Acne Is Not Just A Teenage Problem

Acne is predominantly a problem suffered by Caucasian teenagers but it can in fact affect people of all races and at any age. And, no matter when it strikes, the treatment is essentially the same for everyone, except babies.The first secret however in treating your acne is to find out just what sort of acne you are suffering from because, despite thoughts to the contrary, there are several different types of acne. One great help here can be a professional diagnosis and, no matter how silly it seems, a quick trip to see you physician or a dermatologist can save you a lot of heartache later when several treatments have not only failed to cure your acne, but have perhaps even made your condition worse.The second secret is to learn a little bit about the condition because there are a lot of myths surrounding both the cause of acne and how best to treat it. For example, people will tell you that eating chocolate or drinking too many soft drinks will give you acne. This is untrue and, while there are other very good reasons for not eating too much chocolate or drinking too many soft drinks, preventing acne is not one of them. People will also tell you that getting out in the sun and getting a good suntan will also cure your acne. Again, this is not true and the only thing it is likely to do is to increase your risk of contracting skin cancer.Many people believe that it is in some way their own fault that have acne and that it must be the result of poor hygiene. As a result, they start to scrub their skin clean and, in the process simply make the condition worse. Acne is not caused by poor hygiene and even most of the people who are fastidious in their daily washing habits will get acne. It is true that good skin care will help when it comes to treating acne, but that is another story.One difference which you will see in acne is between males and females. Acne tends to appear at younger ages in girls than boys and boys tend to suffer worse than girls once they do get it. However, later in life acne tends to affect more women than it does men.Also, men and women tend to follow slightly different treatment regimes because of makeup in the case of women and shaving in the case of men, amongst other things. In addition, men and women tend to react slightly differently to medications used in the treatment of acne because a large component of the condition is hormonal.Despite these difference over-the-counter and prescriptions medications tend to work just as well in both men and women, as do light and laser treatments.Both genders are also prone to acne scarring and here again the wide range of treatments, including such things as dermabrasion and laser treatments, are regularly and effectively used to treat millions of sufferers every year.Regardless of your age or gender, the treatment for acne has advanced considerably in recent years and, for many people, it is now possible to treat most cases of acne both quickly and effectively. All you need to do is to start with a little bit of research to learn just what acne is, how it is caused and how best to treat it.