What is acne?
Acne can appear a lot of different ways. Usually it consists of blackheads and whiteheads, which we commonly refer to respectively as open comedones and closed comedones. It can also consist of papules, which are pink pimples, and pustules, which are white, pus-filled pimples, and sometimes more painful and larger nodules and sebaceous cysts. Carbuncles are infected cysts.
Are the characteristics of acne different in adulthood?
Usually it's the non-inflammatory, or blackhead and whitehead lesions, that start to come out during adolescence, when kids start getting oily in their T zones: their forehead, nose and chin. As people get a little older and the acne becomes more severe, they develop more inflammatory lesions that involve redness and swelling.
Adults, especially adult females, tend to have more acne breakouts on the lower half of the face, such as the cheeks, the jaw line, the chin and the neck. No one knows exactly why those are the areas that tend to break out more, but with adult women it's assumed that those areas might be more sensitive to hormones.
Where else on the body can acne appear?
Adolescents start out with acne in the T zone, and then get more inflammed acne that can migrate down to the chest and back and sometimes the buttocks. It might mean that there are excess hormones being produced in these areas, but we don't exactly know why acne follows this pattern.
What are risk factors for acne?
It's assumed that genetics and hormones play a role in starting acne. Other factors that might contribute to flares of acne include stress and certain skincare products that clog the pores.
