Acne In Adulthood? Routine May Help

Dan Kern began his battle with acne at the age of 11. He fought it through his early teen years, his high school days and then his college career before entering an uncomfortable adulthood stage with the embarrassing blemishes on his face.

As a young teen, Kern begged his parents to take him to multiple dermatologists. As someone who says he has "an obsessive nature," Kern would study books in search for a cure for his ailment.

After multiple doctor's visits and thoroughly studied books, Kern had an epiphany.

"I came to the sobering realization after years of research that the medical community really doesn't know exactly what causes acne and the best way to treat it," he said.

So he launched a series of trial and error experiments on himself.

Some of his efforts met with just a glimmer of success. Others left him in a worse condition.

Finally, at the age of 24, Kern stumbled across a regimen that cleared his face, and he's followed it every day since.

Other Adults Face Acne

For many adults, Kern's situation is all too familiar. Acne follows them through the awkward younger years and into their adulthood.

But, as Kern discovered, there is no known cause of acne. However, the dermatological field does have a few guesses.

"Some of it's bacteria, some of it's genetic, some of it's hereditary," said Dr. Ron Moy, a member of the board of directors for the American Academy of Dermatology.

Moy said acne never truly goes away and can be considered "radioactive." He said that even if an adult's face clears up, it's possible it will break out once again.

"After pregnancy, it can worsen," he said. "Or later in life, or you get stressed out all of a sudden."

He said changing a diet or drinking soda; or using a lot of cream, moisturizers or sunscreen can cause an outbreak of acne.

However, as a dermatologist, he said it's important people wear sunscreen. So, he said, it's hard to find the perfect balance between a healthy, well-protected face and a fertile ground for pimples.

Devastating Depression

Whatever the cause of acne, the devastating affects are certainly known. On his Web site, Acne.org, Kern said, "I always felt that it held me back from living. I understand the depression that goes along with having acne. At times, it was all I could think about."

Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology who practices in San Francisco, said she often sees this kind of response from her patients who suffer from adult acne.

"Acne can be very disfiguring to my patients, causing low self-esteem, low confidence and depression," she said. "Therefore, I treat acne very aggressively to stop both physical and emotional scarring."

But Kern said he believes he's found an answer to the question so many people plagued with acne have sought -- his regimen.

1. Wash gently -- Gently wash your face with bare hands. Don't use a washcloth, which can irritate your face. Pat dry.
2. Medicate -- Squeeze out a generous amount of 2.5 percent benzoyl peroxide cream and gently rub in. Wait five to 15 minutes for face to dry.
3. Moisturize -- Apply moisturizer.

Although the regimen changed Kern's life and face forever, giving him confidence and a brighter outlook, he never saw what was about to come next.

A friend suggested Kern read the book, "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success" by Deepak Chopra. In the text, Chopra poses a question to the reader: How can you best help other people?

Kern knew right away.

"My answer to that was immediate and apparent," he said. "I could tell people about the regimen and see if it works for them, too."

So he put his story on a Web site. Immediately, people were telling him of their successes.

For the next six years, Kern merely ran the Web site as a way for people to connect and test his experiment. After lobbying for companies to make the benzoyl peroxide in higher concentrations for less money and having no success, Kern decided to take it upon himself to manufacture some products. For Kern, the success of his regimen is no surprise.

"I knew, I knew that this regimen was amazing because I'd tried everything and researched everything, read every study, and so I sort of had a hunch that it was going to work for people," he said.

Daily, he gets e-mails from people telling him his regimen worked. Recently, he received an e-mail from a 58-year-old woman who's dealt with an outbreak of acne. After trying Kern's technique, her face cleared up.

"That's a nice e-mail to get," Kern said. "Because we cleared her up. But I prefer an e-mail from a 12-year-old and nip it in the bud right there."

No Real Cure

Although dermatologists such as Moy warn there is no cure, only treatments, for acne, Kern said he'd like to get people talking on his Web site about different, possibly holistic, treatments they've discovered.

"Right now, it seems like that most of (the treatments) out there are sort of just attacking the acne symptoms," Kern said. "I would love to figure out what causes acne and get it from there. Kill it from the root."

But right now, Kern feels like he's exactly where he needs to be.

"I'm doing what I think I was put here to do," he said. "I feel pretty inline with my purpose and I think things fall pretty easily when you're in that place."

More Information:

Skin-Care Center

All About Acne

What Is Acne?