Hormonal Acne - What can be done?

[dostoyevsky 3]

Can anything be done about hormonal acne?

It's not that I just get a pimple or two once a month... I get big zits that form under the skin for about a week and get really big. Once they come to a head they look awful and stay for a week or two... then I'm left with red marks/scars and it's time for a brand new cycle again. So although the worst of my acne comes from my monthly cycle, it affects me constantly.

Are there any foods I can eat or avoid to help balance my hormones? Or any other advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.

[SkylineGTR 0]

Been there man. i didnt take good care of my acnes when i was in ur situation and i got facial scars...i wish i took good care of my skin at that time. I think theres nothing u can really do to stop immediately it but u can calm the acne from popping everywhere. Wake up early, take Vitamin C&B and Zinc, work out, use a normal soap for facial wash, use a good toner, sleep before midnight. Skin peeling is good.

[dostoyevsky 3]

Yeah I've tried all of them too but I still get it. I don't think it's a matter of skincare because it's hormonal so I'm looking for something that will sort my hormones out every month. Hell I'd even consider having my ovaries removed (I'm not giving birth to kids anyway) but I think that's too drastic when I don't even know it will work.

I would try Dan's regimen but I've heard it can make your skin sensitive to scarring etc so I won't be putting chemicals on my face.

It just feels like a never ending cycle and it's really p-ing me off!

[miseryguts 0]

go get acupuncture done, they stick two needles on the lower leg and it helps stablilize ur hormones.. im currently doing that and its working well for me doesnt hurt, cant feel a thing, trust me

[Eyramore 1]

I have the exact same problem as you dostoyevsky. I used have large, inflamed pimples in addition to nodules and cysts. The month I went on birth control, I cleared up about 80-90 percent. Now I'm trying to figure out the last 10 percent.

I've discovered milk is one of the foods that triggers my acne. Now that I'm clearer, I can actually see what's breaking me out. I'll be clear for days, drink a milkshake or eat some pudding or have some ice cream and BAM! Tiny whiteheads all over my chin the next day. It appears a lot of people on this board avoid dairy.

Oh and though DKR has been successful for some people, I was on it for 2 years and made no progress. I think it made my skin worse, just didn't work out for me.

[laindenver 0]

I'm trying DIM for my hormonal acne. It's supposed to help if your estrogen is out of wack. Don't know if it's working yet but I'll post if it does.

[Honnie 0]

To be quite honest, going on birth control cleared the acne of mine that was caused by hormones. I still get whiteheads and breakouts and whatnot, but BC has totally cleared all the cysts I used to get during my period.

Talk to your doctor about BC. I was put on a very low dosage of a pill that is known to be good for treating acne, so just ask your doc what is best.

[Timothy:D 1]

Basicly you want to:

Exercise Daily

Drink 8-10 Glasses of Water

Eat Green Veggies

Only take Daily Multivitamin, Zinc, Fish Oils, or any pills related to Skin Health.

Wash your face 2 times a day

Make sure you wash your face if its sweaty

Go to the movies, chill, just don't stress over your acne

Stay away from Mirrors, Windows, Or Anything Shinny.

Sleep Early

If all those have no impact on your acne, then you might want to think about accutane, but if your acne is too mild, you might not want to risk it due to side effect levels.

[dennis77 1]

1. Fresh green vegetables are essential. They will help clean your gastrointestinal tract.

2. Drink plenty of fresh water to help your body flush out toxins.

3. Avoid or minimize animal fats, hydrogenated oils, dairy products, margarine, red meat, unskinned poultry, fried food, alcohol, soda, chocolate, sugar and iodine. There is debate on what foods cause acne and there is no universal cure so avoid these for a couple months and then slowly add some back into your diet. In this manner you can isolate exactly which foods impact your acne.

4. Do not loose hope, it may take a couple months to work but if it works it is well worth the wait.

(LINK REMOVED BY MODERATOR)

[dostoyevsky 3]

Thanks for all the advice.

