Adult acne can occur as a result of a number of different factors, which can include skincare products, lifestyle, and a hormonal response to stress. The most important thing to identify is the cause of an individual’s skin problems in order to find the best solution.
What Causes Adult Acne?
Acne occurs when a hair follicle on the face, chest or back is blocked with excess oil, dead skin cells and other debris. This can form a blackhead, whitehead or even an infected spot.
The fundamental process of acne developing on any person’s skin at any stage of life is the same. Although the basic process is similar at any age, the factors contributing to adult acne can be different from those responsible for teenage breakouts.
Hormonal Changes
When hormones are imbalanced, the skin can produce more sebum (oil). Clogged pores can lead to acne, usually appearing on the lower face such as the chin, jawline and more. Many people don’t know that acne can occur in adults because of hormone changes.
For women, acne can change during the different stages of the menstrual cycle. Women with pre-menopause symptoms can also experience acne during pregnancy, perimenopause and menopause.
Stress and Your Skin
Stress does not cause acne but can aggravate existing skin problems. The increase in stress hormones in the body causes inflammation and can increase oil production in the skin, which in turn can cause acne to become worse.
Stress causes your body to produce hormones, including the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol can contribute to inflammation and cause spots to appear more frequently and become more inflamed.
Stress also affects skin in indirect ways. Lowering your threshold for skin problems also leads to changes in sleeping, eating and applying skincare. And it can happen in the blink of an eye, especially when you’re very busy.
Could Your Skincare Routine Be Causing Breakouts?
There are many cleansers that can be irritating to some people’s skin. They contain active ingredients that can make it look worse than when you first started. Some products can even make your skin feel dry and blemished.
You don’t need to have a complicated routine – keep it simple, clean your skin regularly with gentle products, stay hydrated, and use products which are suitable for your skin type.
You may notice you get more spots after introducing a new product into your skincare routine. Perhaps after increasing the frequency of exfoliation or introducing a new cleanser into your nightly routine.
Why Am I Getting Acne When My Skin Feels Dry?
Your skin can still become congested and produce spots even when it is feeling dry and dehydrated. This is because it’s producing oil while it is lacking in water. The skin can feel and look tight and flaky while simultaneously having oily spots and even breakouts.
Diet and Lifestyle
A single food responsible for causing acne does not exist, as everyone’s skin reacts differently and in a unique way to their diet. Whilst there is no single food that causes acne, your overall lifestyle can have a large impact upon your skin. This includes your diet, the amount of water you drink, how much sleep you get, the amount of stress you’re under, and your general health.
Rather than immediately cutting out certain types of food from your diet in the hope that they will clear up your spots, try to work out whether there is any connection between certain foods and breakouts over a longer period of time.
Professional Treatments for Acne-Prone Skin
The treatment recommended will be suitable for your individual skin type, your type of acne and your specific concerns with regards to active acne, pigmentation and scarring.
Chemical Peels
Chemical peels are used to gently exfoliate the outer layers of skin and cause skin regrowth.
These treatment options can help to minimise the appearance of current blackheads and congestion, as well as helping to smooth out the skin’s texture and reduce the appearance of previous breakouts and marks.
Care must be taken when using chemical peels on acne-prone or sensitive skin and each individual will require a specific strength and formula of peel.
Microneedling
The skin can suffer from scarring or changes to texture from previous breakouts of acne, and it is possible to treat these areas with microneedling to improve the skin’s overall appearance.
Microneedling creates controlled micro-injuries within the skin, stimulating the body’s natural repair response and encouraging collagen production.
Over a course of treatments, this can help improve overall skin texture and reduce the appearance of certain types of acne scarring.
By encouraging new collagen production through a course of treatments, microneedling can improve the texture of the skin and reduce the appearance of acne scars.
LED Light Therapy
LED light therapy is a non-invasive treatment that targets problems using specific wavelengths of light.
Depending on the LED wavelength which has been selected for use, LED light therapy can also be a great addition to any of our skincare programmes. With the ability to target acne and inflammation, LED treatments support the skin’s natural healing processes to help combat acne.
Another reason why LED light therapy is beneficial is that it does not penetrate the skin in an aggressive manner and therefore can be used in conjunction with other treatments to get better results.
Finding the Right Approach for Your Skin
It is known that adult acne is rarely caused by one thing. There are many factors, including hormonal influences, stress, products and more, which can combine to cause problems with the skin.
So copying a skincare routine or buying loads of products to add to your existing collection won’t necessarily solve your acne problems.
Understanding your individual skin is the best place to start. At Nuovo Clinic, treatments can be selected according to your skin type and concerns, whether you’re struggling with congestion and breakouts or want to improve pigmentation, uneven texture or scarring left behind by previous acne.
