“Is acne a permanent condition?”
My son has the worst acne breakouts and is struggling with this. Is this permanent or can it be treated?
3 Answers
How long acne breakouts continue is written into a person's genetic software. We do know that it is not uncommon for acne to persist into the individual's thirties, forties and in some cases even into the early fifties. So, since the field of genetics is in its relative infancy, we cannot say in any individual how long it will last. However, if bad acne breakouts in older genetic relatives persisted into the twenties or thirties, there is a reasonable chance that this will be the case for your son. What we can say is that, especially for severe cases, the early the intervention the better the chance to prevent permanent acne scarring.
Acne is common in teenagers going through puberty when sex hormones are starting to be secreted by the sex organs (i.e., testicles and ovaries), thus it tends to be worst during the teen years and then lessens thereafter. If it is severe, a visit to the dermatologist will get him started on the right treatment and will usually reduce or eliminate the pimples and help prevent facial scarring, which can be permanent.
Acne can always be treated even in a long term basis. The scars can be permanent though appearance can be minimized.
