What Medicines Treat Hormonal Acne
Medicines for treating hormonal acne include the birth control pill and spironolactone. Birth control works by suppressing estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone hormone production, while spironolactone blocks androgen, the hormone that contributes to hormonal acne. While these medications work for some people, they often come with side effects or could worsen acne, especially once you stop taking them. You can learn more about acne after birth control here.
Farmacy Deep Sweep 2% Bha Pore Cleaning Toner
Free of alcohol and other skin-stripping ingredients that irritate sensitive, acne-prone skin types, the Farmacy Deep Sweep 2% BHA Pore Cleaning Toner uses clarifying salicylic acid to remove all traces of impurities and oil from the pores to treat and prevent breakouts from forming. This top-rated toner also brightens and smooths your skin using an antioxidant-rich and nourishing blend of purifying moringa and soothing chlorella.
How Long Does It Take To Treat Hormonal Acne
While you may notice changes within one cycle, its important to give yourself 8 to 12 weeks to really begin to see the benefits if you dont see them immediately. It takes a minute to resolve inflammation, balance blood sugar, and reset hormone balance. But as your hormone balance improves, so will your skin.
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Try An Oral Contraceptive To Balance Hormones
If you’re comfortable and if a gynecologist says you’re a good candidate, oral contraceptives can help balance out your hormones, including those that are responsible for acne. Zeichner says that the best prescription options for hormonal acne are birth control pills and Spironolactone . Birth control pills help regulate your hormones and decrease testosterone levels, which can mean fewer hormone-induced breakouts. Zeichner notes the four birth control pills currently approved for acne: Yaz, Beyaz, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, and EstroStep.
Another option is the aforementioned Spironolactone. Though not specifically designed to treat acne, it is often used for exactly that purpose because it prevents testosterone from stimulating the oil glands: “Less oil means less shine, fewer clogged pores, and less food to feed acne-causing bacteria,” Zeichner explains.
“Certain oral contraceptives have even been approved by the FDA to be used in the treatment of acne,” explains Fenton. “If you are already on birth control or thinking of going on it, make sure to ask your gynecologist for an oral contraceptive that will also help your acne.”
Use A Clay And Jojoba Oil Face Mask
A jojoba oil and clay mask is a simple remedy that can tackle your acne. According to a study, applying the mask 23 times a week for 6 weeks reduced acne lesions by 54% on an average. So how does it work? The primary benefit of clay is that it has a drying effect and can deal with oily skin. Meanwhile, jojoba oil has anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. Blend clay and jojoba oil into an acne-busting facial mask and watch your skin clear up.20
References
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The Best Skincare Products For Hormonal Acne
One of the best acne treatments is the Intensive Clarity Treatment 0.5% Pure Retinol Night. This product contains a variety of acne-fighting ingredients such as salicylic acid, retinol and niacinamide. Retinol is one of the most effective treatments in calming acne as it stimulates cell turnover and is anti-inflammatory. This means it minimises the appearance of acne and prevents further hormonal breakouts. Intensive Clarity is also an effective cystic acne treatment as niacinamide soothes inflammation and reduces oil production. Niacinamide is gentle and effective, meaning that this treatment wonât irritate sensitive cystic acne. Niacinamide also reduces water loss, keeping your skin hydrated which is essential in preventing excess oil production, and calms sensitive acne.
The Acne Gelfrom skincare pioneers PCA Skin is another great skin clarifying product. This gentle, fast-acting gel uses 2% salicylic acid to clear existing breakouts and blemishes. Excess oil production is reduced, as well as unwanted discolouration. As well as this, it also helps to prevent future breakouts. Furthermore, the product utilises a unique OmniSome delivery system to allow for deeper penetration of its key ingredients.
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Natural Women’s Skincare For Hormonal Acne
One of the most important things you can do for clear skin is to choose gentle skincare that is right for your skin and free from hormone disrupting chemicals. Many conventional products are loaded with endocrine disrupting chemicals and other harsh chemicals that could further contribute to hormone imbalances and contribute to hormonal acne.
Check your skincare products for ingredients that are known endocrine disruptors here.
While scrubbing your skin aggressively with rough exfoliators may seem like the answer, it can actually damage the skin barrier and worsen inflammation. Instead, opt for a simple skincare routine that includes a cleanser, toner, moisturizer, and spot treatment.
Be sure to cleanse your face twice daily, in the morning and at night before you go to bed. Choose a natural cleanser that won’t strip your skin of its natural oils.
Follow up with a light, non-comedogenic moisturizerwhich means it won’t clog your pores. For spot treatment, there are over the counter tea tree oil products available. Tea tree oil is a natural plant oil with anti-inflammatory properties that could help clear up spots and speed up the healing process. Pure tea tree oil is strong on its own, so I dont recommend applying it directly to the skin.
