As an Online Esthetician working exclusively with Adult Acne for people 30+ for the last decade or so, many clients come to me after being disappointed by doctors. From differing hormone levels, to greater dead skin cell buildup as we get older, to a plethora of anti-aging products, there are so many new issues that arise over the decades, it baffles me how often people seem to get treated medically the same, irrespective of age.
In general, I feel that throughout much of the medical profession, adult acne is not really well understood for one very simple reason - pore clogging and irritating ingredients in anti-aging skincare are not taken into account. It's no accident that so much of the time a client will start out telling me that she never had a single pimple in high school - a definite indication her acne problem is not genetic! What this means is that oil and bacteria may not be a problem in a case like this.
So why prescribe medication ?
All prescription acne meds are designed to either cut oil production, exfoliate dead skin cells or kill bacteria - and here's where it gets complicated. If bacteria, excess oil production and/or dead skin cell build-up were all that were involved in the formation of adult acne, a string of prescriptions would likely do the trick for most people, and I would still be working in a fancy spa on the south side of Chicago doing fluff facials.
What is missing here? Why are these medications so often not helping?