Yeah dairy can definitely affect hormones... mainly because modern dairy farming involves taking milk from cows who are pregnant at the same time as lactating. This means they're overloaded with hormones which get transferred into the milk as well as other growth hormones and antibiotics which they're fed.

I've been looking into acupuncture and think I may get it done soon. I already eat a healthy diet full of fruit and veg and I don't eat meat so diet wise, I can't think of anything else I could do. I don't think I'm ready to consider birth control pills... there's just something about taking chemicals to stop my system which doesn't seem right to me but if all else fails then I'll think about it.

Oh and what's DKR and DIM?

[cementface 1]

i am a female.

i didn't want to go on birth control.

instead, i invested in a supplement called Estrotone.

i wish i had found this product years ago.

its a little pill, taken twice a day.

i got it over the counter at a health store.

its a hormone balancer, using herbs.

its A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

cleared up my jawline acne in almost 2 weeks.

[jessicabreann 0]

i am a female.

i didn't want to go on birth control.

instead, i invested in a supplement called Estrotone.

i wish i had found this product years ago.

its a little pill, taken twice a day.

i got it over the counter at a health store.

its a hormone balancer, using herbs.

its A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

cleared up my jawline acne in almost 2 weeks.

really! i dont want to go on birthcontrol either .. but i dont even know if i have hormonal acne.

i am 20 years old and just got acne for the first time i have had it for 5 months now

all on my cheeks and chin. No improvement im dying for anything

[cementface 1]

i am a female.

i didn't want to go on birth control.

instead, i invested in a supplement called Estrotone.

i wish i had found this product years ago.

its a little pill, taken twice a day.

i got it over the counter at a health store.

its a hormone balancer, using herbs.

its A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

cleared up my jawline acne in almost 2 weeks.

really! i dont want to go on birthcontrol either .. but i dont even know if i have hormonal acne.

i am 20 years old and just got acne for the first time i have had it for 5 months now

all on my cheeks and chin. No improvement im dying for anything

getting acne at the age of 20 seems pretty hormonal to me.

unless you've done something with your diet that is completely different than when you had clear skin..

i would call around to your local health food stores, and ask about Estrotone.

it seems hard to find, however its kind of expensive, but worth the price.

it helped me so so so so so much.

it also has COMPLETELY gotten rid of any period related cramps.

bonus!

[ellabub 0]

Try Evening Primrose Oil, around 3 a day spaced out. Great for balancing hormones (and helps with PMS, cramps etc..) Its great for skin, hair and nails.

Guys and girls can take it. All natural. (obviously read the lable, use common sense, blah blah)

Its worked wonders for me

I couldnt take the pill because it made me sick all the time, same with mini pill, and anything with estrogen in it... so i had to go as natural as possible with everything.

I dont recomend the pill, especially as a first option, messing with your hormones isnt the best (from a 24yo married womans perspective) it effects alot of areas in your body not just your skin... like your temper-worse usually, mood swings, no labido, weight gain, painful sex, some doctors say infertility (and more) and once you stop taking it your skin will usually return to how it was. It does work for some, but just be aware of what you are doing and make an informed choice to take it or not.

Hormones are not a bad thing, we need them, they just need the right suppliments/eating etc. to help them learn to settle.

Good luck!!

[anne.s 0]

wow..estrotone is very intriguing to me!

i broke out bad about a year ago after coming off ortho tri cylen...tried to get clear using differin and vitamins...but it didnt work and differin made my skin super sensitive to the sun...so i went on BC again...this time it was YAZ...and i HATE YAZ...terrible...thinking about switching back to Ortho...but maybe i will do estrotone instead...

anyone else have terrible luck with YAZ? i feel like i am an emotional train wreck under this BC!

I hate it! and my skin still breaks out a lot

[dostoyevsky 3]

Are there any alternatives to estrotene? They contain gelatin which I don't eat. I'll try the eveing primrose but I'd prefer an all-rounder of there is one.

