Acne

Michelle Rupp: Hello and welcome into this week’s edition of AFMC TV. We’re so glad you joined us. Today’s first topic. Boy, it’s a doozy. We’ve got Rebecca Denniston in here and we’re talking about acne and before we actually started rolling, we were kind of talking this is a broad large topic.

Rebecca Denniston, PA-C: It is.

MR: That we’re going to tackle this morning. So why don’t we start first in just genetics? How does genetics does genetics play a role in acne development?

RD: Sure. So yes and no. So, there’s no specific gene per se that causes acne. But we do see a big kind of family correlation. So, if your mom and dad have bad acne a lot of times the child will have bad acne. So definitely I think there’s a role. It’s not always 100% true. But for sure that can be.

MR: What about our diet? Our diet isn’t always the best. And so, does that have an influence on acne could it influence?

RD: Yes, so back you know, years ago there was a lot of things that people talked about, you know chocolate and caffeine and fried foods. Sugary foods. All these things that potentially could make your acne worse. But it’s been fairly well studied and there’s nothing that definitively says okay you need to take this out of your diet so that your acne will clear um dairy can have a small correlation but it’s not enough for us to say you need to stop eating all dairy for your acne to go away. So, so there’s really not a definitive, you know, food or drink that causes acne?

MR: So, are there different types of acne that teens may deal with and that adults may deal with as well?

RD: Yes, definitely. So, um starting I’d say probably around like 11 or 12 and females and in males, you do start to see acne. Um a lot of it is what we call comedonal acne. So smaller kind of white heads and blackheads. And then as you get older, um females especially you can see more hormonal acne and then also in adults there can be a hormonal acne and those tend to be larger um bumps usually red, really tender, maybe deep under the skin. Um So there’s different types of acne and those are oftentimes treated differently as well.

MR: If you had a bad experience as a team, does that then lend itself to having a not positive experience as an adult.

RD: I definitely think that’s the case. I see a lot of adults that might have had acne as a child um and or a teen and then it got better and then came back. And I think there’s a lot more frustration as adults. I see a lot of adults coming in and they’re like, well, why is my face breaking out? Why do I have acne?

MR: I was done with that.

RD: Exactly. And so, I’m seeing a lot of that honestly, but there’s great treatments out there and things that you can do now.

MR: So, let’s talk about some of these treatments.

RD: Sure. Yeah. So again, it depends on the type of acne um more for for kids, teens. A lot of times we’ll do retinoids. Um So Trentino in which is the generic name for retina, retinoids work really well for acne and young adults and um and older adults as well. But it works to increase your cell turnover. So, you get rid of cells faster. You make new cells quicker. Kind of helps keep those pores cleaned out. Really helps with blackheads. And then also has benefit for scarring and pigmentation from acne. So, a lot of times we’ll use that in both, you know, teens and adults. Um sometimes will do other topical medicines with it. Sometimes oral antibiotics, um older adults, it kind of depends on what the cause of acne is, but there’s good hormonal treatment. So, we have a pill you can take. And then now as of probably six months ago we have a new topical medicine um for hormonal acne and that’s kind of a new thing for us, that’s the first new class of acne medicine since about the 19 eighties for dermatology. So, it’s a big deal. Um And there’s just all kinds of different things you can do. Um males, I think especially older males, older adult males, I do see interestingly enough correlation with testosterone. So that’s a big thing right now. You know, testosterone injections are more popular and those can cause acne, a lot of tropical acne so chest and back. Um, so that’s a whole, another thing.

MR: That’s a whole another episode.

RD: Yeah, exactly.

MR: So, is there anything we can do to prevent outbreaks?

RD: Definitely. I think especially for kids, teens and even adults, if you’re exercising playing sports, you, want to make sure you’re really good about washing your face. That’s the first step. So, you know, you wash your face in the morning if you exercise or sweat a lot, it’s good to wash your face after that and then at night before you go to bed, you know, getting all that dirt oil off throughout the day and then for females, you know, making sure you take off your makeup at night before you go to bed, you know, getting that clean face. It’s really important.

MR: I heard someone once say, every time you brush your teeth, you need to wash your face. So, in theory, if you’re brushing your teeth in the morning and you’re brushing before you go to bed at night, you should be washing your face in the morning, washing your face.

RD: Exactly. That is so very true. Yes, definitely.

MR: At what point does acne, whether it’s in a adolescent teen and adult, at what point does it really necessitate some type of medical intervention. When should someone realize, you know, we’re past the point of dealing with this at home. Let’s go to a dermatologist.

RD: Yeah, I think there’s kind of a twofold answer. So obviously if it’s bothering your child or your teen’s self-esteem and it’s really, you know, affecting them by all means bring them in. There are things we can do, but sometimes the acne is just not bad enough yet and there’s some great things you can do over the counter. Um So benzoyl peroxide washes are, are a big thing that worked really well for chest and back acne that kind of takes the bacteria off the skin. And then a medicine called different, which is adapt clean and it has a retinol in it and then actually used to be prescription and now it’s over the counter. And so, let’s say child teen adult is doing those things. So, they may be doing their general cleanser. They may be doing a topical medicine over the counter like different and they’re not seeing results, then you would want to bring them in um, you know, most acne treatments. I try to tell patients that it’s going to take about 6-8 weeks to see changes. But um, you know, by all means if it’s really bothering you know, the child or even the adult um definitely come in because there’s lots of options for treatment? Alright, great.

MR: And Rebecca where can folks get ahold of you?

RD: Yes. So Dermatology Group of Arkansas. We’ve got six locations and yeah, happy to see you for your acne.

MR: Okay, Becca thanks so much.

RD: Thank you.