The complete guide to fixing hormonal chin acne

Hormonal chin acne

Have you ever wondered why you primarily only get chin acne? Do you notice that you get more pimples on the chin than anywhere else on your skin?

If you answered ‘Yes’ then read on and discover everything you need to know about chin acne and fixing it naturally.

A quick google search will tell you that chin pimples are a type of hormonal acne but the strange thing is the treatment options recommended on these sites don’t rebalance hormones. If you’re struggling with hormonal acne in general, see our in-depth treatment guide here.

What causes acne on your chin?

Acne, otherwise known as acne vulgaris, occurs on the chin when an imbalance of sex hormones triggers excessive oil production. This then creates an environment where dead skin cells become trapped in your oil glands causing clogged pores.

This quickly leads to pimples (possibly cystic breakouts), particularly at certain times of the month, when hormonal fluctuations make skin cells more sensitive to hormones.

What Do Pimples on Chin and Jawline Mean?

Chin breakouts are indicative of a hormonal imbalance. And so the way to treat hormonal acne is to get to the bottom of what hormones are out of balance.

Hormonal acne breakouts on the chin and jawline occur when male hormones like testosterone overstimulate oil glands and cause excess sebum production.

This allows dead skin cells and dirt to become trapped in the skin pore and creates the perfect environment for acne-causing bacteria to thrive and infect the clogged pores.

But the best way to treat acne on the chin and jaw is not to eradicate the bacteria or unclog the pores as is the case in the conventional approach.

Doctors, like a board certified dermatologist, and skin therapists go for oral antibiotics, birth control pills, Accutane and topical treatments like benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid or chemical peels.

However, these don’t provide a permanent solution because they don’t address the root cause of chin acne (hormone imbalance).

Therefore, if you suffer from any form of chin and jawline acne whether it’s small whiteheads or cystic acne, to get rid of chin acne once and for all you need to treat the root cause.

For this reason, it’s crucial to pinpoint your hormone imbalance before treating your acne.

Otherwise, it’s just a guessing game. So test, don’t guess!

Mild, moderate and severe acne are caused by unbalanced hormones. So to fix chin and jawline acne you need to test your hormone levels.

Hormone tests for chin acne

When you have chin and jawline acne, it’s safe to assume hormones are playing a part because this is the ‘beard’ region of the face. And so follicles in this region are sensitive to male hormones.

So when you have acne on your chin, especially cystic acne, there must be an underlying male hormone imbalance because male hormones affect the chin and jawline more prominently.

The key then to solving your acne problem is to pinpoint what type of male hormone imbalance you have because there are a couple of ways they can become unbalanced and cause acne. These are –

1. Your male hormone levels are too high
2. Your female hormone levels are too low
3. Your stress hormones are too high

(Side Note – The conventional way to treat the first two imbalances is with birth control pills as they suppress male hormones and boost female hormones. However, this only gives a temporary fix because the underlying hormone imbalance returns once you stop taking birth control)

Testosterone

This hormone is responsible for excess sebum (oil) production in the sebaceous glands, as well as making pores larger which can trap excess dead skin cells and acne-causing bacteria.

When it comes to acne, testosterone is the primary driver but not always in the way you would think.

Most of the time it’s assumed that when there’s hormonal acne it’s because testosterone levels are high. But after testing, we often find that testosterone levels are OK, the issue is low estrogen and progesterone levels.

This creates an effect that is the same as if testosterone levels are high. And so skin cells become more sensitive to normal levels of testosterone.

Hence, why it is critical to test hormone levels first and not just assume testosterone is high.

Estrogen

When estrogen levels in a female are normal it suppresses the acne causing effects of testosterone. However, when estrogen is low, you lose this suppressive effect and it can trigger stubborn acne.

Then on the flip side to this, if someone has high estrogen levels it can lead to hormonal acne breakouts because estrogen can be transformed into testosterone.

Progesterone

Progesterone, like estrogen, has a balancing effect on testosterone. So if it is too low it can cause the skin to be more reactive to testosterone.

Progesterone often becomes low because its production is highly influenced by the stress hormone – cortisol. So your progesterone levels give an insight into how your stress levels are affecting you hormonally.

Cortisol

Now an important fact to know is cortisol doesn’t make you stressed, it helps you respond to stress. But the way it helps you respond to stress can be the trigger of your hormone imbalance.

Cortisol suppresses hormonal fluctuations as a way to prevent nonessential life events, such as pregnancy, during periods of chronic stress.

A great survival strategy in times gone by when there were famines. But not a necessary strategy for modern non-life-threatening stresses. Female hormones don’t need to be shut down under stress these days to survive but they still are.

So stress, in any of its forms is often the catalyst for hormone disruptions that eventually leads to acne.

Best way to test hormones

Blood tests are the most common way to check hormone levels but they aren’t the best way when it comes to acne.

The best way to check hormones to fix acne problems is with saliva hormone testing or urine hormone testing.

