Adult Acne - Everything You Need to Know

• The Three Types of Adult Acne
• Causes of Adult Acne
• Adult Acne Vs. Adolescent Acne
• What Studies Tell Us
• Conclusion
   

People often think of acne as a condition that affects teenagers that disappears naturally after adolescence, but different studies have shown that significant percentages of adults experience acne as well. Adult acne is normally defined as acne in persons 25 years of age or older.¹

The Three Types of Adult Acne

There are three types of adult acne.

1. Persistent acne begins during adolescence and continues into adulthood.
2. Late-onset acne begins during adulthood, affecting people who did not suffer from acne during adolescence.
3. Recurrent acne begins during adolescence, then goes away temporarily only to make a comeback at some point in adulthood.^1,2

Causes of Adult Acne

Although the underlying causes of adult acne have not been completely investigated, researchers in a 2006 report published in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology claim that many of the same biological processes and other factors related to adolescent acne likely play a role in adult acne:

Let's look at the potential causes of adult acne in layman's terms and look at what each entails.

Hormone (endocrine) imbalance: Acne is generally caused by an imbalance of hormones, which are produced by the endocrine system. Androgens, which are male hormones that are also present in females to a lesser degree, are primarily responsible for triggering acne. The increased production of androgens contributes to the following events, which work together to cause acne:

• Increased skin oil (sebum) production in the pores
• Skin cell overproduction (keratinization)
• Overgrowth of acne bacteria (C. acnes)
• Inflammation^3-5

Genetic predisposition (genes): If a person's parents suffer from a certain disease, he is more likely to develop that disease. In the case of adult acne, people who have relatives or a family history of adult acne are more likely to deal with adult acne as well. However, studies on twins have revealed that, in addition to genetics, environmental factors can also contribute.^6-8

Cosmetics and skincare products: Some products contain pore-clogging ingredients. Dermatologists refer to products that tend to clog pores as "comedogenic."³

Emotional stress: It has not been proven, but some researchers believe that stress affects how the immune system responds to infections, including infections by C. acnes. Stress may also affect how the body regulates hormones, which may trigger acne.³

Smoking: Not everyone in the acne research community agrees that smoking causes acne. Some studies support this idea, and some do not. However, some researchers have suggested that smoking may result in acne by altering the composition of skin oil (sebum).^9-11

Diet: Diet and acne is an area of ongoing research, and thus far we can hesitantly state that a high-glycemic diet, which is a diet that contains a lot of high-sugar and processed foods, may lead to more acne, but we will have to see better studies done on this topic before we can say for certain.¹²

Adolescent Acne Vs. Adult Acne

There are some notable differences in how acne affects adults compared to adolescents.

• Adult acne tends to affect women more than men, whereas adolescent acne affects boys more than girls.
• Adults with acne tend to get fewer non-inflamed comedones (clogged pores) than adolescents with acne, whereas adult acne can produce more inflamed pimples. Consequently, adult acne leads to scarring more often than adolescent acne.¹
• Both adult and adolescent acne can affect the face, neck, and torso. Several studies have demonstrated that adult acne is particularly present on areas near the cheeks, chin, and mandible (jaw) in both men and women.^1,13-16

The differences in features of adolescent and adult acne are organized in the table below:

The next table shows us how males experience more adolescent acne while females experience more adult acne:

And next, we see something a little surprising--that both adolescent and adult acne have are not too different when it comes to severity:

What Studies Can Tell Us about Adult Acne

Although there is much that researchers don't understand about adult acne, scientific studies have been able to provide answers to some questions. The table below summarizes answers to some of these questions, based on the best research that is currently available. Details about the studies are explained further in this article.

Let's delve into some studies now and see what they can tell us about some specifics.

Acne declines with age

A large study looked at how often acne occurred in different age groups, and thankfully we can see that acne declines with age. The results of this comparison are shown in this table:.¹⁴

Women are more likely to experience adult acne

Two large studies have shown that late-onset acne is much more common in women than in men.^1,14

Since women experience more adult acne, let's zero in on the potential contributing factors to adult female acne and see what studies can tell us about this topic.

Adult female acne may result from a combination of factors

The first, and most clear reason that women may experience more adult acne than men is because women go through a monthly menstrual cycle. The cycles cause changes in androgen levels, which are related to premenstrual flares of acne (7 - 10 days before menstruation begins) in adolescents as well as adult females.

A recent study found that about a third of women with adult acne have abnormally high androgen levels.¹⁷ Excessive amounts of androgens at certain points during the menstrual cycle may be one of the factors contributing to adult female acne.

Sticking on the topic of hormones, women may also develop adult acne due to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a disorder in which hormone levels are unbalanced, cysts are found on the ovaries, menstrual cycles become disrupted, and hair growth may increase. One recent study suggests that women with PCOS are more prone to persistent acne than late-onset acne. In other words, PCOS tends to cause acne in adolescence that continues on into adulthood.¹⁸

Persistent acne is more common than late-onset acne, and may be more severe

Adults who experience acne are far more likely to have persistent acne, rather than the late-onset variety. We have evidence of this from a large 2012 study that included nearly 1400 participants. This study found that among people with adult acne, over 80% suffer from persistent acne, and that persistent acne tends to be slightly more severe than late-onset acne. The researchers also concluded that adult acne is most common in people who are in their late 20s, and that acne incidence decreases in the following decades.¹

Another study confirmed the finding that persistent acne is more common than late-onset acne, and again, found that late-onset acne is more likely to strike women than men.¹

The cheeks, chin, and jaw areas are most prone to adult acne

While adolescent and adult acne both affect the face, research shows that adult acne is particularly common on the cheeks, chin, and jawline.¹

The graph below shows the similarities and differences in how men and women with adult acne experienced acne on the U-zone as well as on the T-zone, which comprises forehead and nose areas.¹

Late-onset acne causes fewer comedones, but more inflammation than persistent acne

A study that looked at women with adult acne found that women suffering from late-onset acne had fewer acne lesions than women with persistent acne. However, the researchers also observed that lesions in late-onset acne were more inflamed or swollen compared to lesions in persistent acne.¹⁶

The proportion of adults who have acne varies widely

A variety of acne studies conducted on groups of people in different countries reported incidences of adult acne. The following table summarizes the findings, and how they are categorized. There is some variation in how prevalent acne is, depending on gender, age, and ethnicity. Because of these variations, it is difficult to estimate how often adult acne that would be true for all adults occurs. But generally, I estimate that 31.9% of women and 20.5% of men between the ages of 20 and 70 years old are affected by acne, based on these studies.

Here are the study-results on how genders are affected by adult acne:^19-23

Next, here are study-results on how the frequency of adult acne diminishes with age:^20,24

And finally, here are study results on how often adult acne occurs in different ethnicities:^25-27

Conclusion

Adult acne is caused by the same factors as adolescent acne, but there are some notable differences in how it presents. Persistent adult acne is far more common than late-onset adult acne. Late-onset adult acne tends to affect women more than men, but adult acne in general is particularly common on the cheeks, chin, and jawline. In these regions, fewer comedones but more inflammation are seen than in adolescent acne.