Post-acne scarring is a distressing problem for many patients with acne vulgaris, and therefore healing without scarring is an important therapeutic goal. In addition, postpubertal acne is frequently encountered in outpatient clinics. However, only a limited number of epidemiological surveys on acne scarring or post-adolescent acne are available. We therefore conducted a survey of 104 female volunteers in their twenties through questionnaires and dermatological consultations on post-adolescent acne conditions and acne scarring. Dermatologists revealed that 98.1% of the overall volunteers had some type of active acne eruption : 90.4% had inflammatory eruption（mild, 73.1% ; moderate, 16.3% ; severe, 1.0%）, 7.7% had comedones only, and only 1.9% had no skin eruption. It was also found that 65.4% had atrophic scars and 1.0% had hypertrophic scars. Of 75 volunteers reporting having acne, 25（33.3%）continued to have acne that had occurred during puberty and the remaining 50 had recurrence after improvement of pubertal acne. Major reported attempts to cope with acne included “moisturizing”（60.6%）, “facial cleansing or removal of surface oil with facial paper”（53.8%）, and “coverage with cosmetic foundation”（51.9%）, but only a few of them assessed their attempt as effective. Compared with the percentage of respondents buying over-the-counter drugs or cosmetics for acne, the percentage seeking medical treatment（17.3%）was smaller, but many of them（72.2%）assessed it as effective. On the other hand, 73.1% attempted self-treatment that resulted in worsening of acne or formation of acne scarring, and this result suggested that patients with acne should be encouraged to receive appropriate treatment. Our survey indicates that acne is associated with a prolonged course and frequent recurrences, and is highly likely to leave scaring. Therefore, not only earlier aggressive treatment, but also continued maintenance therapy is important to achieve healing of acne without scarring.

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