What Causes Adult Acne?

Do suffer from adult acne? Did you suffer from acne during puberty, which improved and has now returned with a vengeance? Do you suffer from cystic acne around the jaw and chin line which is painful and hard to treat?  Have you tried all kinds of medications and over the counter face washes and miracle cures and have not noticed any dramatic changes in the healing of acne?  You must then ask yourself the following question – what is causing your skin to react this way and how do you work with your body to treat it?

Here are some of the factors that maybe affecting the acne or may in fact be the primary cause of acne: 

1. Hormonal changes – As you get older, your body’s hormones fluctuate depending on the time of the month, your diet and stress levels. The hormones that usually affect acne are testosterone and DHEAS (both of these are male hormones) and of course the balance of female hormones (estrogen and progesterone). Talk to your naturopathic doctor about having them tested to see where your levels are at.

2. Stress – So school is finished and you are either in college or university in your early 20’s or starting of a career in your late 20’s right? Talk about the stress that we went through! With life and finances and relationships and exams and friends and the list just goes on and on! Yes stress is one of the biggest reasons for any kind of changes in the body. Stress causes the oil glands to overproduce sebum and cause a release of cortisol and testosterone.

3. Medications – especially birth control pills and medications which contain iodine may cause breakouts. On the other hand, low hormone based birth control pills are also used to control acne during teen age years.

4. Amount of sleep – Your body repairs and revitalizes itself during sleep. Every body varies in the amount of sleep they get and need to feel good and refreshed. General rule is at least 71/2 hours of sleep is important to rest and rejuvenate your body. So constant lack of sleep will affect your stress hormones and in turn your skin.

5. Facial care – In a previous blog, i talked about facial skin care, please read it for more information on how to take of your facial skin daily. The type of make up you use definitely affects the health of your skin pores. If you are using oil rich make up, these tend to clog pores and in turn cause comedones , white heads and black heads and of course acne.

6. Diet – Your diet has a huge impact on your skin. A diet high in saturated animal fats, refined carbohydrates and salt, and alcohol and caffeine will most likely worse adversely on your body. Try to have a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, healthy proteins and make sure you hydrate your body with lots of water. Remember you are what you eat and quite often even the good foods you may be eating may be affecting you if you are sensitive/ intolerant to those foods. Talk to your naturopath about testing you for these food sensitivities and intolerances.

If you are dealing with acne, try to treat acne naturally first before trying harsh chemicals and medications that can have other side effects on your body.

By: Dr. Sushma Shah – Toronto Naturopath.

 

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