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We often think of acne as just a teenage issue, but it also affects adults. Unsurprisingly, those breakouts can create real issues when you want to look and feel your best.
So we asked Consultant Dermatologist Dr Shreya Andric about what causes adult acne and whether she had any recommendations for natural ways to get rid of it.
If you have a teenager with pimples, you’ll probably be familiar with the main cause of acne:
According to Dr Shreya, these same steps lead to acne breakouts in adults. But being an adult comes with its own extra layer of acne causes, including:
Hair products can clog up the pores along your hairline.
Usually located on your face, forehead, chest, upper back or shoulders, adult acne can show up in different ways:
Dr Shreya recommends treating adult acne the same way you’d treat teenage breakouts. This means you need to:
Eat well: Include foods with plenty of zinc and omega 3-fatty acids. For ideas, learn about the Top 10 foods that will give you healthy hair, skin and nails.
If your breakouts don’t respond to a good cleansing routine and topical acne creams, you should consider seeing a GP or a dermatologist for help to treat acne.
“We can treat more severe acne with prescription medications,” Dr Shreya explains. A health professional can also recommend the best treatment for skin conditions like cystic acne.
However, she cautions that stubborn or sudden adult acne can also be a symptom of a bigger issue. In this case, she recommends talking to your GP, who’ll know what to check for.
Her key message is to remember that in most cases, adult acne isn’t something you’re stuck with. There are ways to treat it – starting with understanding the causes and following our suggestions above, then perhaps getting help if you need it.
Related:
Dr Shreya Andric is a Fellow of the Australian College of Dermatologists with a wide breadth of general dermatology knowledge as well as specialist interest in areas of cosmetic dermatology, paediatric dermatology and genital dermatology, among others.
Reviewed by the healthylife Advisory Board April 2022