6 replies to this topic

[DrunkPickle]

I'm a male and I am suffering from very oily skin due to hormones. I don't have much acne right now tho, just some enlarged pores and post-acne marks, and an occasional pimple once in a while. I have been on B5 for about 3 weeks now, and it seems it's helping a little with the oiliness, but I think it's going to stop soon since my skin is getting more greasy by the day. I'm gonna give it a little more time, I know it may take a long time to get better results, however, I have done some research and found out that Saw Palmetto may be a cure for my oily skin. But I want to be a little more sure before I go ahead and buy it.

I'm sure that my acne is due to hormones because every time I masturbate, or have an erection, my skin gets more greasy after a few days, usually 4 (please don't say masturbation/sexual activity is not related to acne; it doesn't cause acne in everyone). Plus I have a really high sex-drive which is most likely caused by high testosterone. So my question is: can SP make my skin less oily since it blocks DHT, which is the cause of overactive sebaceous glands?

By the way, I haven't masturbated in a long time now, in order to improve my acne.

And also, if anyone tried SP, can you post your results/experience?

Edited by DrunkPickle, 27 December 2010 - 07:21 PM.

[DrunkPickle]

Anyone?

[iAcne]

Look in the oily skin forums, we are looking into anti-androgens which are DHT inhibitors (DHT blockers) and you may also want to check hairloss websites cause they work the same way.

[radikal]

Oral saw palmetto did nothing for my oily skin. I have no opinion on topical formulation, if such exists.

[clairebear6292]

I'm on day 3 of taking saw palmetto 2xs a day and so far nothing really to report about the sebum content of my skin but i'm going to give it a while before I give up

[wowacne]

I also breakout when I masturbate.
So i stopped masturbating for like 6 months but I realized that I was having much more frequent wet dreams (up to 3 times a week) and every time I have wet dreams, it has the same effect and I breakout.

I am doomed for life.

[greentiger87]

The research on saw palmetto is a huge mess. It does truly help with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), but probably by some method other than anti-androgen activity. The evidence is tending toward the conclusion that saw palmetto doesn't lower systemic DHT or testosterone levels, but does reduce BPH symptoms and sometimes actually shrinks the size of the prostate. How? Grab bag of possibilities.

Acne in the average male is rarely an issue of extremely high testosterone (), but rather hypothesized hypersensitivity of androgen receptors in the follicle/sebaceous glands. Anabolic steroid users are an obvious exception. Even if saw palmetto could lower DHT levels, the hypersensitivity would remain.

IMHO, attempting to mess with systemic hormone levels in males without proper endocrine tests and a physicians supervision is not a good idea. Saw palmetto is probably harmless precisely because it can't change hormone levels.