How do you know if your Acne is hormonal? How to get rid of your hormonal acne naturally? Triggers and causes of hormonal acne.

MY ADULT ACNE STORY.

I was 26 years old when I first experienced hormonal breakouts. Even though I had oily skin and struggled with the usual mild acne breakouts as a teenager primarily on my forehead and a few blackheads, I never really had full-blown clusters of painful and inflamed acne breakouts until then. One day I looked at my face and noticed red and painful bumps under my skin located on my chin and under my jaw area. They quickly multiplied and covered my jaw, chin, chest, and back. I was devastated.

Looking back at this period of my life now and knowing what I know as a licensed esthetician I can see the root cause of my Adult Acne. The underlying STRESS I was experiencing during that time was causing havoc on a hormone level.

I had just enrolled in my full-time esthetician school program while also working full time from 9 am - 4 pm, six days a week. Went to school in the evening from 6 pm - 10 pm, four days a week, and worked out for 1-2 hours a day in the gym with a personal trainer, plus taking hot yoga classes and studying for my exams in the late evening hours. If you asked me to know how I did it all I can't even give you the answer. Sometimes we just do what we have to do without realizing the consequences of our life choices. Even though I was seemingly fine, I began to suffer from insomnia, panic, anxiety attacks, and later on depression.

As a natural-born researcher ( 5/1 HD generator ), I began to investigate the probable causes for my condition. I stopped taking the antidepressants prescribed by my doctor after a week of taking the drugs and began my journey to natural health and wellness. After 6 months of adopting healthy habits, supplements to support my skin and panic attacks cleared my diet from gluten, dairy, and sugar, learned kundalini breath, and stayed obsessively consistent on a skin care regimen plus biweekly deep pore cleansing facials with extractions, my skin was finally acne free.

What is hormonal acne and how it happens?

Hormonal acne, also known as adult acne, affects adults between the ages of 20 and 50. About 40% to 50% of the adult population ranging from 20 to 40 years old have some sort of acne on their body.

While any gender can have hormonal acne in their adult life, it typically affects women more than men. Studies have shown that about 50% of the women population ages 20-29 deal with acne, and 25% of women ages 40-50 also deal with it. Why do women experience more hormonal acne than men?

Women tend to experience more hormone fluctuations compared to men due to puberty, menstruation cycles, pregnancy and menopause, and periods of extreme stress.

Acne occurs when hair follicles become plugged with oil and dead skin cells. Hair follicles are connected to sebaceous glands. Those glands make an oily substance known as sebum, which normally travels up the hair shafts and out through the openings of the hair follicles onto the surface of your skin.

When your body produces too much sebum and dead skin cells, they can build up and plug the hair follicles, creating an environment where bacteria thrive. That can lead to inflammation or infection, causing pimples and other acne symptoms.

Hormonal acne is acne that occurs when a person’s hormone level fluctuates. Fluctuations of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone can cause zits and pimples to pop up. Typically, these fluctuations happen mostly during menstruation cycles, pregnancy, menopause, and stress.

During these times of increased hormones, the body produces more sebum, an oily, waxy substance. This then leads to inflammation, changes in skin cell activity, and colonization of bacteria in hair follicles. With this combination, acne starts to appear. Medications, antibiotics, specific foods, depression, anxiety, stress, and other mentally triggering elements can cause hormonal acne as well.

How do you know if your Acne is hormonal?

Fortunately, hormonal acne can be easy to identify. Breakouts on the chin and jawline are directly linked to the reproductive organs of the body, so hormonal acne will almost always present itself there. Recurrent breakouts are also highly likely to be hormonal. Hormonal acne often reappears in the same spot due to oil production patterns, so if you’re noticing breakouts continually recurring in the same area, it could well be the result of hormones. These breakouts can range from mild skin congestion to painful cystic acne.

Triggers and causes for Hormonal Acne.

The main triggers and causes of adult hormonal acne are hormonal imbalances, gut inflammation, food sensitivities, and nutritional deficiencies. Let us dive into these main triggers first:

Elevated Testosterone Levels

One of the hormones that is most strongly associated with acne is testosterone. In essence, a more potent androgen (DHT) will ultimately cause increased sebum production, clogged pores, and acne. This is the same hormone that is also responsible for male pattern hair loss. And in women and hirsutism, is a condition by which hair grows on parts of the body where hair is normally absent or minimal.

The reasons why most women suffer from Hormonal Acne associated with high levels of testosterone are - Estrogen dominance and PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome).

Estrogen dominance occurs when there is too much estrogen compared to normal progesterone levels, or normal estrogen relative to low progesterone levels. Common symptoms include fibroids, breast tenderness, irregular menstruation, ovarian cysts, PMS symptoms, and of course, acne.

PCOS is another common reason for elevated testosterone in women. For the majority of women with this condition, insulin resistance, blood sugar dysregulation, and chronic inflammation are the underlying factors. This insulin surge goes on to signal the ovaries to produce excess testosterone. This additional testosterone then signals our skin cells to increase oil production, which in turn causes acne.

