The steps to take before turning to Birth Control to treat hormonal acne.
- 8 October 2018
- Posted by: seo.digitpoint@gmail.com
- Category: Blog
The steps to take before turning to Birth Control to treat hormonal acne.
By Emily Ruse, Front of House Manager
Acne is like the worst kind of house guest. It turns up uninvited, overstays it’s welcome and leaves a mess after it’s gone. Find out everything you need to know about determining whether your acne is hormonal and what you can do to fight it without relying on birth control.
Do you ever feel like you’re 30 going on 13, thanks to your skin? Getting acne again in adulthood – or for the first time if you made it through adolescence unscathed – feels especially unfair. You’re meant to be at your most confident, your most professional and put-together, but please take comfort in the fact that you’re really not alone. Private dermatology clinics say they’ve seen a 200% increase in the number of patients wanting acne advice in the last two years, and clinical trials ballpark the number of women who suffer from adult acne as anywhere between 12% and 41%.
While inflammation and bacteria (P. acnes) are the main two culprits of acne, for many women, hormones are the underlying trigger for their breakouts. More specifically, androgen hormones tend to be largely responsible as they act on the oil glands, causing them to increase oil production. At the same time, cells lining the hair follicle become sticky and begin clumping together. This then results in the pores becoming blocked with sticky skin cells and excess oil – and if that’s not enough, they also increase inflammation, which is why hormonal acne can become so painful, big, red and take SO long to heal.
However, while your acne might be triggered by hormones, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have an ongoing imbalance per se – it’s more than your sebum production takes any fluctuations as a cue to start whizzing into action. Lifestyle factors such as stress, poor diet or lack of sleep will all have an impact on your hormone levels.
Now more than ever women are turning to birth control from a young age to treat their acne, with many staying on the drug for decades. This might be fine while it lasts, as the hormones in the pill regulate oil production and keep acne under control. But it can turn into an issue following discontinuation because a body is forced to go into an “adjustment period” to the normal hormonal environment that the oil glands haven’t experienced in years.
So how do you know whether your acne is hormonal? The easiest way to determine whether your acne stems from hormonal influences is by paying close attention to the timing and locations of your breakouts. Your acne is most likely to be hormonal if it usually occurs shortly before or during your period and it is centred on your lower face and neck (specifically along the jawline). Pay careful attention to your breakouts and even document occurrences if necessary. Realizing that your breakouts stem from hormonal influences can be very helpful in determining treatment options.
1. Retinoids
Often touted as the gold standard in anti-ageing skincare, retinoids also play a significant role in treating acne. Retinoids are Vitamin A based products that essentially stop skin cells from becoming sticky. In other words, they reduce the blockage of pores and prevents things such as blackheads from forming. When you first add a Retinoid to your skincare regime, it is very common for irritation and redness to occur, for this reason, it’s advisable that you build up gradually by using it just two or three times a week in the beginning.
2. Maintain a good skincare routine and use active ingredients.
Acne prone skin needs a combination of AHAs and BHAs to keep it all under control – this is where your active ingredients come in. Don’t just cleanse twice a day with any old cleanser. Ingredients such as Salicylic acid are going to be your skin’s best friend. It keeps oil on lockdown and cuts through the gloopy mixture of excess sebum and skin cells to prevent future blockages. Cleansing isn’t the only important factor – exfoliation is key to maintaining a good cellular turnover. Adding a glycolic acid-based product will slough off the dulling skin cells that get caught in excess sebum and lead to spots.
3. Switch to mineral based make-up.
Make-up, make-up, make-up. It’s a love-hate relationship. On the one hand, it covers all of our imperfections, yet on the other, it can exacerbate them. Many women and young girls turn to make-up to disguise those pesky acne bumps, but the problem is that most of the time the make-up they are using is comedogenic (clogs pores). So, what’s the answer? Well, it’s pretty simple – mineral make-up.
Mineral makeup is made up of minerals such as iron oxides, talc, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. They are ground and milled or broken into very tiny particles to create the make-up. Traditional make-up uses preservatives like parabens, chemical dyes and fragrances. Mineral makeup, on the other hand, has far fewer irritants than traditional makeup, so it’s a lot gentler for even the most sensitive skin types. Pure mineral make-up binds to oils, not water. This gives the makeup a natural water resistance and is much better for your skin than conventional cosmetics.
4. Get a chemical peel (or three).
Chemical Peels are SO beneficial for your skin and the list of skin problems they can be used to treat is endless – acne being a big one. The acids used to remove dead and damaged upper skin layers to smooth and refine the skin’s texture and restore a more youthful, vibrant appearance. Peels help to regulate oil control and target the bad bacteria within the skin, boosting cell turnover and restoring the skin’s natural radiance. There are three types of chemical peels: superficial, medium-depth and deep-depth. Different acids and strengths determine how deep the peel goes and the amount of peeling you will experience. One of our favourite Chemical Peels for treating acne is the 30% Salicylic Acid Peel which opens the pores and breaks down fatty compounds such as the oily sebum that can clog them.
5. Cut down on your sugar and dairy intake.
It is advisable to cut certain ingredients out of your diet to determine whether they are having an impact on your skin health. Many studies show the correlation between dairy and acne problems, mainly because cow’s milk spikes blood sugar & insulin in the body, which in turn, increases inflammation and bumps up the production of skin oils. Processed foods, like chips, cookies, and sweets, are also problematic for your skin, this is because they tend to be packed full of chemicals and sodium to prevent them from going off. Greasy foods, like chips and pizza, are also known for causing breakouts by clogging pores, mainly from the grease being transferred from the hands to skin while eating.
After cutting these naughty foods from your diet, try to incorporate the following in your day to day meals:
1. Green Tea
There is much research that backs up green tea as a great antioxidant for helping the skin to glow and reducing redness. Try green tea daily to target acne problems.
2. Walnuts
These are a great source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which gives an anti-inflammatory effect to the body and skin. Pack some walnuts as a snack in order to help your skin feel great.
3. Sweet Potatoes
These are loaded with lots of nutrients that help the skin, such as Vitamin A, C, and B5. Add sweet potatoes to your lunch or dinner for glowing skin.
4. Dark, Leafy Greens
Foods such as kale and spinach are great for your skin because of being nutrient-dense and containing calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, E. Greens are the super-food that you don’t want to leave out!
6. Keep hydrated.
It may sound like a cliché but drinking 2-3 litres of water every day really will do wonders for your overall skin health. Drinking adequate amounts of water will help your skin to keep itself moisturized from the inside out and will ensure your cells are able to function properly. However, it is also important to realise that drinking water isn’t a miracle cure for acne. It is more of an essential building block for the beginning of good overall health and skin health.
7. Manage your stress.
Seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? It’s definitely not the easiest thing in the world to manage stress — especially when so many things in life are out of our control, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try to take steps in the right direction. There is no harm in trying to reduce your stress levels: take some time out of your day to do something that you find relaxing – whether it be yoga, meditation, exercise or deep-breathing. Whatever it may be, try to do it at least once a day. As well as this, it’s important to get a sufficient amount of sleep each night. Lack of sleep promotes an increase in the stress hormone ‘cortisol’, which eventually leads to acne. Get more sleep to keep your body’s stress levels down, and your skin will reflect and appreciate it.
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