And so without checking your hormones how can anyone accurately prescribe you an acne treatment?

Treatment Options For Acne On The Jawline and Chin

Benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid and other topical skin treatments

From a topical perspective, we see patients that have tried everything… salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, alpha hydroxy acids, glycolic acid, removing ingrown hair regularly, laser therapy, even topical antibiotics from a cosmetic dermatologist but still their acne didn’t go away.

Prescription treatments

When these didn’t work they were then given an oral antibiotic or an oral medication like Accutane or Roaccutane to reduce the acne on their chin and jawline. And while these treatments usually did work they only worked while the person was on them because they don’t fix the root cause.

Natural hormone balancing treatments

Our way of fixing acne on the other hand specifically focuses on fixing the root cause. We test your hormones, at the correct time of your cycle, to pinpoint your specific hormone imbalance. Then once we know what it is we create a personalised supplement program for you.

No guessing!

A typical natural remedy we use for our Australian based patients is a herbal tonic. It is a blend of herbs in a traditional liquid form.

But some people don’t like the taste of herbal tonics so for them we use capsules and tablets. For our international patients, we use tablets and capsules too because these are easier and more economical to ship.

But the good news is no matter which form of natural remedy we prescribe you they are all equally as effective.

How to prevent chin acne?

Eliminating existing acne and preventing new acne are one and the same when it comes to treating acne naturally.

This is because fixing hormone imbalances makes existing pimples disappear and will prevent pimples from forming.

Natural remedies for chin acne and jawline acne

Here is a list of natural remedies we use daily in our clinic –

• Zinc – to heal the skin and reduce acne scars
• Vitex – to boost progesterone
• Licorice – to reduce the effect of male hormones and reduce oil
• Paeonia – to reduce male hormones and boost female hormones
• Saw Palmetto – to reduce male hormones and prevent excess oil
• Withania/Ashwagandha – reduce stress hormones and boost female hormones
• Rhodiola – reduces stress hormones and boost female hormones
• Myoinositol – corrects insulin resistance

When it comes to natural remedies, it’s important to remember that a few weeks isn’t usually long enough to see much of a result in your skin. Some herbs can take up to 12 weeks to have an effect, so you need to be patient.

Hormones don’t rebalance in a day. A menstrual cycle is typically a month long so it takes a few cycles for hormone levels to change. So keep this in mind while you’re waiting to get rid of chin acne and your skin to clear.

Healthy diet

Besides hormones, the next most important aspect to consider when it comes to acne is diet. For some people food is a big pimple trigger. The 3 foods our patients report as the worst for causing breakouts are –

1. Dairy – cow’s milk, cheese and yogurt
2. Sugar
3. Wheat

So if you are still eating these foods and you want to try a simple no-cost way to prevent pimples then eliminate these foods for a month and see if your skin becomes clearer.

The other critical dietary factor to consider when it comes to clear pimple free skin is blood sugar management.

If you eat too much sugar, or you eat too much refined carbohydrate then you’ll spike your blood sugars and trigger overproduction of the hormone insulin.

Too much insulin causes increased production of testosterone. And too much testosterone causes too much oil, clogged pores and painful pimples.

The best way to manage your blood sugars and insulin is to eat a wholefood diet. Eat foods that are either in their natural state or have been minimally processed.

Spot Treatments

While working on fixing the internal hormone imbalances that cause increased sebum production, clogged pores and acne, having a spot treatment strategy is important.

Common spot treatments such as benzoyl peroxide may help but our patients find this is very harsh on their skin.

So we much prefer natural skin treatments such as salicylic acid spot treatment and other spot treatments like tea tree oil, and aloe vera. This is because –

• Salicylic acid is anti-inflammatory and helps reduce redness
• Tea tree oil is a natural antibacterial agent and helps to clear skin by reducing the number of bacteria skin bacteria.
• Aloe vera is good for sensitive skin as it soothes, heals the skin and improves skin structure

These can reduce skin redness and settle down inflamed stubborn acne.

Hormonal chin acne specialists

When treating your chin and jawline acne you want to work with practitioners who are specialists in this area.

Now that could be a dermatologist but all they are going to offer you are prescription treatments that mask rather than fix your underlying skin problem.

So if you don’t want to use hormonal birth control, antibiotics or Accutane because you want a natural approach then we are here to help you.

We can help you get your hormones tested (saliva or urine) at the correct time of your menstrual cycle, pinpoint your hormone imbalances, and create a personalised natural supplement program for you just like we have for more than 1000 other women in Australia and worldwide.

And this includes social media icons Sarah Stevenson (Tilse) from Sarah’s Day and Louise Aubery from MyBetterSelf.

To organise a consultation with one of our hormonal acne specialist naturopaths click here.

About The Author

Hayden Keys

Graduating from Western Sydney University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Health Science in Naturopathy, Hayden is a proud member of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society.

With over a decade of clinical experience, Hayden established the Happy & Healthy Wellbeing Centre in Miranda in 2009.

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