Does your acne flare-up in the two weeks before your period and then settle down once your period arrives?
If it does then you’re not alone. This is called premenstrual acne and this flare-up pattern is the most common one we see in our patients.
Its most common cause is an imbalance between two of your hormones – progesterone and testosterone.
The two weeks before your period is technically known as the luteal phase of your cycle. And is when your female hormone progesterone should be at its highest.
However, it’s very common for progesterone production to be nowhere as high as it should be during this phase.
Mainly due to stress (work, studies, relationships, bills to pay, not enough sleep, not eating enough, eating too little carbs, worrying about your skin or just worrying in general).
Stress causes your body to release stress hormones like cortisol and cortisol suppresses progesterone production.
So when progesterone gets suppressed it doesn’t suppress the acne-causing effect of male hormones like testosterone and DHEA on your skin.
So even if your male hormone levels are normal they exert a stronger effect on your skin because your progesterone is low.
When this happens the male hormones increase sebum (oil) production, enlarge and inflame your pores so become clogged with dirt and oil, and stimulate the growth of bacteria in the oil-filled pores causing acne.
Learn more about how to know if my pimples are hormone cause or by other factors here.
So how can you treat premenstrual acne?
First, get your lifestyle factors optimised.
Avoid eating dairy, gluten, and sugar or drinking too much alcohol.
Drink plenty of water, get lots of rest and stick to gentle low impact exercise at this time of the month.
But no lifestyle changes will be 100% effective until you fix the root cause.
To fix premenstrual acne you need to figure out what hormone imbalances you have.
Testing your hormones (stress and reproductive hormones) pinpoints if your issue is too much cortisol or too much testosterone or too little progesterone.
Hormone testing gets to the bottom of what’s going on so you can be certain of the exact supplements you need.
“Test, don’t guess” is our motto!
The type of testing we recommend is saliva hormone testing because it gives a more accurate assessment of what’s happening hormone-wise in your skin, not your blood.
So if you’ve been battling premenstrual acne and you want to treat it naturally then we can help you.
We can get your hormones tested and create a personalised herb and supplement plan to get your hormones balanced and your skin cleared just like we did for YouTuber and Insta influencer Sarah from Sarah’s Day as well as over 1000 other women.
To get our help click here.
