Managing Acne Naturally
Breakouts suck, especially when you’re having breakouts as an adult. Many adults have tried loads of topical acne creams, oral antibiotics, and cleansers but can’t seem to get a hold on their acne.
Using products that are less likely to cause breakouts, like oils that are low on the comedogenic scale, can help. Managing your hormone levels is another step to combating breakouts. In addition to focusing on the skin, I often treat the gut, liver, and hormones when treating acne.
Skincare to Prevent Acne
Moisturizers are an important part of any skin care routine. According to a recent review, skin dryness is increasing due to urbanization, pollution, and reduced use of traditional oils and skin care practices. Certain products also contribute to skin dryness, as well as advancing age. Maintaining proper skin moisture is important for overall skin health and function.
Keeping your skin clean is an important step for preventing breakouts.
The best way to moisturize your skin is to moisturize from the inside out by making sure you drink plenty of water. Besides that, choosing a product that contains ingredients that increase moisture but won’t clog your pores and increase your chance of a breakout is important. Hyaluronic acid is a popular and effective ingredient that can moisturize without leaving your skin feeling oily. Certain oils with lower ratings on the comedogenic scale, like argan oil, can also be appropriate for certain skin types. Everything is individual so test a few things out and see what works best for you.
The comedogenic scale is commonly used to assess the pore-clogging and acne-instigating potential of different oils and skin care ingredients. Lower scores mean less likelihood of causing breakouts. Popular oils like argan oil and hemp seed oil have a rating of 0, indicating they are less likely to clog pores and cause acne than oils like coconut oil, which has a rating of 4.
Different ingredients are going to interact differently with each person’s skin and the scale has not been rigorously studied. BUT, the scale is based on input from lots of skin care experts so I still think it’s a good place to start when choosing oils or products for your skin care routine.
Hormonal Influences
Hormonal fluctuations and imbalances can lead to breakouts.
Testosterone increases the production of sebum, an oily substance that keeps skin and hair moisturized. Men have more sebum in their skin and without proper care, this substance can build up and lead to breakouts. Women with high levels of androgens (due to hormonal imbalance or PCOS) can experience breakouts due to testosterone, too.
Estrogen imbalance can also lead to breakouts. High levels of estrogen can throw off the balance with progesterone, leading to increased androgens. High estrogen levels can also tax the liver, which helps us clear hormones.
The Liver and Skin Health
The liver and skin are both emunctory organs, meaning they help us eliminate wastes. The liver is our powerhouse detoxification organ but if we’re not treating it right, it can get stressed and overwhelmed. Too much alcohol, processed foods, sugar, and exposure to environmental toxins can lead our liver to process slower than usual which can set us up for more breakouts. A sluggish or overwhelmed liver often leads to dysfunction in other organs of elimination and in the skin, that can mean breakouts.
Supplements may help target the liver, gut, or hormones.
The Gut-Skin Axis
Dysfunction in the gut can cause skin symptoms like rashes, itchiness, or discoloration. The gut microbiome also directly influences the development of acne, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis.
As a naturopathic doctor, I often talk to my clients about the importance of gut health on the health of other organ systems because how well we digest and how well we absorb nutrients plays a huge part in whole body health. Keeping our guts and their resident microbes happy is a foundational piece of how I treat skin conditions like acne, atopic dermatitis, or psoriasis. Diversity in the gut microbiome is also important for promoting overall skin health. Dysbiosis, or an overgrowth of the wrong kinds of bacteria, can lead to dysfunction in the skin, including acne.
Probiotics may be useful as a treatment for acne. Recent research has shown improvements in acne. Oral and topical probiotics inhibit the bacteria responsible for acne, reduce inflammation in the skin, and improve the hydration and barrier effect of the skin.
Why Skincare Matters
Skin is involved in the excretion of water, sodium, and small amounts of urea and xenobiotics (foreign substances in the body). There is also evidence that decreased skin function impairs proper detoxification of certain substances and may contribute to increased oxidative stress in the body. Keeping your skin happy is about way more than vanity, but healthy skin can also improve self-esteem and body image.
References
Kober MM, Bowe WP. The effect of probiotics on immune regulation, acne, and photoaging. Int J Womens Dermatol. 2015;1(2):85-89. Published 2015 Apr 6.
Liu XX, Sun CB, Yang TT, et al. Decreased skin-mediated detoxification contributes to oxidative stress and insulin resistance. Experimental Diabetes Research. 2012 ;2012:128694.
Skin Reference. Complete List of Comedogenic Ratings (Causes Acne). https://www.skinreference.com/comedogenic-ratings-causes-acne/. Accessed August 30, 2020.