Acne-prone skin
Acne-prone skin may have started in your teen years, that time when age and hormones meet to cause those awful breakouts. While acne is most commonly linked to the teenage years, the reality is, it can happen at any age – you may have begun experiencing acne breakouts in your adult years.
What is Acne-prone skin?
Acne Vulgaris is the most common skin disease in industrialised nations nowadays. It usually begins during puberty, in line with hormone changes and may persist into later adulthood. Between 70% – 95% of adolescents are affected to some degree by acne-prone skin.
Acne-prone skin condition is skin that has a propensity to develop comedones and spots. It is often oily and often appears shiny. Shiny skin appears because the sebaceous glands produce more sebum than in other skin types.
Acne is a non-contagious skin condition characterised by face and body spots caused by inflamed and infected sebaceous glands. The disease is most common in adolescents, but symptoms can persist into adulthood and some people, especially women, experience symptoms for the first time after the age of 25. Skin Expert has noticed that there are also increasing numbers of adults, particularly women, experiencing acne later in life.
Acne typically appears on following areas of the body: face, neck, shoulders, chest and back and ranges in serverity from light acne through moderate acne to severe acne.
Acne-prone Skin and Mental Health
But acne doesn’t just affect people’s skin, it impacts on their quality of life too. Symptoms can be stressful and cause issues around self-confidence. Both teenage and adult acne can lead to a loss of self-esteem and sometimes even an inferiority complex.
The psychological impact of acne can lead to behavioural changes and many sufferers avoid eye contact with others. Studies show that people with acne are more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and social phobia than those without acne.
These are just a few of the reasons why it’s important to consult a Skin Expert if you are in any way affected by your skin condition.
Acne-prone Skin – Causes and Triggers
Read below the key factors that kin professionals know are likely to make some people more prone to acne than others:
Genetics
Genes determine our skin type and some of us have skin that is more reactive and prone to inflammation, blemishes and acne than others. If both your parents had acne there is a higher chance that you will develop the condition.
Hormones
Acne is caused by hormonal changes. Hormones are responsible for the development of the sebaceous glands and they also stimulate sebum production in those sebaceous glands.
The increase of hormones during your teenage years is the main reason why acne is most prevalent in adolescence, but hormones continue to effect both men and women differently at different life stages: changes in hormonal levels during the menstrual cycle often causes flare-ups for women in their 20s and 30s.
Medication
Some medicines are know to aggravate acne.
Diet
When our body is stressed, our bodies produce hormones (such as cortisol and androgens), neuropeptides and inflammatory cytokines (small proteins that trigger inflammation) which impact the behavior of the sebaceous glands and can aggravate acne.
Smoking
Research indicates that smoking exacerbates acne-prone skin by causing oxidative stress to the skin and altering sebum composition.
Skincare
While some ingredients might not lead to clogged pores, they can still cause acne. It’s important to educate yourself about acne-causing ingredients and read labels carefully as companies do sometimes change their formulations. Harsh, soap-based cleansers and water that is too hot can disrupt skin’s natural balance and trigger acne-prone skin.
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