<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve just started taking a new course of medication, and while you may be feeling better physically or mentally, there\u2019s something going on with your skin: acne. It\u2019s only been a week or so, but it feels like you have a minefield of angry red bumps all over your shoulders or deep, painful cysts taking up residence on your chin.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, some medications and supplements can trigger breakouts, which can be pretty upsetting for someone trying to make a positive difference in their health. \u201cAcne due to a medication is usually driven by increased oil production, hormonal signaling, increased inflammation, or altered turnover of skin cells,\u201d explains Olivia Tomasco, DO, a board-certified internist and primary care physician at Houston Methodist West Hospital.<\/p>\n
Medication-related breakouts generally show up fast, often within two weeks of starting a new drug, though they can take a month or longer to crop up, says Debra Luftman, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in Calabasas and Beverly Hills, California. But don\u2019t worry, you likely won\u2019t be breaking out forever.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne important reassurance I give my patients is that medication-related acne may not be entirely avoidable, but it is very treatable,\u201d Dr. Luftman says. \u201cThe goal is never to stop an important medication prematurely but to support the skin while the body adjusts from any number of vantage points.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ahead, learn more about which medications may cause acne breakouts and how to handle them.<\/p>\n
Doctors note that if you\u2019re experiencing medication-related acne, you\u2019ll likely notice a lot of activity all at once, versus just one or two zits. \u201cDrug-induced breakouts are often more uniform in size and shape across many areas, appearing rapidly after a medication cycle begins,\u201d explains Dr. Luftman. Doctors refer to these as acneiform eruptions. You\u2019ll typically see uniform papules (small, solid, raised bumps) and pustules (small, inflamed, pus-filled bumps) versus blackheads or whiteheads, she notes.<\/p>\n
However, not all drug-related breakouts are acneiform eruptions. Some medications that affect hormone levels can cause true acne (with blackheads or whiteheads) and may require slightly different treatments to resolve. Here are some common culprits of both types of skin freak-outs.<\/p>\n
Steroids<\/p>\n
Steroid-related acne is pretty common, so much so that doctors often simply call it \u201csteroid acne.\u201d Frequently prescribed oral steroids like prednisone and dexamethasone may trigger \u201cmonomorphic inflammatory papules,\u201d or small, uniformly sized red bumps, explains Anetta Reszko, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York City. Sometimes papules can develop into pustules, which have a white or yellow pus-filled tip, so you may notice both are present in the affected areas. If you\u2019re dealing with a steroid-related breakout, you\u2019ll typically see red, inflamed bumps across the arms, shoulders, back, and chest, Dr. Reszko says, calling that a \u201ccharacteristic inflammatory breakout pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSteroids such as prednisone or anabolic steroids stimulate the oil glands in the skin, which leads to acne formation,\u201d explains Dr. Tomasco. Anabolic steroids, which are used to treat conditions like endometriosis and osteoporosis, are more likely to cause acne due to increased hormone activity, which in turn impacts your oil glands, she notes. \u201cThink of when during puberty, hormones start to change and fluctuate, which often results in the acne so many of us experience as teenagers,\u201d Dr. Tomasco says. \u201cThis is also the reason many women experience hormonal acne depending on where they are in their cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You\u2019ve just started taking a new course of medication, and while you may be feeling better physically or mentally, there\u2019s something going on with your skin: acne. It\u2019s only been a week or so, but it feels like you have a minefield of angry red bumps all over your shoulders or deep, painful cysts taking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beauty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}