If your teen years are long gone, but you’re still prone to breakouts, you’re not alone. The Acne Resource Center reports that 20% of adults in the United States have acne. Of the total number of people prescribed the drug tretinoin, 63% of patients who took the medication to treat acne were over the age of 40. The main cause of hormonal acne in adults – men and women – is testosterone.
A typical acne treatment routine can help clear cyclical acne. Hormones trigger the sebaceous glands to release more oils. So showering can help clean the oils from skin and prevent swelling and inflammation in the form of pimples.
Acne Treatments
In addition to keeping your skin clean, use an exfoliator containing salicylic acid about once or twice a week to loosen the sebum and bacteria that gets trapped in pores. Salicylic acid also slows shedding of skin cells inside pores. Using a topical acne-fighting lotion or gel, like benzoyl peroxide or resorcinol, will kill the bacteria that causes acne and help eliminate blackheads and whiteheads.
Keeping on top of your skin care routine is crucial in treating acne and preventing future breakouts, especially with hormonal acne. For women, this type of acne typically appears a week or so before menstruation. For men, hormonal breakouts are less predictable.
Hormonal Acne
Hormonal breakouts are the only form of acne that will respond to prescription hormone medication. Three oral contraceptives have been approved for use in treating female acne including ethinyl estradiol and norgestimate (sold as Ortho Tri-Cyclen), ethinyl estradiol and norethindrone (Estrostep), and ethinyl estradiol and drospirenone (Yaz).
Acne Treatment for Men
Even though men cannot take oral contraceptives, a physician can prescribe adapalene (brand name Differin) to slow pores from shedding cells. Isotretinoin (Accutane) is a strong medication that reduces the oils produced by the sebaceous glands.
Accutane is a medication with many potentially serious side effects that should be reviewed with a doctor. It's also not safe for women who are planning to get pregnant. Oral contraceptives are the most effective hormonal acne treatments for women, but will, of course, prevent pregnancy. Antibiotics have fewer side effects than other prescription medications, but are not formulated specifically for treating hormonal acne conditions.
Seeing an improvement when treating hormonal acne can take about three months because the body first needs to adjust to the medication being used to offset hormones. While antibiotics can start taking affect after a few weeks, oral contraceptives need to circulate in the system for two or three months before an improvement in complexion will appear.
Sources:
The Acne Resource Center. "Acne Statistics" (accessed December 11, 2010).
Acne.org. "Accutane" (accessed December 11, 2010).
Acne.org. "Acne Medications" (accessed December 11, 2010).
MedlinePlus. "Acne" (accessed December 11, 2010).
Shannon Marks - Shannon Marks is a writer living in Austin, Texas. She spent most of the 90s and 2000's living in New York City where she was an editor at ...
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