Adult Acne: Causes and Solutions

Adult Acne: Causes and Solutions

Acne is a skin condition of the hair follicles of the face, chest and back that affect most of the teenagers during their puberty. While some teenagers are lucky enough to outgrow acne, it’s not unusual for some to develop acne in their mid to late 20s, 30s or even up to 50s.

Acne occurs on the skin as

• Occluded pores ("comedones"), also known as blackheads or whiteheads,
• Tender red bumps also known as pimples or zits,
• Pustules (bumps containing pus), and occasionally as
• Cysts (deep pimples, boils).

What causes acne?

There is no one specific causes of acne. Mostly acne occurs sebaceous (oil) glands attached to the hair follicles are stimulated. This can happen at the time of puberty or due to other hormonal changes. Sebum (oil) is a natural substance that lubricates and protects the skin. Increased oil production is a change in the manner in which matures skin cell, predisposes them to plug the follicular pore. The plug can appear as a whitehead if it is covered by a thin layer of skin, or if exposed to the air, the darker exposed portion of the plug is called a "blackhead." The plugged hair follicle gradually enlarges, producing a bump. As the follicle enlarges, the wall may rupture, allowing irritating substances and normal skin bacteria access into the deeper layers of the skin, ultimately producing inflammation. Inflammation near the skin's surface produces a pustule; deeper inflammation results in a papule (pimple); if the inflammation is deeper still, it forms a cyst.

Another source in hormonal change is stress. Stress makes adrenal gland to release cortisol and puts it out into the body to help to deal with stress. But a little bit of testosterone leaks out with it, this hormone can drive the oil glands to produce more oil. This is the root cause of breakouts. Moreover, air pollution can play a role as catalyst. Specific foods may or may not have an effect. But the evidences are not convincing enough. The fried foods, and junk food and the oily foods may not be good for overall health; they don't cause acne or make it worse. Although some recent studies have implicated a high-carbohydrate diet, milk, and pure chocolate in aggravating acne, these findings are very far from established.

Solution

For acne treatment Salicylic acid is considered to be the gold standard. It's also called a beta-hydroxy acid. By gently exfoliating gently Salicylic works to unclog pores. It's gentle enough to use on the whole face.

Benzoyl peroxide works by actually killing the acne bacteria, while exfoliating the pores at the same time. It's not so gentle, and can make skin really dry and irritated if use too much. Best way to use this is to stick with spot-treating.

Sulfur draws oil out of skin and has a drying effect, making it another great spot treatment.

Glycolic Acid is an alpha-hydroxy acid and an exfoliating ingredient that targets both acne and wrinkles at the same time. By removing dead cells on the surface it helps wrinkles the same way it helps acne. This will help improve skin's texture and reduce fine lines and wrinkles while also clearing up breakouts.

Laser

Acne laser treatments come in different types of lasers intended to treat certain types of acne, each working in varying ways. Without causing harm to the outermost surface of the skin laser and light treatments are able to reach the deep layers. Basically, some lasers work by stimulating porphyrins which are compounds present inside the acne bacteria. Other acne laser treatment such as Diode lasers work by destroying many sebaceous or oil glands located within the hair follicles in the dermis layer of the skin which is the layer under the topmost skin layer. Since acne is also believed to be caused by an excess in oil or sebum production of the skin, with this treatment targeting the oil glands, it will reduce the production of oil, hence treating acne and preventing future breakouts. The different types of acne laser treatment can also be effective in improving acne scars by improving the texture of the skin. Some treatments do so by stimulating the production of collagen and elastin fibers that give out smoother and younger looking skin.

The number of sessions and its frequency may somehow depend on the severity of acne, the type of acne and the response of the patient to the treatment. The different types of laser include Diode, high-intensity lasers, InfraRed, Pulsed Light and Heat Energy, and the new vacuum acne laser treatment called Isolaz which works by using a suction device that sucks deep in the pores to extract dirt, blackheads and excess oil, and then sends intense light treatment to the hair follicles to eliminate the acne bacteria and helps shrink sebaceous or oil glands to reduce oil production.

Laser treatment options claim to be effective in treating mild to moderate types of acne. While it has shown improvement and shown results in reducing symptoms of acne, acne laser treatment will not work 100% of the time. Each patient is different and the response to the treatment will also vary.