55 replies to this topic

[DukeBlueDevils]

I started getting acne when I was 16 years old (during the summer after my Sophomore year of high school; prior to that I had PERFECT clear skin). I'm now 18 years old (I'm a male BTW) and my acne is still here and coming on strong. I have moderate acne if your wondering. I have it on my face, chest, back, neck, shoulders, and upper arms. It seriously never ends and it makes my life so miserable. My question is simple : Is there a age where acne ends or is it different for every person? I know for an ABSOLUTE fact that my acne is puberty related (I started gettting acne when I was sixTEEN like I said) and I think that when I turn 20 (when I'm no longer a teenager and Puberty officially ends), it will go away. Maybe it will go away sooner than later. I've heard that puberty sometimes ends at 18 or 19. But I'd just like to hear you guys' take on this. WHEN WILL IT END?

[Clare M.]

It is different for everybody. And it's dependent on your hormones. Just because you turn 20 and are no longer a teenager doesn't mean POOF your acne vanishes. It doesn't work like that. I mean you may phase out of it at 20 but it isn't a guarantee. I'm 20 and still dealing with breakouts. :/ I guess for a lot of people, acne disappears after you're about 25. Some people have acne through their adult years though. It really depends and you can't know for sure. I would say, your surest guess would be at looking at how long your parents or older siblings had acne for. You'll probably be pretty similar to them.

[DukeBlueDevils]

It is different for everybody. And it's dependent on your hormones. Just because you turn 20 and are no longer a teenager doesn't mean POOF your acne vanishes. It doesn't work like that. I mean you may phase out of it at 20 but it isn't a guarantee. I'm 20 and still dealing with breakouts. :/ I guess for a lot of people, acne disappears after you're about 25. Some people have acne through their adult years though. It really depends and you can't know for sure. I would say, your surest guess would be at looking at how long your parents or older siblings had acne for. You'll probably be pretty similar to them.

My mom is 42 and gets the occassional pimple like once a month; my dad (who is about to be 49 on Thursday) on the other hand had severe acne when he was a teenager and had to go on Accutane as a result (Accutane was first getting started in the 70's when my dad had acne so he was the "Ginny Pig" for it). My dad doesn't get pimples anymore as a result. I guess Accutane really cleared him up for good (even though he has scars; it cleared up all his active acne though). Anyways, I'm just thinking that my acne will probably end when Puberty for me is over. I think another way I'll know is when my nose isn't oily anymore (prior to acne, my nose was dry, when I started getting acne, it just exploded with oil). And another thing may be is when I'm done growing. I'm 5'7, and my doctor says I'm going to be 5'9 so when I reach that height, that may be when it's over too. IDK though. Thanks for your help though.

[Clare M.]

It is different for everybody. And it's dependent on your hormones. Just because you turn 20 and are no longer a teenager doesn't mean POOF your acne vanishes. It doesn't work like that. I mean you may phase out of it at 20 but it isn't a guarantee. I'm 20 and still dealing with breakouts. :/ I guess for a lot of people, acne disappears after you're about 25. Some people have acne through their adult years though. It really depends and you can't know for sure. I would say, your surest guess would be at looking at how long your parents or older siblings had acne for. You'll probably be pretty similar to them.

My mom is 42 and gets the occassional pimple like once a month; my dad (who is about to be 49 on Thursday) on the other hand had severe acne when he was a teenager and had to go on Accutane as a result (Accutane was first getting started in the 70's when my dad had acne so he was the "Ginny Pig" for it). My dad doesn't get pimples anymore as a result. I guess Accutane really cleared him up for good (even though he has scars; it cleared up all his active acne though). Anyways, I'm just thinking that my acne will probably end when Puberty for me is over. I think another way I'll know is when my nose isn't oily anymore (prior to acne, my nose was dry, when I started getting acne, it just exploded with oil). And another thing may be is when I'm done growing. I'm 5'7, and my doctor says I'm going to be 5'9 so when I reach that height, that may be when it's over too. IDK though. Thanks for your help though.

Sure, puberty may be a huge factor in your acne problem given that you're still pretty young. And you may phase out of it when you're done growing. But in all honesty it's probably more likely for your skin to behave a lot more like your parents' skin. Especially since your dad had severe, scarring acne. But who knows, everybody's skin is different. My brother and I have totally different skin types. Good luck though!

[Gutterflower]

I guess it's different for everybody. There are users here who are in their thirties, forties and even fifties who are struggling with acne, but there are so many different causes that it's difficult to tell if you'll continue to have it as you get older.

I'm 22, had it since I was 12, and it's progressively gotten worse, so I figure I'm not going to grow out of it anytime soon. Grim.

[UpOnTheMoon]

I hope you're right about your acne going away as you near the end of your growth.
There isn't a certain age as the people above have said. I'm 20 and I've had it for 9 years now, and like Gutterflower's case, my acne's severity worsened as I got older.
Even though I have less acne now than I did before, when I was 16-18, I now get larger cysts than before, on my back and on my face!! Mostly on my back though.

I wish you luck though. Hopefully you're right about it going away in your 20's!!

[HiddenSpirit]

Mine started at like 13, up to the age of 14 it was very mild, but after that it got worse and worse... at the age of 15 it started on my arms, back and chest... Now I'm 17 and still have it bad, doctor said it should go at 18, but I dunno about that. I hope to grow a full big beard lol to cover it up.

Edit: Love ur pic Gutterflower with Pikachu.

Edited by HiddenSpirit, 07 June 2011 - 09:26 AM.

[onceperfect]

my mum is 55. she still has cysts

[melissa6980]

It varies from person to person. It could end at 18, 20, 22, etc. It could get milder and last a while or be gone way sooner than you'd expect. But, at your age, you could very easily grow out of it yet. If it's really bothering you, you could get treatments from a derm, that might really help until it ends on it's own.

[bear06]

Damn you hit puberty later I got acne when I was 14 and it showed up just like that.

[DukeBlueDevils]

It varies from person to person. It could end at 18, 20, 22, etc. It could get milder and last a while or be gone way sooner than you'd expect. But, at your age, you could very easily grow out of it yet. If it's really bothering you, you could get treatments from a derm, that might really help until it ends on it's own.

I've been using this "reigmen" for 13 weeks now (91 days) :

- Morning : Clindamycin Phosphate Lotion
- Before Shower : BP 5 % Wash (on face, chest, back, etc.)
- Night : Retin a Micro (.1) and Minocycline pills.

This reigmen has showed, little, if any results. I've determined if I don't see any significant improvement by the end of the month, I'm done with all the medicines and I'm just going to let it go away naturally.

[SuperMachii]

I think when you retire from work at 65.. or 75.. or whatever and stop caring about sex or money, when you can't get that old stick up to save your life,.. .. when you don't care to have a social life really.. I think that's when acne will finally stop, Permanently. Of course then, you will have MUCH bigger problems to worry about.. like arthiritis, tendonitis, blood pressure, stroke, heart attack you know.. the reEALL problems..

Edited by Wangod, 08 June 2011 - 04:27 PM.

[philopian tube]

Right now i'm clear, but I had it much worse before. Im 21, and it gradually started to get milder and milder as time passed. Wish it had ended sooner for me ; )

[Nep321]

My acne started when I was 14 years old. It was severe on my back and moderate on my face. I thought it would go away by the time I turned 16. It didn't.

Now I'm 27 years old and still have severe back acne. It's painful and I am constantly throwing away shirts and towels because of blood stains. Luckily, my face is MUCH better now, and only suffers from mild acne in certain spots, and it comes and goes. I also issues on my chest, ever since I turned about 24 years old. I get occasional painful nodules that leave scars that take months to fade away. It really sucks.

And you know what? Dan's regimen has helped reduce my acne throughout the years. I first started using his products in 2004, and it has helped clear my face up considerably. But now, I only use his mild gentle cleanser on my face once a night in the shower and nothing else. Benzoyl peroxide is strong and dries out the skin, causes redness and stains fabrics.

I thought my acne would be 100% gone by age 25, but that hasn't happened

[LiveLaughFart]

yeah, it is a myth.
Acne is permanent, but you can manage it with certain things (diet, drugs, topicsls) but your skin will always be acne prone.

[MJRI94]

I think it varies, not completely sure that it is permanent as some think.
My father had acne from 13 (same as me) up until 18 and it left completely at 19. Back then he didn't have BP or any of this other treatment stuff so it was worse than mine.
Maybe I am being a bit foolish by using this idea that my acne will clear up the same time as my dads did, I'm a few months away from being 18 now, its what keeps me going sometimes. I know it won't simply vanish as soon as i turn 18, but if it doesn't go by 19 I have no idea what I am going to do. I know having acne for 5 years is nothing compared to others on this site, but it really is starting to tear me up.

[allrighty]

Im 31 and had it since I was 14....

[vcpd]

Generally when your hormones 'settle down' you'll be clear of acne, however for some this never happens and they'll still break out well into their 30s, although it is much more rare.

[FSAS]

Generally when your hormones 'settle down' you'll be clear of acne, however for some this never happens and they'll still break out well into their 30s, although it is much more rare.

is there even a way to permanently 'settle' hormones. I got acne at 19, in the space of 2-3 years I changed pill 2-3 times and now on diane. still isnt keeping me completely clear, but ive never had acne before this time last year, not sure what changed in me to cause my hormones to really take some sort of affect. is there even a way to have a body like before we all had acne? its so easy to get hormones out of whack but so hard to fix it, if thats even possible :/