Changing your pillowcase at least weekly can also help with preventing clogged pores.
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What Causes Hormonal Acne
While any menstruator can have hormonal acne , , M.D., board-certified dermatologist in New York City, says it can be associated with certain medical conditions, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome . “Hormonal acne typically occurs on the lower third of the face, often affecting the jawline and chin, but can also contribute to breakouts on the chest and back,” she explains. “Typically it appears with deeper, cystic breakouts, which may be stubborn and cyclical.”
There’s no one best treatment or cure-all for hormonal acne, so Dr. Garshick tends to suggest a combination of therapies. “It’s important to also treat other potential causes of acne with a retinoid as well as benzoyl peroxide,” she says. “But for the hormonal component, it’s often most effective to treat with certain oral contraceptive pills or spironolactone, a blood pressure medication that can be safely used off-label for the purpose of treating hormonal acne.”
Limit Stress To Reduce Inflammation
Ever heard of a stress zit? Being on edge is not only bad for your mindset but also aggravates your skin. “Stress triggers the release of a variety of hormones that can trigger an inflammatory response in the body,” says Fenton. “Inflammation is a major part of acnethat’s what leads to those large and deep red cystic pimples. Anything you can do to reduce inflammation will be helpful for your acne.”
Staying hydrated and reducing stress are things that are often overlooked in regards to skincare, Henry adds. “Exercise helps nourish skin cells and keep them healthy,” she explains because it increases blood flow.
When it comes to lifestyle adjustments, Kimberly Snyder, a holistic nutritionist, says to make sleep a priority: “Sleep fights stress and helps your body and hormonal systems function.” Additionally, she recommends upping your water intake dry brushing exercising to help manage and relieve stress and staying on top of gut health, by incorporating a quality probiotic.
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Whatever You Do Dont Pop
Adolescents typically get pimples everywhere, and theyâre prone to whiteheadsthose raised orbs that call out to be squeezed. Women, on the other hand, often break out around the jawline, chin, and mouth, and pimples look red and feel inflamed rather than poppable, Dr. Nazarian says. Plus, skin heals more slowly as you age, so an errant, scab-inducing âsqueezeâ can take weeks to vanish.
Theres No Problem That Natural Ingredients Cant Fight The Stubborn Hormonal Acne Is No Exceptionhere’s Some Home Remedies To Help With Horomonal Acne
It begins with the oil-producing sebaceous glands beneath your skin pushing the sebum up the pores to protect the skin by creating an oily barrier. But then dirt and dead skin take advantage of the situation and clog your pores.
Yup, this is the story of the acne. And it gets worse due to a hormonal frenzy in the body which can lead to a drop in the female hormone called estrogen. The lack of this hormone encourages sebum production even more and thus trapping more dirt and giving you more acne.
But in this battle against zits, you are not alone. I happen to be a victim too. But luckily, I havent given up on a clear acne-free skinthanks to a few tried-and-tested home remedies that work like a charm.
Check them out:
1. Apple cider vinegarThe wonder liquid that can aid weight loss when consumed on an empty stomach. It can also get rid of acne, when diluted with water. Heres how you can go about it: mix 3 parts of water with one part of apple cider vinegar and apply it on the affected areas. Leave it on for about 20 seconds and then wash off with water.
The succinic acid in apple cider vinegar has anti-inflammatory properties while the lactic acid has amazing scar-lightening powers. Moreover, it can even soak up the excess oil and dry out the acne. What more do you want?
2. Green tea bagsInstead of throwing away those used green tea bags, rub them gently on your face.
The antioxidants present in green tea can remove toxins from your skin and help lower sebum production.
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Medication Or Natural Remedies
The acne treatments available work by controlling the production of sebum and clearing the clogged pores. You can choose to use natural remedies or medication to treat pregnancy acne. There are many acne products that contain benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. These ingredients kill acne-causing bacteria and they clear the pores of dead skin cells and oil. Pregnant women can use products that contain these ingredients quite safely. It is, however, important to know that the ingredients can cause skin peeling, dryness, and irritation.
Why Acne During Pregnancy Is Common And How To Get Rid Of It
- Why Acne During Pregnancy Is Common and How to Get Rid of It
Everyone talks about the glow that comes with pregnancy but for many, the increase in oil secretion can cause breakouts, even in women who havent had acne for years. Theres no culprit that we can blame for acne during pregnancy, but dermatologists project that these breakouts are caused by the same thing that causes them during teenage years: hormones. Specifically, a hormone called androgens. If you are breaking out during your pregnancy, heres what you may want to know about how long it will last, why it happens, and how to safely treat it.
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Adopt A Simpler And More Natural Skin Care Routine
When creating a skin care routine for hormonal acne, look for products that are:
- Non-comedogenic i.e. doesnt include ingredients that clog pores.
