Menopausal acne is more likely to be both painful and located on your body, like your trunk. Making a diagnosis will help us get you sorted and skin back to glowing.
Adult acne begins after the age of 25 by medical definitions, the ‘informal’ definition is over the age of 40, menopausal acne presents during perimenopause, or the time around natural menopause, so a bit older presentation, on average.
Both types have a similar disorder of the pilosebaceous unit that causes the lesions: including too much sebum, abnormal sebum type, too many thickened dead superficial skin layers, pigment abnormalities, the skin bacteria cutibacterium, and finally local inflammation or irritation worsened by poor immune function of the skin. Acne is typically an inflammatory disorder of the pilosebaceous unit and has a multifactorial pathogenesis. And to some extent the solutions we offer are going to be helpful in both types.
You are likely to have other hormone symptoms, particularly those that are related to androgen excess as the ratio of blood estrogen to androgen changes.
Stress is more related to menopausal acne than adult acne, here again I can not emphasize mindfulness, breathwork and yoga enough. Take classes from any of our excellent teachers, or with me at Hatha Yoga & Fitness (hathayogafitness.com)
Obesity is a factor more in menopausal acne than in adult acne, and the good news is that even small gains in leaner body will help your skin as well.
Sun damage predisposes skin to both types of acne: adult type and menopausal type. The higher grade medical sunscreen products are what I recommend. Get a consultation at Hada Cosmetic Medicine (hadacm.com), and we can help you find what you need.
Hair loss and abnormal increased unwanted hair growth is more likely in menopausal acne.
The lesions are different, but can overlap and these features won’t always make the diagnosis obvious.
Both menopausal acne and adult acne can be resistant to standard treatments, so it’s not too soon to get evaluated. Menopausal acne can respond to treatments better if the sources of hormone imbalance are corrected. Make a consult appointment with us today!