Who is likely to get acne? : Acne Treatment Guide

It might be easier to ask who doesn’t get acne. Most people have developed acne at some stage in their life –usually in their teens, although it often disappears at the end of puberty.

As you might have guessed, acne is likely to occur during puberty due to increasing levels of hormones in both sexes. However, high levels of testosterone can trigger an outbreak of acne which is far more likely to happen in teenage boys.

That does not rule out teenage girls as they too can develop acne. Fluctuations in their monthly cycle can result in acne as can a hormonal imbalance or genetic reasons.

Your genes are an important factor when it comes to acne. If one or both parents had acne then there is a strong chance that you will too although this is not automatic. There is not an ‘acne gene’as such which means that it is more likely to be a combination of different genes which predispose someone to developing acne.

So, you may have to put this down to ‘luck of the draw!’

You may have inherited a combination of genes which mean that you have a high risk of developing acne compared to someone else.

Teenagers

More than 90% of teenagers develop acne with more boys than girls being affected. It usually develops at the age of 13 and tends to peak at age 17 although it can persist into the twenties.

Girls develop acne at an earlier age than boys, usually between the ages of 13 and 17. Their acne will usually start to improve after the age of 17.

With boys, this often starts at a later age, say around 15/16 and peaks at 19. Male acne usually improves after the age of 19.

Adults

Acne can persist into your twenties and in some cases, your early thirties. Around 5% of women and 1% of men aged 25 to 40 will still have acne or will develop it for the first time.

This is known as ‘late onset acne’.

Babies and young children

This is fairly unusual but acne can develop in children as young as 8. This will appear as a series of blackheads, whiteheads and red sores.

This is known as ‘early onset acne’.

Find out what causes acne?