Acne 101
Disappointed you didn’t leave blemishes behind in high school — along with math exams and spin the bottle? You’re not alone. In a recent U.K.-based study of nearly 800 people over 24, more than 50 percent of adult women had breakouts. So what’s different about adult acne? For one thing, it tends to pop up primarily along your chin and jaw area instead of in the teenage T-zone. And as women age, blemishes almost always appear before or during the menstrual cycle. Acne is also common during pregnancy and menopause. “It’s a very hormonal form of acne that is often indirectly linked to increased levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol,” says dermatologist Sandy Skotnicki in Toronto. If you already have acne, stress may make it worse. For some, it’s the fluctuation of testosterone and estrogen that can lead to breakouts.
How to treat adult acne
