Estrogen & Acne: Why It Happens & How to Fix It
Estrogen: A Love-Hate Relationship
We love it for its ability to plump our tissues—our hips, butt, breasts, and uterine lining every month in preparation for pregnancy. We also love its ability to fight off wrinkles and keep our skin hydrated.
But the part we wish we could break up with?
Its ability to cause those dreaded, stubborn cyclical breakouts that come back with a vengeance. You know the ones. The acne that sits under the skin, inflamed, irritated, letting you know, without a doubt, that your period is just around the corner…
So, how did we get here?
Estrogen is a steroid hormone that plays a key role in your reproductive health. It also has a starring role in your longevity: influencing bone protection, mental health, and even blood sugar regulation. Estrogen, alone, is not the problem. In fact, you may have noticed that your skin was at its best while on estrogen-based hormonal birth control.
The problem comes with estrogen dominance.
What is Estrogen Dominance?
This is a state of imbalance in the body that occurs between estrogen and progesterone.
This can occur from:
Normal levels of estrogen and low progesterone
High estrogen and normal progesterone
High estrogen and low progesterone
Most commonly, estrogen dominance is coming from higher estrogen at the tissue level. This means your liver is struggling to metabolize, or break down and get rid of your estrogen, and the body just can’t keep up.
To effectively move estrogen out of the body, three phases of detoxification must occur:
Phase I and II occur in the liver.
Phase III depends on you pooping every single day. Something that, for most of our clients struggling with hormone and skin issues, is just not happening…
Phase I and Phase II are very nutrient-rich processes. They need plenty of:
Amino acids (derived from proteins)
Calcium
B vitamins like folate, B2, B5, B6, and B12
Vitamins A, C, and E
Antioxidants like glutathione and more
Estrogen Dominance Symptoms:
Hormonal acne when ovulating and acne right before the start of your period
Pre-period headaches or migraines
Mood swings, irritability, or feeling extra emotional before your period
Heavy periods
Thyroid dysfunction
Water retention or puffiness
Sore breasts before your period
Disrupted sleep during your luteal phase
Estrogen dominance is a common occurrence in our clients, but only blaming this hormone would be an oversimplified misstep. We have to go layers deeper…
Estrogen Dominance Causes:
A slow thyroid (but why is this happening?)
Impaired bile production and flow (but why is this happening?)
Dysbiosis or an imbalance in your good and bad bacteria in the gut (but why is this happening?)
A stressed body (but why is this happening?)
See a pattern yet?
Low minerals
Vitamin deficiencies
Inflammation and oxidative stress
But, why are all of the above happening?
Let’s start with talking about stress, in all its forms:
How stressed do you currently feel?
Are you filling every hour of your day with to-dos?
Is it hard to rest, put your phone down, and be present?
Are you skipping meals and running off caffeine?
Did you recently come off the pill?
Do you alternate between loose stools and constipation?
Stress, in all of the ways it can manifest in our bodies, has the ability to deplete your minerals. Specifically, your macro minerals:
Calcium
Magnesium
Sodium
Potassium
When this happens, your body’s ability to clear hormones (like estrogen) is impaired.
Your gut bacteria take a hit
Inflammation increases
The liver becomes stagnant and overwhelmed
Vitamins are used up and depleted
The thyroid does not have the nutrients it needs to make hormones
Bile becomes sticky and thick
And then, all of these imbalances begin to affect one another and feed into each other.
This is why those trendy supplements you see for estrogen dominance rarely work. They aren’t going deep enough or broad enough.
The Real Solution
Cyclical acne requires us to ask about:
Your food intake
Your body’s ability to digest and absorb that food
Your mineral status
Your iron recycling picture
How exhausted you feel
What kind of joy you experience in your life
Your bowel patterns
Don’t fall into the trap of looking for a silver bullet supplement that is going to fix it all. Instead, invest in your whole-body health and get clear answers and solutions for long-lasting clear skin.
Apply to work with our team to create a customized plan that looks at every factor influencing your hormonal acne. Because you deserve to feel unstoppable in your skin.
Xoxo, ~ Robyn
References:
Falsetti, L., & Pasinetti, E. (1995). Effects of long-term administration of an oral contraceptive containing ethinylestradiol and cyproterone acetate on lipid metabolism in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica, 74(1), 56–60. https://doi.org/10.3109/00016349509009945
Chandrasena, R. E., Edirisinghe, P. D., Bolton, J. L., & Thatcher, G. R. (2008). Problematic detoxification of estrogen quinones by NAD(P)H-dependent quinone oxidoreductase and glutathione-S-transferase. Chemical research in toxicology, 21(7), 1324–1329. https://doi.org/10.1021/tx8000797
Raftogianis, R., Creveling, C., Weinshilboum, R., & Weisz, J. (2000). Estrogen metabolism by conjugation. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, (27), 113–124. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.jncimonographs.a024234
Straub R. H. (2007). The complex role of estrogens in inflammation. Endocrine reviews, 28(5), 521–574. https://doi.org/10.1210/er.2007-0001
Baker, J. M., Al-Nakkash, L., & Herbst-Kralovetz, M. M. (2017). Estrogen-gut microbiome axis: Physiological and clinical implications. Maturitas, 103, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2017.06.025
Lephart, E. D., & Naftolin, F. (2022). Estrogen Action and Gut Microbiome Metabolism in Dermal Health. Dermatology and therapy, 12(7), 1535–1550. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13555-022-00759-1