Hormonal acne mainly affects women during their monthly cycle and menopause, but men can also experience it due to stress hormones. If you’re interested in learning more about how hormones and stress can cause acne, I have other blog posts that provide detailed information on this topic, such as “Treat The Cause Of Your Acne” and “Sudden Chronic Cystic Acne.”
Hormonal acne typically appears in the lower part of the face, known as the U zone. If it appears in the area where a man’s beard would grow, it’s likely hormonal.
Topical Treatments
It's important to have a solid skincare routine because it helps manage how quickly pimples heal and prevents potential scarring. If you're unsure about how to create a skincare routine, I have another detailed post that covers that topic: "How to create a skincare routine."
When creating your skincare routine, consider including active ingredients such as salicylic acid, retinol, azelaic acid, niacinamide, alpha hydroxy acids, and benzoyl peroxide. While you won't use all these ingredients at the same time, you can use a combination of them.
Additionally, it's important to use sunscreen when using active ingredients and to keep your skin hydrated, as hydrated skin is healthy skin.
Regulate your Hormones
Hormonal acne is named as such because it is caused by hormonal imbalances. If you have persistent acne that doesn't go away, it's important to consult a doctor to rule out any underlying medical conditions that may be disrupting your hormonal balance.
Hormonal acne can appear before, during, and after your menstrual cycle, but you can control it through your diet. We often crave sweet or salty foods before and during our period, but these foods can cause inflammation in the body, leading to acne.
Our hormones are regulated in our gut, and gut health plays a significant role in our skin. The gut and skin are connected through the gut-skin axis, so if there's any inflammation in the gut, it can lead to inflammation in the skin.
This can lead to inflammatory skin conditions such as acne and eczema. I discuss in more detail how our gut health affects acne in another blog post, 'Gut Health & Acne.'
So, when dealing with hormonal acne, focusing only on topical treatments will not be enough. You also need to pay attention to your diet and gut health. Consuming a high-fiber diet is crucial to ensure regularity and reducing your intake of dairy and sugar is important.