What Causes Adult Acne?
While most adult acne is caused by hormonal shifts, the changes in the structure of your skin and the size of your pores due to ageing could lead to ‘patches’ of inflamed blemishes. As you age, the strength of the cellular wall of a pore weakens. This makes the pore stretch out and become larger. Which means that it may be more likely for the pore to become clogged with surface dirt and debris from your skin’s top layer (the epidermis).
Adult acne occurs lower in the face and is usually found around the mouth, on the jawline, and on the chin and is often paired with sensitivity or dehydration, making treatment that much more difficult.
Adult acne is often formed as clumps of smaller spots under the surface, accompanied by a red, flushed rash. Adult’s with acne tend to usually have sensitive and combination skin, so oily in patches of the face yet very dry and sensitive in others.
Both men and women can suffer from adult acne, however women are twice as more likely to. There are many factors that can cause adult acne including hormonal fluctuations from pregnancy and menopause, stress and sensitive skin.
The Pill & Hormone Replacement Therapy
For the last 30 years the majority of women have chosen the contraceptive pill and hormone replacement therapy as both of these medications help diminish acne.
However, in recent years, due to the rise in breast and ovarian cancer links to the medication, more women have come off the pill or HRT in search for an alternative treatment. This may have caused a spike in acne among adult women whose skin was being controlled by hormones medications.
Stress Androgens
Adult cystic acne is largely caused by hormonal disruptions. Androgens, the male hormones present in both men and women, are thought to contribute to cystic acne by over stimulating the oil glands and altering the development of skin cells that line hair follicles in the skin.
Stress raises the levels of androgens in the female body. There’s evidence to suggest that women now working in high stress careers are seeing a rise in androgen levels, which may be contributing to the rise in adult acne in women.
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