Adult Acne – Why Now?
Some time ago you noticed an itchy, scaly patch on your chest. You thought it was “just a rash” and it would go away, but it didn’t. The patch got bigger and the itching got worse so you finally went to a doctor and the diagnosis was eczema. “Doc, give me the magic pill to cure it and I’ll get on with my life.” “No cure, no magic pill” was the reply. “What’s going on here?” you wonder. “I thought eczema only happened in babies and I’m WAY past that. Why now? Why me? What did I do to deserve this?”
As to “why now”, chances are you didn’t just suddenly develop eczema as an adult. That is very rare. Approximately 95% of eczema sufferers developed it before the age of 5, most likely before the age of 1. It is a chronic condition, but the reason you haven’t noticed it before is that it can go into remission for months, even years.
You can answer the other two questions by looking at your own family history. Eczema is generally hereditary. Does anyone on either side of your family have eczema? Do your mother, father, aunts, uncles, grandmother, grandfather suffer from hay fever, asthma, or allergies? Do you suffer from them as well? There’s your link. And it’s most common in males.
You know you have eczema, you now are pretty sure why you have it, but what caused it to flare up now? That’s not an easy question to answer. Allergies are a leading cause of eczema. You may be allergic to one or many things, some of which could cause your flare up. Our bodies change over time and what you weren’t sensitive to as a younger person you may be sensitive to now. Stress has been shown to exacerbate eczema symptoms and as an adult you’re probably under a lot more stress than you were as a child.