Hormones and acne

The link

When it comes to pimplesand acne, the guilty parties are most certainly the hormones, i.e. hormonalimbalance to be even more precise. This disruption of balance is mostfrequently at the bottom of just about any chronic acne condition, as well asthe all unpleasant once-per-month outburst that takes hold of women.

When in perfectbalance, the levels of estrogen and androgen also bring about the harmony forthe skin. But once this equilibrium is affected and altered, this brings aboutquite a mess, i.e. a real “invasion” of blemishes. What is important to know isthat acne themselves do not occur and are not initiated by only one event,but occur as a direct consequence of a couple of steps not ending the way theyshould. A more scientific explanation states that acne represent a skindisorder that occurs due to the improper functioning of the cells that formthe lining of the gland underneath the surface of the person’s skin. In addition, the P. acnes bacteria, which are located in the above mentioned gland/s, doreceive abundance of oil, and due to this multiply in a rapid manner. Once thenumber of these bacteria increases significantly, the gland itself is blocked,but the oils, however, do continue to build up regardless of the fact that theseoils can actually reach the skin’s surface. As a result of this, bacteriacontinue to multiply even more, ultimately leading up to the severe inflammation.This lasts up till the point at which the gland is unable to tolerate this,thus bursting underneath the surface of the skin in the end.

Main culprits

Quite a lot ofdifferent hormones can actually be found at the root of acne outburst. Thoseregarded as the most harmful are testosterone, gonadotropins, corticosteroids,anabolic steroids, as well as adrenocorticotropic hormones. Another culprit isexcessive stress, of course. The main reason for this is that it induces theenhanced circulation of glucocorticosteroids, which also affects the skin in anegative way and brings about acne uproar.

In case a person optsfor hormonal treatment of acne (e.g. birth control pills), she should pay closeattention to the following – avert the formation of androgens, disable theandrogens from going all the way to receptors, as well as decrease the quantityof bloodstream circulating androgens. The strength of such products, as thebirth control pills, lies in the fact that they are able to fulfill all the threeof the above mentioned prerequisites, especially the oral contraceptives.