Can a naturopath help with hormonal acne?
Hormonal Acne… Your Road to Clear Skin!
Your skin a a mirror to your internal state of health, when you’re off balance your skin will be one of the first places to show it.
As a naturopath this is one hormonal condition that I see a lot… but is it really a hormonal condition?
It may shock you to learn that there are several factors that can contribute to your skin breakouts and your acne may not be hormonal at all.
This confusion around what’s causing the problem in the first place is often the reason why so many people struggle to overcome what seems like the never ending cycle of bad skin.
In this post I’m going to take the time to review some of the factors that may be underlying your acne and how you can go about getting to the bottom of your skin issues for good.
What’s causing my acne?
Your skin is one of your largest organs of elimination.
Meaning if you have an overload of toxins in your body it will work to excrete those toxins, through your urine, your stool but also through your skin. This can result in a myriad of skin symptoms including regular breakouts.
As a naturopath who deals with acne clients regularly I can tell you that many of my clients who present with what they initially think is a hormonal imbalance can often turn out to be a toxic overload.
A recent client of mine Claudia came into the clinic, she had struggled with pustular breakouts across her jaw line and cheeks for years. Initially she’d had all the hormonal testing done with her G.P. only to be told it was all normal.
Upon digging a little deeper it became apparent the Claudia had suffered with consitpation for as long as the acne was around so we looked into her gut functioning and ran some functional pathology.
It turns out that Claudia was Coeliac and this was causing a situation of chronic inflammation in her gut and a significant toxic load on her body. Once we improved her digestion and removed the gluten her skin improved dramatically.
So what should you keep an eye out for if you’re struggling with acne?
Chronic digestive upsets- constipation/ diarrhoea- if your gut is compromised you could be absorbing toxins via your digestive tract.
Allergies- this creates chronic low grade inflammation in your body leading to skin flare ups.
Poor Liver function- Without a strong liver your body will struggle to clear out the toxins we come into contact with on a daily basis.
History of toxic exposure with your work- Hairdressing, nail salons, working with any chemicals. Many acne sufferers find that their skin issues started around.
Nutrient deficiencies- Believe it or not certain deficiencies can impact your skins ability to heal and fight off bacterial infections.
Hormonal Imbalances- You can now have tests that give you a clear breakdown of what’s happening with your different sex hormones. It goes well beyond the standard pathology testing. The results from this test are game changing when it comes to acne. You can find out more about this test here.
Post Pill Acne… Wait is that a thing? 🤔
Yes I assure you it is, and it’s one of the most common contributing factors for the ladies I see in my natural health clinic.
And you can start to see how the picture of what’s contributing to your acne and the subsequent resolving of it can actually be a little complicated.
Some women go on the pill specifically to help with their skin and so when they come off they’re disappointed to see that their skin flare ups come right back.
Others go through what’s often termed a hormonal withdrawal as the pill essentially is a large dose of synthetic progesterone and taking this long term can result in your own hormone production to plummet.
Once you come off the pill your body struggles to find a new hormonal balance and in this phase you can get a whole host of symptoms including but not limited to; acne, hair loss, mood swings and so on.
When do this symptoms show up? Anything from 3-6 months after coming off hormonal birth control.
Topical acne treatments alone won’t resolve an internal problem
You can spend years and hundreds even thousands of dollars on external skin treatments and topical products, but acne is a condition that’s starting on the inside and so you need to treat it from that angle for long term results.
Being a level 3 member at Mecca I’m a fan of a skin product or two, however the best results with acne are achieved by a combination of both internal and external treatments.
Some well known topical acne treatments can actually make the situation worse!
When I work with my acne clients we do a full review of their skin care regime as well as discussing what topical products and treatments are specifically helpful for their current skin breakouts.
Naturopath for acne - How do they help?
When you see a naturopath who works with acne patients what can you expect?
Step One…
Get to the bottom of what the probable underlying cause of your acne is. Including taking a thorough case history and assessment of your skin.
Step Two…
Undertake relevant functional pathology testing, and wait for the results.
Step Three…
Review test results and commence an individualised treatment protocol, using a combination of nutraceuticals, herbal medicines, lifestyle and dietary changes as well as any topical products necessary to get your skin clear.
What natural treatments for acne can you start doing now?
While none of these are targeted or specific they’re helpful to get the ball rolling and at the very least will start improving your skins healing.
Diet
There have been studies showing that a low glycemic diet with little to no processed foods is best for reducing or eliminating acne.
So this means a diet low in sugar and simple carbs. Refer to the other attachment here or healthy eating.
Following this diet will help with your sebum production, reducing it. Dairy is an issue for many who suffer from acne. So please eliminate dairy, especially soft cheeses, ice cream and straight milk.
You many be able to leave in hard cheeses. But for best results please cut it out all together.
Water intake needs to be significant 1.5 liters to 2 liters per day. Filtered water is ideal.
Fibre is very important for both the clearance of hormones and toxins from the gut.
You want to reduce toxins as much as possible, this includes plastics, BPA’s, pthalates, processed foods, alcohol, and the list goes on. This will go a long way to taking the pressure off your skin and helping it heal faster.
General Hygiene
Very important you consider your pillow and pillow cases.
You want to use a pillow that is hypoallergenic and completely breathable. No polyester fibres in your pillow cases.
Ideally use pure cotton or silk pillow cases and change them ever 2-3 nights.
Do not pick at your skin, I know this is very challenging! If you absolutely have to extract a pustule because you can’t face the public with it on your face... you must follow the right protocols to extract it.
Wash your entire face twice
Wash your hands and put gloves on
Use a clean tissue
Gentle pressure only. Try not to pinch the skin but rather gentle wriggle side to side. Make sure you disinfect the skin with a dilution of tea tree oil
DO NOT USE neat tea tree oil on your skin this will lead to skin burns.
This process if you must is best done after a warm shower. However please do your best to completely avoid picking.
NO MAKE-UP after extraction. In fact, whenever possible, completely avoid makeup.
Light therapy
Blue light therapy is fantastic for clearing up acne and doing this at home daily will speed up your healing and reduce future breakouts.
You should use the blue light 4-5 nights a week depending on the strength of the mask. Note this is an initial costly investment but will form a part of your skin management moving forward into the future.
Going to the salon for LED light treatment once a week is generally not as effective as using the at home mask daily, but is an option you can look into.
Online & Face to Face Naturopathic Consultations
If you have any questions about your own skin concerns or how naturopathic medicine might help you. Please feel free to fill out the form below and I’ll get back you.
To find out more about the consultation fees and to see if we’d make a good team to tackle your skin issues, book yourself in for a complimentary 15 minute phone call below.
Looking forward to chatting to you soon : )