Hormonal acne: Treating and preventing them

HORMONAL ACNE: WHAT IT IS, CAUSES, SYMPTOMS, TREATMENT, AND MANY OTHER DETAILS

Acne, commonly termed pimples, is a very common skin condition that is more or less known to affect people- and may occur among both men and women and in almost all ages. When acne breaks out on the surface of your skin, especially in areas such as the neck, face, back, and so on, it forms red and rounded structures that may or may not be painful. Hormonal acne is another type of acne that develops on the skin surface as a result of the fluctuations in your hormones, especially experienced during your adolescent years, that is your puberty when the body grows and develops rapidly and undergoes various types of physiological and hormonal changes. Though hormonal acne breaks out in the years of adulthood, for many the occurrences start early on (as the development of hormonal acne varies from one person to the other, depending on the intensity of hormonal changes in their bodies). Just like any other form of acne, hormonal acne too, can be easily prevented by certain types of treatment procedures, but before that, you need to know about hormonal acne in detail. This article will provide you with certain valuable insights related to hormonal acne, what it is all about, how it occurs and affects you, the causes behind its occurrence, the symptoms, preventive measures, and many other necessary details.

Here are all the vital facts you need to know about hormonal acne:

Hormonal acne usually develops as a result of the fluctuations in the synthesis of certain types of hormones (that is, due to changing hormones) in your body that happen mostly during your adolescent (or teen) years. These types of acne can affect both males and females and develop on the face, neck, shoulders, back, chest, and in similar parts of the body, in puberty, these acne can occur in your chin, nose, forehead, lower cheeks and the jawline (as adult acne), making the areas sensitive. In most cases, the fluctuations in the reproductive hormones result in the formation of hormonal acne. According to recent studies and experimental research (2 Trusted Source), it has been found that almost 50 percent of women between the groups of 20 and 29 and 25 percent of women between ages 40 to 49 are known to develop these types of acne.

Hormonal acne, though not harmful, should be prevented as in certain cases, it might be the result of hormonal imbalance. It is mostly due to this reason of hormonal fluctuations that adults often develop hormonal acne on their skin and face, and women in particular are mostly affected due to the rampant hormonal changes in the female body. This happens because the female body goes through a lot of hormonal changes during the menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and various other hormonal and physiological conditions of the female body such as polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS and similar other conditions. To understand if you are developing hormonal acne, it is important to look for acne that has developed in areas surrounding the jawline and on your cheeks (just like any other type of acne) but occurs due to oily skin and inflammations, in the form of cysts, blackheads, and/or whiteheads. Hormonal acne breakouts in adulthood are quite common and to understand this, you must note how you can tackle the problems of hormonal acne so that this type of acne does not leave marks or scars on your face and skin surface.

Hormonal acne and its effects: Here are the types of related skin problems that occur with hormonal acne

Apart from developing as a result of hormonal imbalances, hormonal acne can also develop when the skin pores get clogged due to the accumulation of dirt and dust and this causes whiteheads, blackheads, or sores to occur on the skin surface. This may happen because there are a large number of oil glands in the areas that are affected by acne.

Various types of hormonal acne may develop on the face and the surface of your skin, some of which include the following:

• Cysts, that develop as pus-filled nodules that are deeply lodged under the surface of your skin

• Comedones are clogged pores that form whiteheads and blackheads

• Pustules are red bumps that are formed as visible white or yellow pus

• Papules are breakouts that develop as small pink bumps with no pus

• Nodules, that develop as firm, large, and painful lumps that are found under the surface of the skin.

To treat these conditions, there are both natural techniques, such as herbal solutions, and clinical methods such as skincare medications, over-the-counter drugs, and prescription treatments as recommended by your healthcare professionals.

What are the common causes behind the occurrences of hormonal acne?

Though hormonal imbalance, particularly, problems in the synthesis of reproductive hormones are some of the major reasons behind the occurrences of hormonal acne, in many cases, this acne too forms due to clogged oil glands as the skin surface becomes quite sensitive to certain types of hormones that are known as androgen. All people have some level of androgens and these increase during puberty and this causes in the increase in production of the oil which increases the chances of developing acne. There are many women who are sensitive to androgen and due to these hormone sensitivity hormonal acne breakouts occur and can often worsen. Besides these, there can also be certain lifestyle factors that can lead to acne vulgaris, mostly stemming out of skin problems like irritating the skin, leading to redness and often increasing the risks of developing acne and other types of skin problems as well.

Other than these, certain types of medications can also result in these types of acne, some of which include the following:

• Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs that consist of components like sertraline hydrochloride

• Corticosteroids such as Deltasone or prednisone

• Mood stabilizers that consist of lithium

• Having excessive amounts of progestin birth control pills.

Besides these, certain factors can further worsen hormonal acne. Some of those factors are listed below:

• Excessive smoking and consumption of alcohol (or alcohol-based drinks)

• Lack of enough nutrients in your diet

• Obesity

• Harmful environmental pollutants (dirt, dust, and other particles) on your skin

• Excessive skin washing or scrubbing of your facial skin

• High humidity

• Squeezing or picking at sores

• If you are squeezing or picking at blemishes

• Poor diet, that is, if you are consuming a diet rich in refined carbohydrates and sugars

• Stress or lack of sleep

• A habit of wearing tight, uncomfortable clothes, hats, or helmets.

What are the major symptoms of hormonal acne?

Some of the most common symptoms, that will help you realize that you are having are listed below:

• Occurrences of lesions or damaged skin tissues, mostly appearing on cheeks, shoulders, neck, face, back, and so on

• Skin may become red and/or inflamed

• Skin becomes painful and sore.

Why do adults develop hormonal acne?

According to recent studies (3 Trusted Source) and research, some of the major factors that cause hormonal acne to grow on adult skin are:

• sleep deprivation that is, lack of enough sleep

• overuse of cosmetics and makeup that may contain harmful chemicals

• high levels of stress

• hormonal changes during your pregnancy and menstrual cycles.

What are the treatment methods for curing hormonal acne?

Dermatologists and many healthcare professionals carry out various technical methods to get rid of hormonal acne, that is, to treat them, some of which include these:

• Steroid injections for cysts

• Topical cream for blackheads and whiteheads

• Topical retinoid and/or topical antibiotic and/or benzoyl peroxide for inflammatory acne

• Antibiotic and/or isotretinoin or retinoid

Apart from these medical treatment methods, you can also try out the natural methods:

• Consume foods that are rich in nutrients

• Cleanse your skin daily

• Limit using birth control and contraceptives

• Laser or light therapy.

What are the measures to be taken to prevent hormonal acne?

It is very difficult to get rid of hormonal acne completely because a major cause of the development of acne depends on the hormonal synthesis in your body which is not in your control. But if you want to prevent the occurrences of hormonal acne on your skin, you need to take certain steps, some of those preventive measures can be listed as follows:

• Reduce your stress levels and get enough rest (and sleep)

• Use skincare products that are less oily and do not clog the skin pores

• Consume a healthy and balanced diet that is rich in nutrients and avoid having oily and junk foods

• Live a strictly healthy lifestyle.

If these ways are not enough to control hormonal acne on your skin, you must therefore take professional help from an expert dermatologist.