only one, because recently I have been breaking out in acne too, and I am WAY past the teen years. Felt kind of silly to go to the doctor for something that didn’t actually hurt. I had been about to start a thread and ask the same things YOU did, but now I don’t have to.
Zyada, thanks especially for your response. I have never heard of rosacea before, so I’ll look for the sites about it. At my age I don’t need pimples.
Zyada thanks for the info. I had read a bit about rosacea, but it doesn’t sound like what my skin is doing at all. These are almost definately pimples.
handy I had to go to my primary care physician, and get a referral to a dermatologist, or my insurance wouldn’t pay. Then I had to go to a dermatologist who was in the network, which is one of the reasons why it took so long to get an appointment. I didn’t think 2 weeks was that long though. I mean, back in HS, when I had eczema due to extrememly dry skin, it took 2 months to get to the first appointment. Once I was an established patient, I could get an appointment within 2 weeks or so.
But, I slightly changed my skin care regimen, just to see if something different would help, and things seem to be clearing. I’m using Witch Hazel, after reading this thread, and wow… things are looking better. I also replaced all my makeup, just to see if that might help. So, I don’t know what did it, but things are looking better.
Hmm, haven’t tried witch hazel. Maybe I’ll give it a crack. I’ve been having some problems with acne, lately, too. I’ve found that wearing an inexpensive clay facial mask overnight for about three consecutive nights gets rid of it pretty fast. Also, you know those clear natural deodorant crystal stones? I bought one after the lady in the kiosk at my local indoor swap meet told me that her daughter uses it to get rid of blemishes that appear around “that time of the month” and it really does work.
I’m using Witch Hazel, after reading