ACNE – WHAT TO DO WHEN IT HITS YOU MID-LIFE

I remember many people at school whose skin changed almost overnight.  They ranged from those who had the odd blemish to a small percentage who ended up with pitted and scarred skin, with large, visible whiteheads, blackheads and, for the boys, sore skin around the beard area where they were also trying to fight the onset of facial hair.

For most of those people though, they grew out of this rather distressing condition and proceeded to move into their twenties with totally different skin.  

There was also a small percentage who seemed to totally escape any sort of pimple and their youthful complexion was the envy of us all.

But…. late twenties onwards and they seemed to be the ones who developed adult-onset acne, and suddenly all of our rose-tinted jealousy in our teenage years disappeared.

Adult acne normally starts after the age of 25 and seems to be more prevalent in women.  The causes of adult acne generally fall into these categories:

1. Fluctuating hormone levels
2. Stress 
3. Family history
4. Use of hair and skincare products
5. Medication side effects
6. Bacteria
7. Diet and gut health

What exactly is acne anyway?  In essence it’s a skin condition that occurs when your follicles become blocked either with dead skin cells, oil, skincare products etc.  It is characterised by whiteheads, blackheads, small red bumps, pimples with pus at their tips, or large solid painful lumps which either appear beneath the surface of the skin or push through filled with pus.

Either way, nobody wants these issues on their face (and sometimes the condition can appear on backs, buttocks, shoulders and chest) and it can be particularly worrying when it appears mid-life because you don’t have the psychological comfort factor of knowing that it will probably rectify itself when you are out of your teenage years.

Here at Xodos, we treat this condition seriously – it’s not just pimples as far as we are concerned.

After a consultation which is mandatory so that we can really get to the bottom of you and your skin, we will put together a prescription of powerful products to start tackling this problem.

My first concern is usually ‘fixing’ your skin. Generally speaking, the protective layer of your skin tends to be damaged in clients presenting with acne. This is, in part, due to ‘trying everything’ to fix the problem, and as a result, the top layer is stripped away, combined with products that are designed to reduce oil production and ‘dry out’ spots. Prescription treatments* (such as benzyl peroxide creams) can be particularly bad for this as they are designed to treat a symptom but do not look after your skin. Once we have started this process, there will be an ongoing recommendation for a variety of products and treatments, bespoke to your individual needs. The whole process will be monitored by me, and changes made as appropriate. We are always here with help and support if you need it!

• medical caveat:

Please note – while Sally is a Registered Nurse, she is not a doctor, nor a dermatologist. Severe conditions should ALWAYS seek advice from a GP or Dermatologist, and there are cases where medical treatment is required. (for example antibiotics, and Roaccutane)