Skin care and incidence of skin disease in adolescence.

During adolescence there are marked structural and physiological changes in the pilosebaceous unit leading to an increase in sebaceous and apocrine secretion, as well as the development of androgen-dependent hair growth. Because of these changes, there are marked alterations in the pattern of skin care at this age. In addition, during adolescence there is a greater increase in the incidence of skin disease is due to the occurrence of acne vulgaris in 249.9 per thousand youths in the 12 to 17-year old age range. Other skin diseases that are extremely common in this age range include (in decreasing frequency) dermatophytosis, benign tumours, seborrhoeic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis and eczema, ichthyosis and keratosis pilaris, and verruca vulgaris.