Everything you need to know about fighting off pesky zits and pimples.
When people think of acne, they typically experience embarrassing flashbacks to their awkward teenage years―big, frizzy hair, mouth full of braces and a complexion that was simply out of control, to put in nicely. Thank goodness those years are far behind us… or are they?
Adult acne affects 25% of men and 50% of women at some point in their adult lives. In fact, epidemiological studies have shown that outbreaks of adult acne can effect adults well into their 30s, 40s and beyond. Fortunately, acne no longer has to be as traumatic as it may have been in your teenage years; There are many ways that you can fight against adult acne, both in your day-to-day routine and through new preventative laser treatments.
The first step in preventing acne is understanding what triggers it. Once you understand the cause of your acne, you can take preventative steps to avoid these common triggers:
One of the largest influencers of teen and adult acne is hormones. Puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause are all common
times in life when your hormones can wreck havoc on your skin. This occurs because hormones create an increase in oil which can clog hair follicles and cause pimples and white heads.
Fortunately, there is help to balance your hormones when they begin to fluctuate at these times in your life so you can begin to restore normal levels which will result in oil reduction and less breakouts. Combine hormone balancing with professional acne treatments and medical grade skin care products to attain clean and healthy skin at any age.
Cosmetics can also cause unnecessary acne in otherwise healthy, hormonally balanced people and this trigger can be tricky to identify. Acne outbreaks caused by cosmetics often take months to form and can therefore seem as if they are coming out of nowhere. The most common symptom of acne caused by cosmetics is breakouts across your chin and cheeks. It can also appear as small, white bumps, known as “grains,” which appear when your skin is stretched.
The easiest way to prevent acne caused by cosmetics is to give your skin a break from makeup and heavy lotions for a couple months. However, if you are one of those women who is attached to your cosmetics, try switching to well-known brands rather than those found at the drugstore. Well known cosmetic brands have less “fillers” and oil so they tend to cause fewer breakouts than those that are less expensive, more convenient options.
Another big contributor to acne is stress. Stress can trigger an inflammatory response in your body which causes clogged pores to break. This leads to redness around the pore and an invasion of bacteria and puss resulting in blemishes.
Cutting stress out of your life and learning to be more relaxed can do wonders for your skin.
If you have taken steps to avoid these common triggers, yet you are still having serious acne outbreaks, the next step may be to consider skin therapy treatments such as: medical grade chemical peels, laser treatments and Levulan Photodynamic Therapy(PDT).
Photodynamic Therapy is a new acne treatment is one of the most recent advances in skin rejuvenation for women and men of all ages. PDT works by fighting against acne in three different ways: it deactivates the bacteria that causes acne inflammation, exfoliates the skin in order to unclog pores and shrinks the sebaceous glands to decrease the amount of oil in your skin. This last step is the most beneficial because sebaceous glands are the leading cause of acne formation; reducing the size these glands and decreasing oil production can have a long lasting effect on severe acne.
PDT can also help prevent the development of skin cancer as it treats sun damage and pre-cancerous lesions in skin.
If you suffer from adolescent or adult acne and are interested in having healthier skin and a more confident appearance, sign up for our Break Out Of Acne event Wednesday, June 15th at Dr. Shel Wellness and Medical Spa. We will educate you about acne prevention, treating acne and erasing scars that acne has left behind. Be sure to RSVP so you can break out of the cycle and be acne free this summer.