[cementface 1]

Are there any alternatives to estrotene? They contain gelatin which I don't eat. I'll try the eveing primrose but I'd prefer an all-rounder of there is one.

i read something awhile back about taking both evening primrose and a maca powder.

research both of them, and you may be able to find a perfect pill for it.

there are also a lot of hormone balancing pills at health food stores, just poke around and read the ingredients.

[dostoyevsky 3]

Well I've finally bought some eveining primrose oil pills. I also bought starflower oil pills which contain even more GLA (the fatty acid which is said to balance hormones). Does anyone know if taking both of these would be too much? Are there any negative effects of taking too much GLA?

I started taking them today so will report back with my progress.

[Narcissist 0]

Basicly you want to:

Exercise Daily

Drink 8-10 Glasses of Water

Eat Green Veggies

Only take Daily Multivitamin, Zinc, Fish Oils, or any pills related to Skin Health.

Wash your face 2 times a day

Make sure you wash your face if its sweaty

Go to the movies, chill, just don't stress over your acne

Stay away from Mirrors, Windows, Or Anything Shinny.

Sleep Early

If all those have no impact on your acne, then you might want to think about accutane, but if your acne is too mild, you might not want to risk it due to side effect levels.

When you say wash your face, do you mean wash it with a cleanser or just water?

[xWannaBeAcneFreex 0]

Can teenagers use Estrotone?

[deleted10 1]

Hormonal Acne - Acne caused by hormones

Dan's Regimen - Topical treatment which kills acne not the cause

Fix for hormonal acne - Dan's regimen.

Try not to get too strong stuff. I seriously recommend Dan's products to everybody because in other products I have had, different (even non-active) ingredients have stopped the benzoyl from working well, or made things worse.

Benzoyl puts oxygen in the skin, acne can not live where there is oxygen, therefore, you need benzoyl.. And LOTS of it..

[cementface 1]

Can teenagers use Estrotone?

yes, absolutely,

i am 17, and i use it.

[dostoyevsky 3]

Hormonal Acne - Acne caused by hormones

Dan's Regimen - Topical treatment which kills acne not the cause

Fix for hormonal acne - Dan's regimen.

Try not to get too strong stuff. I seriously recommend Dan's products to everybody because in other products I have had, different (even non-active) ingredients have stopped the benzoyl from working well, or made things worse.

Benzoyl puts oxygen in the skin, acne can not live where there is oxygen, therefore, you need benzoyl.. And LOTS of it..

Sorry but that reasoning makes little sense to me.

Surely, it's better to fix the cause rather than the problem resulting from the cause. If for example you had an illness... would it not be better to cure the illness rather than just mask the symptoms and carry on living with the illness?

There is little research that shows the long term effects of these new chemicals and they can damage the skin/make it thinner which increases the chances of red marks and scars a lot more.

[deleted10 1]

Hormonal Acne - Acne caused by hormones

Dan's Regimen - Topical treatment which kills acne not the cause

Fix for hormonal acne - Dan's regimen.

Try not to get too strong stuff. I seriously recommend Dan's products to everybody because in other products I have had, different (even non-active) ingredients have stopped the benzoyl from working well, or made things worse.

Benzoyl puts oxygen in the skin, acne can not live where there is oxygen, therefore, you need benzoyl.. And LOTS of it..

Sorry but that reasoning makes little sense to me.

Surely, it's better to fix the cause rather than the problem resulting from the cause. If for example you had an illness... would it not be better to cure the illness rather than just mask the symptoms and carry on living with the illness?

There is little research that shows the long term effects of these new chemicals and they can damage the skin/make it thinner which increases the chances of red marks and scars a lot more.

The thing is, we can only fix the symptoms, we can not fix the cause.

[dostoyevsky 3]

quote name='AcniBoi' The thing is, we can only fix the symptoms, we can not fix the cause.

Who says? If hormones are the cause of acne then balancing them could help. If certain foods trigger acne (eg milk allergies) then removing them from the diet could help. If using the wrong skincare products (ones with comedogenic ingredients) cause acne then finding ones which are more suitable could help. There are so many different types of acne that it seems naive to just say that the only way to get rid of it is by smearing chemicals on your face.