Acne & Skin InflammationNewstead, Brisbane

Acne is a long-term, inflamed condition of the hair follicle and the oil gland attached to it. Three things drive it, usually together. Your oil glands make too much oil. The skin cells lining the follicle shed in a way that blocks the pore. And your immune system reacts to all of this with inflammation. The different types of acne are really different points in this same process. So an assessment looks at the kind of spots you have, where they are, whether scarring has started, and what is driving it. We treat acne the way we treat rosacea or melasma: a long-term condition you settle down and then keep settled.

In adults, acne usually has more than one cause at once. The main ones are your genes, your hormones, stress, and for some people, diet. Hormones matter more in adults than in teenagers. In women, the typical adult pattern sits along the chin and jawline, often as deep, painful lumps. These tend to flare with the menstrual cycle, after coming off hormonal contraception, with polycystic ovary syndrome, or around perimenopause. Hormonal treatments, managed by your GP or specialist, help in around three out of four hormonal cases, but they take two to three months to settle in. In men, stress and some supplements are common triggers. Diet plays a real but smaller part. High-glycaemic foods and skim milk have the strongest link; whole dairy and chocolate, a weaker one. We are also learning more about the gut-skin connection, where the balance of bacteria in the gut seems to influence inflammation in the skin, though the evidence for probiotics is still early.

Acne turns up in different forms, and the form decides the treatment. Comedonal acne is blackheads and whiteheads. Blackheads look dark because the trapped oil reacts with air, not because the skin is dirty. Whiteheads stay under the surface. Inflammatory acne is the red bumps and the ones with visible pus. Cystic acne is the deep, painful, hard or fluid-filled lumps that sit below the surface, leave scars, and rarely clear with over-the-counter products. Hormonal acne in adults has a familiar pattern: deep cysts along the jawline, chin and lower face, often coming and going in a cycle. Fungal acne looks like even, itchy little bumps, mostly on the chest, back and shoulders, and needs an antifungal rather than an antibacterial treatment. Acne shows up where oil glands are densest, so the face first. Around half of people also get it on the chest, back, shoulders or upper arms. A severe, tunnelling form of back acne needs specialist care.

The single biggest thing that decides whether you scar is how long acne stays inflamed before it is brought under control. Stress and picking speed up scarring, and adult jawline acne is the type most likely to scar. That is why we treat acne in a clear order. First, a simple skincare routine you can actually keep up, built around a skin-renewing topical cream, with calming and antibacterial products alongside it. Second, in-clinic treatments that work with that routine. Third, where it is needed, medical treatment from your GP or specialist. For severe or scarring acne, the most effective treatment is one that only a specialist dermatologist can provide. If your acne is deep, cystic, scarring, or not settling with standard care, the honest answer is a dermatologist referral. We will arrange that without hesitation, and fit any procedures, like scar treatment, around that medical care.

Our Newstead clinic looks after clients across Brisbane, including New Farm, Teneriffe, Fortitude Valley, Hamilton, Ascot, and the wider inner north. If you are after acne or acne scarring care in Brisbane, you are welcome to book an assessment. Good acne care starts with understanding the cause, not with reaching for a device.