Adult Acne Pops Up When Economy Slides

Excerpts courtesy of Associated Press

Here's another bump in the landscape of economic meltdown: adult acne.

Stress is a leading cause of breakouts, and there's no shortage of that these days in the office of Oakland, Calif.-based Dr. Katie Rodan. Many of her clients are either in the financial field or have husbands who are.

Meanwhile, Manhattan dermatologist Dr. Cheryl Karcher is performing far fewer liposuctions or botox injections but is seeing more patients than ever. "They're all insurance patients for eczema, acne and warts. They're all another hit from the immune system," she says.

Karcher explains that the nervous system and hormone systems work together. "They are tightly intertwined and the nervous system is stimulated by stress. ... I am seeing more acne than you can believe."

A traffic jam or a spat with a significant other can set off a rise in cortisol that causes a breakout, but there isn't usually a collective mass of people experiencing a high-anxiety event like there is right now with the recession.

With a 16-year-old daughter to care for — and college to pay for — as well as elderly parents, Zondra Barricks says the economy weighs on her almost every day.

"My skin is a barometer of my emotional state," says Barricks, a patient of Rodan. "I am trying to take care of myself, behind the scenes I'm taking care of my skin. ... I have to cut back, but I don't want to look the raggedy way I'm feeling."

Dr. Kathy Fields points to a Stanford University study from 2002 that found students had more severe acne during exam periods than other times of the year.

"When your cortisol levels go up — and we're having so many spikes during the day — that aggravates acne. Your cortisol levels go up more in one day than a caveman had in one year," says Fields.

The single worst thing you could do, according to Rodan: pop your pimples. "Infections also increase when cortisol levels are high and wound healing slows down."

Bonnie - binge eating and excess junk food consumption also contribute. A wonderful, natural, economical method for breakouts is to wash your face with milk of magnesia twice daily. Put it on at the beginning of your shower and wash off at the end.