Men, Women and Acne
As we have showed till now, acne really seems to be a disorder that at some level chooses between the two genders, or in other words it affects women and men in different ways or through different forms.
So, the special things about acne in boys and men are two: the first of all is that the disorder attacks more the teenage boys than the teenage girls, because of their oil glands producing more male hormones, which are the primary cause of acne; and the second thing is that there is a form of severe acne that attacks mostly men and another also severe form that attacks almost only men. So, while Acne Conglobata appears mostly in men, Acne Fulminans attacks almost only young men.
Although it might sound simple and similar to men’s case, acne in women seems to be rather a more complicated thing. We’re not telling here about how acne affects women and men’s lives and psychics, we’re not talking about aesthetics; we’re just drawing your attention on the fact that women’s bodies are far more complicated than men’s and that this is very important in the case of such a strange disorder as acne because it is all about hormones.
However, what is similar to men is that women’s problems related to acne start along with their reaching adolescence. But in the normal way acne should disappear after this period of time passes away and the girl becomes a young woman. But what is still normal on this world, so that acne could act normally too? For some women the real problem with this skin disorder breaks out in their late 20s or even early 30s. For some of these cases this eruption would take place for the first time in their lives.
However, the thing that makes the difference between men and women when talking also about acne is the fact that women have been created to be mothers and because of this fact their bodies experience monthly hormonal changes and not only. When they become mothers, the women also experience other hormonal changes. And finally when they enter the menopause or even the post-menopause periods, women may also experience hormonal changes and this way may still get acne.
So, whatever her age is for a woman the hormonal changes, that is in fact the disequilibria between her body’s male and female hormones, are very often things. Women should see a dermatologist or their physician and try to treat their acne. If they are pregnant and are also willing to treat their skin against acne, they really MUST see the doctor.
Among the treatment options for adult females that suffer from acne there are the antibiotics and topical treatments. Because there are women for whom the antibiotics and the topical treatments don’t show any result, they could turn to birth control pills, but only at their doctor’s advice.
Taken in low dosages, the birth control pills represent an acne treatment because they can decrease the amount of extra androgens, limiting breakouts. However, you should be aware that birth control pills have side effects and that you should first find them out and consult a gynecologist.
There are also other mixed treatments for women, but it is very important that they should be started only at the doctor’s advice and not by the word of mouth. When hormones get in the middle of the action, you should be very careful! Your body’s equilibrium between the male and female hormones is very sensitive and every wrong treatment could in fact harm you, your skin and not only, than be helpful and fight (only) acne.
All in all, practically the treatments against acne for men and women do not differ radically. The difference is just that women’s bodies’ inner mechanism is more complex, sophisticated and sensitive (to hormonal changes) than the men’s bodies.