Why oh why do I have acne?
This question plagues most acne sufferers often to the point of desperation. And I mean seriously, why does it choose the face? We often think, maybe if I clean better, with the right products that it’ll clear up. But it’s not normally a cleanliness issue. It goes much deeper than that.
As a Naturopathic Doctor, my interest is always finding an answer to the “why” question. And here is how I address the Acne Why:
• Review of skincare products currently used
• Review of hormone status (in boys/men and girls/women)
• Review of diet
• Review of nutrient status
Sometimes there are some really easy answers like certain nutrients or diet changes, other times it requires a deeper investigation. Two of the factors I find contribute the most to acne are hormones and food intolerances/diet.
We all love to blame hormones for acne, which can make sense when you’re going through puberty, but why is acne still hanging around at age 30? Our hormones are in delicate balance and can be out of balance due to stress, overproduction, excess exposure through food and drinking water, hormonal contraceptives, genetic alterations in hormone detox pathways, exercise, pregnancy, and so on.
There are times we can identify the causal factors in hormone changes just based on your symptoms and others when proper testing is needed to thoroughly assess hormone status. Yes, there is extremely useful, detailed and comprehensive hormone testing that we can do. Key findings that I commonly encounter that contribute to acne are high testosterone (particularly in the form dihydrotestosterone or DHT), high estrogen and/or high cortisol. Finding out uniquely what’s going on with your hormones can help answer this elusive hormone-acne connection question.
Once we figure out what’s happening hormonally we can use lifestyle, supplements and diet to help correct these imbalances.
A few questions that I commonly receive about this:
- I manage my acne with birth control pills and every time I stop it comes back – what can I do? There is a really simple and effective protocol that I have for withdrawing from birth control pills that alleviates acne. It works so well!
- Is there anything that can be done for puberty-related acne? Yes, absolutely! There are a number of key nutrients that really help with the puberty related hormone changes that when low, vastly increase the chances of having acne.
- Do you think it’s polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)? When the symptoms fit, it definitely could be, but I find the hormone testing I do properly answers if your hormone pattern is PCOS or just a hormone imbalance.
- Can I do other things to work on my acne while I’m taking Accutane or antibiotics? Yes, much of what I do can be done alongside to prevent acne from coming back.
- Are there more natural skincare products for acne that actually work? Yes!
We are here to help you get your acne under control, at any age!
