Adult acne: Blame recession for breakouts

New York —- Here’s another bump in the landscape of economic meltdown: adult acne.

Manhattan dermatologist Dr. Cheryl Karcher is performing far fewer liposuctions 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 are “tightly intertwined and the nervous system is stimulated by stress. … I am seeing more acne than you can believe.”

With a 16-year-old daughter to care 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. “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 widely circulated 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,” says Fields, a co-founder of the anti-acne formula Proactiv.

It’s easier to minimize acne if you get to it before it’s fully developed, says Oakland, Calif.-based Dr. Katie Rodan.

If you’re not sleeping or if you find yourself picking at your skin even before a pimple appears, she says, you might be helping to trigger a breakout. Instead, use an anti-acne product and manage the stress.