Elevated Cortisol Levels

Every time we encounter a stressful event, our brain releases a hormone that signals our adrenals to release cortisol to deal with the stress we are experiencing. This condition known as Adrenal PCOS is a type of PCOS that is not as common but is still responsible for acne, hair growth in unwanted places, and chronic inflammation in the body. Other factors contributing to the release of these hormones are oxidative stress due to toxins in the body, cigarette smoke, and UV radiation.

Gut Microbiome Imbalances

It is becoming increasingly clear that our microbiome plays a strong role in the management of hormones, specifically estrogens. In other words, a microbiome imbalance can create a state of estrogen dominance, which in turn can promote more acne.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Vitamin A is critical to skin regeneration. Quality sources of vitamin A include egg yolks, cod liver oil, and orange-colored vegetables such as sweet potato, pumpkin, and squash.

Vitamin D plays an important role in fighting inflammation. Since acne has an inflammatory component, vitamin D is crucial for reducing this inflammation. Vitamin D is most readily absorbed through the skin. It is recommended to spend at least 15-30 minutes outside for maximal Vitamin D absorption.
Omega-3 essential fatty acids help to maintain healthy cell membrane elasticity. It is important to consume high-quality omega-3 fatty acids regularly. Examples include walnuts, hemp seeds, chia seeds, and wild-caught seafood such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, and anchovies.
Zinc is an essential mineral that is critical for maintaining skin health. It protects against oxidative damage and also increases the activity of vitamin A, and therefore, skin regeneration.

Food Sensitivities

The three most common dietary triggers for acne include sugar, dairy, and gluten.

Sugar is a known culprit of inflammation and insulin resistance. This is the same underlying mechanism that promotes acne. Over time, this excess insulin can signal the ovaries to produce more testosterone, one of the main hormones responsible for the development of acne. In addition to limiting your intake of refined sugar, it is important to limit refined carbohydrates as well. This includes your intake of processed foods, white flour, pastries, cereals, etc.
Dairy is another significant contributor to acne, especially cystic acne. Any dairy, such as milk, yogurt, and cheese was associated with an increased risk for acne. Dairy products contain a hormone called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). This hormone is found in milk derived from all species including cows, sheep, and goats. The IGF-1 hormone can mimic our endogenous insulin, and can therefore signal our ovaries to produce testosterone.
Gluten is another strong culprit for acne. Numerous studies have now described the inflammatory effect of gluten on the skin. Gluten sensitivity is associated with skin conditions such as dermatitis herpetiformis, psoriasis, and eczema. It is believed that this same underlying inflammatory mechanism is the causative factor for acne in individuals presenting with gluten sensitivity.

How To Combat Hormonal Acne Holistically?

Now that we’ve covered the most common underlying triggers and causes for hormonal Acne I’d like to walk you through some of the lifestyle changes you can implement immediately in your life to improve and heal your skin condition from the inside out.

In addition to supplementing your diet with the nutrients I listed in this post ( Vitamin A, Zinc, Vitamin D, and Omega 3 fatty acids, eliminating gluten, sugar, and dairy from your diet you can start with:

Adding fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, and coconut yogurt into your diet to balance out the healthy bacteria in your gut.

Balance your blood sugar by eating a primarily whole food anti-inflammatory diet.
De-stress regularly. Take time in your day to pause, breathe and improve the quality of your sleep. Eliminate the major stressors in your life, exercise regularly avoiding High Intensity workouts because these types of stress to the body can also spike the levels of cortisol and testosterone in the endocrine system.

How To Clear Hormonal Acne with the correct skincare regimen?

A great start will be curating a well-rounded skin care regimen including acid-based cleansers, and antioxidants such as vitamin C serum, pore resurfacing exfoliating serum, skin repairing and hydrating moisturizer, and sun protection with antioxidants.

My professional recommendation is The Skin Care Management System from Jan Marini Skin Research for Normal to Combination Skin types. This system includes all five products you will need as the perfect base for your regimen. All five products in the system are listed by numbers which makes it so easy to use without skipping essential steps in your routine.

In addition to this regimen, you will need a retinol-based product to ensure proper cell regeneration and cell turnover. Check out our best seller the Age Intervention Duality from JMSR.

Keeping your skin's protective barrier intact is another important step in creating the most effective regimen for hormonal acne. My recommendation is the Heal All Oil from The Golden Secrets. This oil will help balance the microbiome of your skin, heal and repair any existing blemishes and reduce the inflammation in your skin.

Getting regular monthly facials will help keep the pores of your skin refined and clean, balance and repair the protective barrier of your skin and help you reduce stress and tension all at the same time. Our most popular facials for Hormonal Acne are the Medicinal Acne facial, The Lymphatic facial, and our Customised Facials - Nina Connor method.

How to clear Hormonal Acne?