Many people experience acne over their lifetime but the question I often here is why?
Hormones: In teenage years, this is usually the main cause but as adults it is often the first suspect too. Hormones will effect your skin if you are over producing or have imbalances, particularly with androgens. Or if you are not clearing your hormones, leading to a build up in the system. PCOS and Insulin Resistance are two hormonal conditions that often go hand in hand with adult acne so addressing these will help.
Gut Health: Leaky gut can lead to substances leaving the digestive system and traveling the through the body. This leads to inflammation and can be tested via levels of zonulin. It’s not uncommon to have changes in the gut microbiome reflect onto the skin, this might be a temporary infection or more long-term change to the balance of gut bugs.
Topical infections: Acne is a skin infection, made worse when we pick and squeeze, allowing the Propionibacterium acne’s. bacteria to spread around the skin. Acne can also be fungal and from other microbial overgrowths on the skin, hence why it is important to be washing your skin, changing dirty pillow cases and not touching your face.
Foods: I’m sure we all know that when we overindulge in sugary, fatty or alcoholic foods our skin suffers. This is due to your body being overloaded with waste that is often coming in faster than we can process it. Cutting down on these things is great for the skin and our health in general!
Products: Someone trained in skin therapies and diagnoses can be a real ally for acne. They can identify if you are using products that are stripping your skin of natural oils or clogging up your pores. Everyone’s skin is very individual so what works for one person might not work for you. I always recommend using natural products because everything that goes on the body, goes into it.
If you would like some help working out which of these is impacting your skin book an appointment with me and we can start the process!