What causes adult acne?
Adult acne is a result of fluctuating hormones that occur naturally as we mature. Certainly pregnancy can sometimes worsen or improve adult acne because it profoundly affects hormones. In addition oral contraceptives have also been proven to improve adult acne.

What are the best treatments?
Adult acne is treated by dermatologists in the same manner as adolescent acne. The dermatologist will choose from various systemic and topical antibiotics. Other topical treatments consist of use of Retinoids, benzoyl peroxides and other agents such as sulphur, salicylic acid, glycolic acids. Many of these traditional treatments are very effective, however, acne is an inflammatory disease and initially many of the treatments exacerbate the inflammation. This means that initially patients looks and feel worse before they see improvement. The new approach is to use topical anti-inflammatories in addition to traditional ingredients to accelerate resolution and to prevent the initial pro-inflammatory worsening phase. Studies show tremendous benefits with this new anti-inflammatory approach and it will change the way physicians and patients treat acne.

Can anything be done about acne scars?