Adult acne proving a pain for half of young women

In my teens I remember my mum telling me that acne was just part of growing up and that I could look forward to smooth skin when I got older.

But even at the age of 53 I have to say that it’s never fully gone away.

Granted it’s calmed down, but a stressful time or particularly unhealthy weekend can still trigger a bit of a break-out.

And it seems that adult acne is far more common than many people realise.

Almost half of US women aged between 21 and 30 suffer from clinical acne, according to a study at Massachusetts General Hospital, with 45 per cent admitting to being seriously affected by spots.

These post-adolescent acne figures may seem high, but they have reduced a little since the last report in 2006.

Some 26 per cent of women aged 31 to 40 admitted to getting pimples, with 12 per cent of those between 41 and 50 afflicted also.

Spots are generally blamed on hormones, but the study did find that an unhealthy diet or smoking could heighten an individual’s risk of having acne.

This is little help for me, as I’ve never smoked and generally eat well, although I think reducing my stress levels could go a long way towards helping my skin.

Older skin is generally drier so it’s less common for our oil glands to produce excess sebum, the oil which causes pimples, however it’s not uncommon ladies.

Keeping skin clean using cleansers and always removing makeup before bed can help improve your complexion, but sometimes it’s not that simple.

Doctors involved in the study recommended that treatment creams can be beneficial in reducing acne, although these are better prescribed from your GP.

Acne-related products on the high street generally don’t cater for my age bracket anyway!

How do you deal with adult acne?