Between 12 and 22 percent of adult women have acne, despite the common perception it’s a teenage affliction.
However, adult acne often differs from adolescent acne, because it’s typically hormonal in nature rather than a result of clogged pores or overproduction of sebum, the oil the skin creates.
There are a wide variety of adult acne cures on the market, from antibiotics and contraception to radiofrequency laser treatments. While all these products can help acne, there are fixes that are easier and more natural that you can try first.
Watch Your Diet: The Impact of Food
The food we eat impacts every aspect of our lives, from weight and overall health to skin and hair. If your diet includes a lot of refined or processed foods, especially processed sugars, that may be what’s causing your acne. Processed foods, when digested, cause the body to produce excess glucose, which spikes insulin levels and causes inflammation. The inflammation spurs your body to produce anti-inflammation enzymes, an excess of which leads to acne.
To help abate your acne, try eating less processed foods and more fruits, vegetables, and lean meats. These low-glycemic or slow-digesting foods can help your body to stop overproducing enzymes. While changing your diet isn’t a cure-all, and it may take 10-12 weeks for your acne to fade, it’s a good lifestyle change not only for your skin, but for your overall health.
Topical Treatments: Natural Oils
Like your diet, your skin reacts well to natural topical treatments. With the growing interest in natural skincare products, it’s a great time to try this out. If you dealt with acne as a teenager, it was likely caused by a buildup of oil in your pores, so using oil to treat adult acne may sound counterintuitive.
But, the truth is that many of us, after having oily skin as teenagers, use cleansers that are too harsh for our skin as adults and cause our skin to produce too much oil, starting the acne cycle again.
Gentle, oil-based cleansers that use citrus or tea tree oils can work wonders for acne in adults, cleansing the skin without leaving it completely dry. These oils are anti-inflammatory, ameliorating the inflammation that can lead to acne, as well as cleaning away dead skin cells that can clog pores.
Visit Your Dermatologist
If your acne is severe and persistent, these solutions may help but not completely erase your acne. That’s when you need to see your dermatologist. Having persistent acne that is sensitive or causes you pain isn’t something you have to live with, and your dermatologist may suggest a prescription acne medication or contraception. For some women, that’s the best way to treat acne, but for others, simple lifestyle changes do work. Make sure you go to your dermatologist if you feel your acne is getting worse.
For many women, acne is a fact of life—and so is trying every new acne cure on the market. Lifestyle changes may be one of the most effective ways to control and mitigate your acne. You also get the added bonus of no painful treatments and no recovery time.
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