Acne Arrives Earlier In Girls But Is Often More Severe In Boys
Whether we like it or not, most of us develop comedonal acne during our teenage years with boys tending to develop acne at about the age of thirteen and girls experience the problem from around the age of eleven. The reason for this difference in ages between girls and boys is simply that girls mature sooner than boys and typically enter puberty a couple of years before boys. During our teenage years we all experience a rapid rise in a number of our hormones, including both estrogen and testosterone, as well as an increase in a lesser know set of hormones called androgens which play a role in the onset of acne. It is the earlier onset of the rise in the level of androgens in girls that accounts for the earlier arrival of acne but, luckily, levels in girls do not rise as high as they do in boys so that the earlier arrival of the condition is offset by the fact that it is often less severe.