Breaking Out: A Woman's Guide to Coping with Acne at Any Age (Paperback)

by Lydia Preston (Author), Tina Alster (Author) "THIS IS THE BOOK I've always wished I had for myself..." (more)
Key Phrases: acne experts, acne patients, women with acne, United States, New York, Alan Shalita (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
An essential and comprehensive guide to acne for women of all ages

Acne is no longer just a teenage affliction. In fact, dermatologists often refer to it as a woman's disease, and drugstore shelves are filled with acne products specifically geared toward adult women. But how do you choose from the overwhelming selection of treatments? Which products are appropriate to use as you grow older, become pregnant, or enter menopause? How can you work with a dermatologist to get the most out of prescription acne medications?

Lydia Preston answers all of these questions and more, with up-to-date information drawn from her years of reporting on dermatology, as well as her own long personal experience with acne. In Breaking Out, she shares the wisdom of dozens of doctors and scientists who have devoted their careers to studying and treating acne, including:

• Guidelines for buying and using over-the-counter products
• Treatment for acne scars
• Emergency acne remedies and camouflage tips
• Alternative treatments, including herbal remedies, acupuncture, dietary approaches, and ways to unlock the mind-skin connection

No one has to live with acne or its consequences. Breaking Out is an invaluable guide to understanding and combating acne that women of all ages can turn to with confidence.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Introduction

by Tina Alster, M.D.

Acne is an elusive and resourceful foe. It is stubborn, with a remarkable ability to shrug off the most aggressive medical treatments. It is unpredictable, adept at appearing or disappearing without rhyme or reason. And it is malicious, capable of inflicting terrible damage in the form of physical scars that disfigure the face and emotional wounds that lacerate the psyche.

Most of the women who come to my office with acne or acne scarring have spent years battling this tenacious adversary. They are fed up with embarrassing breakouts and with remedies that haven't worked for them. Many are devastated by the facial scarring that confronts them each time they look into a mirror or catch sight of their reflection in a store window. And they all are sick and tired of waiting for it to just go away. Even though adult acne is a common phenomenon, with as many as half of all women experiencing at least occasional flare-ups, most of my female acne patients can scarcely believe that they are still breaking out in their twenties and thirties, let alone their forties and fifties!

A few years ago, writer Lydia Preston was one of these patients -- frustrated by years of fighting acne, and desperately unhappy about the scars on her face. These were experiences that she soon drew on when, after undergoing several surgical procedures to repair the scars, she collaborated with me on a book about my specialty, cosmetic laser surgery. I can safely say I have never met a journalist or researcher who became more thoroughly immersed in any subject.

Lydia spent hours watching me and the other dermatologists in my office at work -- and then spent many more hours grilling each of us about what she had observed. She interviewed my nurses and aestheticians -- and even my office manager. She pored over medical journals and textbooks. She attended dermatology meetings to hear other specialists lecture. And she sat down for long, heart-to-heart conversations with dozens of my patients -- many of them other acne sufferers -- gaining the kind of insight into their emotional and practical concerns that busy physicians rarely have the time to explore.

It is clear that she has brought the same dedication and passion for detail to this book about acne in women. As any dermatologist will instantly recognize from the names cited in the text, she has interviewed many of the world's leading acne experts -- true giants of dermatology, whose research constitutes the foundation for modern acne treatment. She has similarly sought out renowned authorities on acne scarring and scar treatment, on cosmetics and cosmetic chemistry, on alternative therapies, and on the psychological ramifications of skin disease.

The result is a uniquely comprehensive examination of the myriad complexities of acne and the confusing welter of treatment options. The book's exceptionally clear explanations of how acne occurs and how different remedies work or don't work to eliminate acne should come as a revelation to anyone frustrated by years of persistent treatment failure. It will certainly be a source of reassurance and wisdom to which any woman can turn with confidence at any time when an acne outbreak occurs -- whether she is exasperated by periodic flares or heartsick over disfiguring cysts or scars.

How do you sort through the hundreds of competing over-the-counter acne preparations that now crowd drugstore, supermarket, and department store shelves to zero in on the handful that are likely to be most effective for you? How do you avoid things that make acne worse? How can you work with a dermatologist to get the most out of prescription acne medicines? Treatments frequently fail simply because patients are not fully informed about how to use them co