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Hormonal Acne: What Hormones Cause Acne?

Hormonal Acne: What Hormones Cause Acne? Generally, hormonal changes in the body can causes acne. Its onset usually can be found in teenage years when puberty rears its head. Hormones are necessary for acne to begin. Increased androgens (male hormones found in both males and females) can cause acne in both sexes.
Hormonal Acne

Common acne in teenagers starts with an increase in hormone production. During puberty, both boys and girls produce high levels of androgens, the male sex hormones that include testosterone. Testosterone signals the body to make more sebum, the oil produced in the skin’s oil glands.

When it comes to the causes of acne, what’s happening on the inside of your body is just as important as what’s happening on the outside. Hormones, which are chemical messengers that travel throughout the body coordinating complex processes like growth and metabolism play an especially big role.

This is particularly true during puberty, when both boys and girls start to produce hormones called androgens.

Androgen hormones cause your body’s oil-producing glands to enlarge and increase oil production. When there’s an increase in oil and less shedding of dead skin cells, your pores become clogged and the result is hormonal acne, the scourge of approximately 85% of all teens.

Acne is directly attributed to the rise of androgen hormone levels. The production of these hormones rise when a child begins puberty, and is the reason much acne is prevalent in adolescence.

As androgen levels rise, the oil glands sitting directly underneath the skin enlarge and produce increased levels of oil, also known as sebum.

When pores are filled with excessive sebum, it can cause surrounding skin cells’ walls to rupture and create a breeding ground of P. acnes bacteria. As the sebum attempts to push out of the pore, it can attach to this infectious bacteria and dead skin cells, causing a blockage that begins the formation of a pimple.

According to Medical News Today, dermatologists purport that almost three quarters of 11 to 30-year-olds will deal with acne at some point, but acne breakouts can continue on into adulthood.

Women and Hormonal Acne

Changes in estrogen levels during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and, to a lesser degree, menopause can also impact acne in women. Topical treatment is effective in most cases, but in certain circumstances, doctors may also prescribe low-dose birth control pills and/or androgen receptor blockers to some women to stabilize hormone levels and lessen acne.

Your hormonal balance affects the rate at which your body produces oil. Which fluctuates in both men and women during their lives. Normal variations in estrogen, the hormone responsible for the development and regulation of the female reproductive system. Androgen levels can cause hormonal acne in women.

This explains why women often experience hormonal acne not only in puberty but later in life as well. Especially the week before their period.

Pregnancy and the time shortly after giving birth cause an increase in hormones that can also wreak havoc on a woman’s skin. During perimenopause and menopause, hormone levels can fluctuate, often triggering additional breakouts.

Women with abnormally high levels of androgen hormones are at a higher risk of developing acne. The adrenal glands release another acne-triggering hormone, cortisol, during times of stress. And often triggers the acne cycle in women.

To sum it up, hormones and acne go hand-in-hand for women. The connection explains why many women experience hormonal acne in their 20s, 30s, 40s and even 50s.

Men and Hormonal Acne

Hormones also cause acne in men. While both men and women produce androgens, testosterone is a type of androgen that surges in males during puberty.

By adulthood, the oil production in most men normalizes, making hormones and acne less of an issue. In fact, testosterone has the benefit of increasing the skin thickness in men. It explaining why they wrinkle less with age.

Hormones, particularly androgens, play a major role in acne formation. In women, acne may also be due to the fluctuation of hormones during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy or menopause. Despite the hormonal nature of acne in both males and females, topical treatment is effective for most people.

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