- As natural as possible. In particular, you want to avoid potential hormone disruptors or pro-inflammatory ingredients. This means watching out for ingredients like parabens, triclosan, phthalates, siloxanes, BHA and BHT.
Also, be careful not to over clean your skin. Even though oily skin and clogged pores can lead to an overgrowth of bacteria, over cleaning the skin especially with harsh ingredients can also destroy the healthy bacteria that naturally sits on the skin.
Overall, less is usually better.
As for how to get your hands on more natural products, you can go the DIY route or buy from companies that use natural ingredients. Ive put together this list of brands and products that you can use .
Lastly, consider using a nourishing face oil like jojoba as your daily moisturizer.
Now, you might think this would make your acne worse, butjojoba oil is the only oil that is closest to the natural sebum that our skin produces.
And research suggests that applying jojoba oil on the skin actually signals to your body that it doesnt need to produce more sebum .
In addition, jojoba oil is non-comedogenic so your pores can actually breathe!
Take Your Vitamins And Herbs
While hormonal acne is stubborn, there are some easy strategies you can take to balance hormones for acne relief naturally and it starts with vitamins and herbs.
Vitex for Acne
In women, hormonal acne typically manifests along the jawline and chin. If this sounds familiar, taking Vitex for acne may be a successful treatment.
Vitex agnus castus, also known as Chasteberry, is a womans herb thats been traditionally used for hormonal imbalances. Its been used for menstrual symptoms of low progesterone in the luteal phase . These symptoms include depression, crying, mood swings, acne, nervousness and anxiety.
Vitex has also been used as a natural remedy for treating such symptoms of high estrogen levels as pain, tender breasts, bloating and heavy periods.
Current research shows that Vitex can support healthy hormone levels and relieve pre-menstrual symptoms. It can also be an effective natural hormonal acne treatment.
How does Vitex for Acne Work?
The Vitex herbs act upon the pituitary and hypothalamus glands by increasing luteinizing hormone production and mildly inhibiting the release of follicle-stimulating hormone . This results in a shift in the ratio of estrogen to progesterone, with a rise in progesterone. The ability of the Vitex to increase progesterone levels is an indirect effect.
Vitex itself is not a hormone, but rather an herb that helps the body balance natural estrogen and progesterone. By balancing the estrogen, the androgens then come into balance as well.
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Discover How You Can Get Clear Of Your Acne Schedule A Free 15 Minute Clear Skin Discovery Session
This is all important because research has shown there are androgen receptors in the base of the oil gland and also in the cells that line the pores! If there are high levels of testosterone floating in the body, they are highly capable of binding to these receptors.
To put it simply, when these hormones attach to the oil glands in the skin, they trigger the gland to produce more oil as well as feed the bacteria. Then, an inflamed acne lesion is well on its way to the surface of your skin.
The key takeaway is that by lowering androgen and testosterone levels in the body, the skin will not produce as much acne or not produce ANY at all.
So how does Estrogen play into all this?
Estrogen and testosterone frequently act like a teeter totter. As one goes up the other goes down.
Hormonal acne is an elevated androgen/testosterone and low estrogen issue. It is not an elevated estrogen problem. Therefore, taking herbal supplements that block estrogen, such as DIM, will make your acne worse and increase testosterone causing cystic breakouts. I do not recommend DIM for hormonal acne for these reasons.
So it makes sense that if you lower androgen levels, the skin will not produce as much oiland your acne will improve!
Clear Pores With Benzoyl Peroxide
“By far and away, the best topical medicine for acne is benzoyl peroxide,” Katie Rodan, MD, dermatologist and cofounder of Proactiv, says. “Nothing, not even antibiotics, beat it when it comes to killing bacteria and clearing pores for the long-term without antibiotic resistance.” Benzoyl peroxide is so powerful because it’s antimicrobial, meaning it zaps acne-causing bacteria and keeps pimples from coming back.
Zeichner recommends using benzoyl peroxide in concentrations ranging from 2.5 to 10 percent for maximum benefits. It works best when left on the skin in the form of a lightweight lotion, but some cleansers and masks containing benzoyl peroxide can remain on the skin in an effective concentration after they’ve been washed offif they’ve been formulated to do so . Try this pick from Humane, which contains five percent benzoyl peroxide along with soothing ingredients like aloe vera gel and cucumber extract.
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The 5 Natural Supplements You Need To Stop Hormonal Acne
Food is always the most powerful weapon in your arsenal to combat hormonal dysfunction, but natural supplements are essential for speeding up the process of healing and recovery.
Using the right natural supplements every day can get you to where you want to be much faster than using food alone.
Ready to recover your glowing complexion and regain your confidence? Here are my top five natural supplements for preventing and healing hormonal acne: