19 replies to this topic

[un4tunate]

Hi, did anyone ever outgrow severe acne? I had severe acne from ages 15-18 on the face and now at 21, my acne has spread on my back and some on chest but reduced on the face.

I'm here thinking i should be 'outgrowing' this horrible disease or w/e it is because everyone told me i will outgrow it.

I do not think i am outgrowing it anytime soon since it has spread all over my back now.

Anyone outgrow their moderate/severe acne? if so, at what age???

[MoreThanAFace]

un4tunate, I did outgrow mine, not too much older than that. I had cystic acne pretty bad at about those same ages. I wonder if it's a good sign that it's lessening on your face? It seems like there could be something else going on, not just "regular" acne--have you seen derms & all that?

Just a word of caution--try not to think of it as it "should" be gone by a certain age. It could very well just go away, and I hope it does, but try not to have a deadline in mind for that or you'll just feel worse. (I know, easy to say...) Fingers crossed for you!

[un4tunate]

hey, thanks for the info i know i can't set a age limit lol

Yes, ive been to derms before when i was younger they had no clue how to treat me i have tried antibiotics and possibly every damn cream there is, including the proactiv bullshit, which didnt do shyt. I've been offered accutane 3 times, but my mom was soooooo concerned she was scared for my health because she heard so many bad things about it blah blah blah, i was on the edge of jumping of something!!.

I'm not sure what is going on. I eliminated all sweets, dairy since it makes me brakeout alot worse than usual. I'm guessing it's in my genes since my dad also suffered from acne but not as bad as me.

One derm actually said that stress triggered my cystic acne.

[MoreThanAFace]

Not surprised if it was stress--that's what made mine go cystic on me.

If your mom's that concerned about Accutane, maybe Retin-A will help. I've seen some posts about it helping active acne (not as expensive as 'tane either). Also, some laser treatments stop the acne for a few months. Look around here if you haven't already--people are trying a bunch of stuff and you just have to find out what works for you.

Good luck!

[TheChangingman]

The 'Outgrowing it' comment can be very frustrating indeed, these are supposed to be the best years of my life but I'm wishing them away so I can be free of acne.

I reckon stress has a massive part to play in acne personally. I recently went on a holiday with about 10 mates. Basically from the week I agreed to go to the day after I went home early from the hol my face was bad, it got worse building up to it and was shocking while I was away. This was like 4-5 months of buildup but basically the week after I got home my face started clearing up and its been getting better, albeit slowly, ever since.

[Whatsitgonnabe]

No I had to take pills at 19. I ha mild at 15 then it started to get severe at 17 so I had to take pills

But that is just me, he said it was a life-long acne..

[-lxl-]

un4tunate, I did outgrow mine, not too much older than that. I had cystic acne pretty bad at about those same ages. I wonder if it's a good sign that it's lessening on your face? It seems like there could be something else going on, not just "regular" acne--have you seen derms & all that?

Just a word of caution--try not to think of it as it "should" be gone by a certain age. It could very well just go away, and I hope it does, but try not to have a deadline in mind for that or you'll just feel worse. (I know, easy to say...) Fingers crossed for you!

did you ever treat your acne with any medication before you outgrew your acne?

[Alecia]

When I was in middle school, acne was on my forehead and T-zone. In high school, acne was on my cheecks and chest and back. Now I am in college, acne is on my chin and jawline and sometimes on my nose. When will it end....

[Ravina]

I am 30 years old and I have finally, in the past 6 months, outgrown the bacne that I have had since I was 14. I have tried just about every nonprescription remedy out there to no avail and in the last couple of years I just sort of gave up. I had just been washing with a mild, unscented baby soap in the shower once a day and that is it, no BP, no SA and no other kind of treatment. My bacne just sort of started clearing up a few months ago and just kept getting better and better every day. I still have some red marks but nothing active! My face is another story, I am still getting breakouts there. But the fact that my back finally cleared up after 15 years of dealing with this crap gives me hope!!

[Bled Zeppelin]

You will outgrow acne when you stop masterbating & get your diet & lifestyle together... Until then, I have heard about people have acne all there lives... Unfortunate, but never sin against gods wishes of looking after your body & dropping your seeds, or he will hurt you...

[alternativista]

I did not grow out of my severe acne. It did lessen on my face though. I think that's common. It's like it starts on the forehead in the early teens, then moves downward.

[-lxl-]

^yeah i had forehead acne first, and it started going downwards after that
sometimes i wonder if long term use of topical medication prolongs the growing out of acne time... any inputs?

[jordan12]

^^I've had the same experience--started out on forehead (relatively minor...and nowhere else)...got progressively worse on forehead and moved down to cheeks...and eventually my forehead cleared (almost...I still get occasional breakouts up there, but it's not really a big deal, and the skin is very regenerative up there) and now it's everything below my forehead that's a problem (mostly cheeks)...and that's where all my scars are (well, aside from the first scars I ever got, which were on my temples...I don't think it's possible for acne on the temples to heal without scarring )

[LionQueen]

Moved to General Acne forum.

[acne_battle]

It depends on the person. Some people outgrow acne in their twenties, some in their thirties, some in their fourties, some in their fifties. My dad is 56 and he still gets mild breakouts, Im 23 and I still have moderate acne

[JR86]

a lot of people outgrow acne around the age 23-25. women have much higher rates of adult acne than men though. what are you using to treat your acne though? you don't need to wait to outgrow it if it can be effectively treated.

[scott24]

Hi, did anyone ever outgrow severe acne? I had severe acne from ages 15-18 on the face and now at 21, my acne has spread on my back and some on chest but reduced on the face.

I'm here thinking i should be 'outgrowing' this horrible disease or w/e it is because everyone told me i will outgrow it.

I do not think i am outgrowing it anytime soon since it has spread all over my back now.

Anyone outgrow their moderate/severe acne? if so, at what age???

I was the opposite of you. My back and chest look pretty good, and my face is becoming worse than ever.

I thought by 24 it would surely be gone, but I was wrong. It bothers me alot more now because in high school it was at least normal to have some, even pretty bad for some people. I have the worst complexion of any 18+ years old person I know. If I wasn't poor, working part time and going to school I would just get insurance and accutane but I think I will just learn to live with it. Doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon.

Whatever you decide to do, best of luck to ya!

[Karisma]

I wouldn't know but i hope you can outgrow severe acne. My dad used to have it but he lost it somewhere in his twenties (i wish he would remember the exact age, i know i would ).

I once went to see a chinese medicine doctor and he said that when acne starts to grow down below rather than your face (Cheeks), that it's a good sign. Obviously, that might just be a huge mound of BS

[UsNcK]

I hate acne as well and I hope I can out grow it. All the adults in my family like my dad, mom, grand mother etc.. have nothing on their face and they are between 40 & 60.

[yuzer]

I outgrew cystic acne for the most part at age 20. I never had it bad but around that age I stopped getting em. After that and to this day I have mild, yet highly persistent acne. Oh yeah, and while I used to have cystic acne, at least my forehead was clear Now it's a big acne zone.


It's interesting how acne moves to different parts of the face/body as we age.