Adult Acne in Men: What It Is, Causes of Adult Acne, and How to Treat

There are many things from your childhood you may want to carry into adulthood – acne however, is not one of them. Adult acne in men can be incredibly embarrassing. There’s something about pimples that just don’t go along with stubble and a square jaw line.

Our guide on adult acne will explain what adult acne is, the causes of adult acne, and treatments on how to get rid of adult acne in men.

What is adult acne in men?

Adult male acne is no different than the acne you may have had when you were a teenager. Over ten percent of men over the age of 25 experience regular adult acne breakouts.

Male adult acne is caused by excess secretion of sebum in the sebaceous glands, typically caused by an increase in hormones. When these hormones are mixed with bacteria, white blood cells move into the infected area to heal, causing a pimple.

What Causes Adult Acne in Men?

There are many causes of adult acne in men, but the following are the most common:

Stress: Stress causes an increase in the androgen hormone, which stimulates your sebaceous glades to overproduce sebum. The androgen homorone is responsible for developing male traits. You might think having an excess is a good thing, but it’s not. Your body needs a balance of it.

Excessively Drying Out Skin: If you have a tendency to over dry your skin in order to remove oil, you may be causing yourself adult acne. Excessively drying out the skin causes your sebaceous glands to go into overdrive to bring your skin’s oil level back into balance. This overdrive mode creates too much oil, filling your pores and clogging them.

Chemicals & toxins: Chemicals and toxins in skin care products you’re using can irritate the skin, causing inflammation leading to acne. Inflammed skin is more likely to see a build of up white blood cells, causing pimples to appear. Use natural men’s skin care and grooming products to avoid this type of inflammation.

Lifestyle: Drinking, eating unhealthy, and taking prescription drugs can cause adult acne in men.

Adult Acne Treatments for Men:

The first step in treating men’s adult acne is to buy men’s facial products that are designed for your skin type. Over drying the skin or creating excess oil both contribute to acne.

We also recommend using natural & organic skin care products for men. As discussed above, chemicals and toxins in generic skin care products can create adult acne by inflaming the skin. Using any type of products with salicylic acid or glycolic acid, two widely used “adult acne treatment ingredients”, will severely dry out your skin, inflaming it.

Start out by cleansing your face with a natural men’s face wash no more than twice a day, in the morning and at night. Remember, your skin needs to feel hydrated, not dry in order to stay in balance and not create acne.

Post cleanse, we recommend you use a natural men’s face scrub no more than twice a week. If you have sensitive skin or severe acne, limit exfoliating your face to only once per week and be extremely gentle on the skin. Rubbing a face scrub into your skin viciously can cause an outbreak.

We don’t recommend a toner as your skin will naturally move back to it’s original pH balance post cleanse. This is better than using a toner which can dry out the skin.

The final step is to use a natural & organic face moisturizer for men. Apply only a thin layer, being careful not to excessively add the lotion to your skin. A hydrated face stays in balance, helping prevent acne, while an excessively hydrated face can clog pores, creating acne.