Why do hormone fluctuations cause breakouts and flare-ups? What is going on and what can I do? It may not be hormonal fluctuations, it may in fact be skincare products doing their thing. Let’s consider both.

Start with the timing. If random acne or redness/flare-ups arise in concert with the menstrual cycle or bio-rhythm/thyroid changes (your energy waxes and wanes) then you are on notice.

The difficulty in this is that skincare products can MAGNIFY a slight hormonal change into a full-blown flare up.

Over application of skincare products, especially exfoliating ones, can cause havoc from an addiction response of weakening and dependency.

When we were babies our skin was plump, with well-formed skin cells cushioned in a synovial fluid in the basement membrane (see HYALURONIC ACID and ECM/EXTRACELLULAR MATRIX) and smooth on the surface.

Adolescence arrives and the hormones start to increase the rate of skin cell production as a matter of population. More and more cells are crowding into limited real estate. The crowding catches dirt, debris and cell waste into corners that pile up and acne, clogged pores and blackheads often result. Strong CLEANSERS (as in most of them) make it worse.

The skin seems to be stable one day and bananas the next. Many try to control the outcome by EXFOLIATION which only creates more problems – when you exfoliate, the skin will react by producing even more cells, but to add insult, the cells are poorly formed fragments for the most part (think sand bags) and now you have to increase the concentration of the exfoliant to counter the new wave of breakouts from overcrowding until you are finally at the point of one big raw rash that comes and goes or just gets worse.

At that point you might cry uncle and visit the doctor who may or may not suggest Accutane® or BENZOYL PEROXIDE or antibiotics or a topical VITAMIN A, or a combination of these. These ‘solutions’ in the Skin Dork’s experience often aggravate the inflammation greatly and lead to product dependency, skin weakness, premature aging, topical addiction and a rapidly dwindling bank account.

Accutane® is an orally dosed retinoid/Vitamin A that can be lethal. You should be very cautious but not paranoid. It can cause many unwanted side effects. The Skin Dork would restrict its use to those who have pustular acne that resists topical approaches. It is addicting and must be discontinued as quickly as possible because of many systemic side effects that cannot be predicted.

It is used to suppress cell output, via the immune system, that is, in the skin, to reduce overcrowding. Voila, fewer breakouts. The skin often becomes quite dry.

The drug has a very checkered history because of poor physician follow-up. The usual few bad apples story. It is really the ‘last resort’ because of the many side effects but there is no question that from a visual standpoint, it works – but thin, dry, peeling skin often occurs, too. And things may go back to trouble when it is discontinued, and it MUST be discontinued.

Hormonal surges plus environment are the bane of susceptible skin. Women may be dealing with the phenomena for much of their adult lives. Those who do struggle with this often resort to strong topical retinoids on a daily basis. In a short time this will, for most, usually age the skin prematurely and result in a constant see-saw battle with inflammation. Rosacea is common. The next stop is dermatitis and that will be a game changer, and can be lethal (as in suicide). See VITAMIN A for more on this ingredient.

EXFOLIATION is a technique to deal with the breakouts caused by hormonal fluctuations and this, in combination with retinoids (Vitamin A) topicals is the most common approach in skincare. The result is so often inflammatory that it is a wonder the consumer did not walk away from this self-evident assault en masse long ago.

The addition of moisturizers and sunscreens, to be applied in concert with exfoliating cleansers, BENZOYL PEROXIDE leave-ons and powerful retinoids is a source of unending wealth for the clinics and accelerated aging for the client with chronic rosacea and worse thrown in for no extra cost.

Best approach? See the TRAINING MODEL to get a handle on your raging hormones as they affect your skin. You can get control with less, not more.

One last word on “endocrine disruptors” which are chemicals or extracts thought to cause endocrine problems when topically applied. This is now a very popular misconception. It is highly improbable that a topical ingredient topically applied would have any effect on endocrine functions at all. It would require a transdermal process aided by DMSO to accomplish that.

The misunderstanding comes from the notion that topical products are like a food that is absorbed into the skin, then nourish and feed cells. That doesn’t happen, cells don’t eat skincare ingredients nor are they nourished by them. The natural products only advocates created this bio-mythology and elevated it to a belief system over the years. Ingredients taken up into the skin are put into skin reservoirs. The biochemical signals from the ingredients are absorbed by the cells and acted on in a plus or minus way almost instantly. The ingredient mass in the reservoir is painstakingly broken down by skin enzymes and sometimes in the breakdown process, a new chemical is formed that acts biologically on the skin cell. 

For example, retinol is put in a skin reservoir when you apply it topically and the skin begins to break it down with enzymes to get rid of it (and spends energy doing so – and that is why if you over frequently apply products, your skin will weaken, look drab and worn out). In that breakdown process retinoic acid is formed. There are specific receptors in the skin for retinoic acid (Vitamin A) and if the skin is not already saturated with the vitamin, it will incorporate the vitamin into its metabolism. The process of enzymatic breakdown of topical ingredients often helps to reduce any negatives. Retinoic acid applied directly is very irritating, but by forming it first into a retinol (a precursor) we avoid the irritating effects while at the same time getting the benefits.  See VITAMIN A for more discussion.

Worrying about so called endocrine disruptors applied topically is to worry over nothing. Endocrine disruption can be anything by the way – from indigestion to stress, to a glass of wine. Look there.