Dealing with hormonal acne

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So it's been a few months, and I've been... dealing with this beast called 'hormonal acne'.

What is hormonal acne?  It's when you're out of high school and you finally got out of that horrible teen acne stage.  You didn't think it could get any worse...  But guess what?  It can!! (-__-)

I started to notice that I was breaking out with inflamed acne around the top of my forehead, in the middle of my cheeks, and along my jawline.  A lot of the acne was the painful type, under the skin (cystic).

At first I thought that there was something wrong with my skincare regimen.  I thought about if my skin was the oily type and maybe the moisturizers I used were clogging my pores or maybe my cosmetics were comedogenic (pore clogging).

After trying and failing many times with different products, I found that it wasn't the products at all and that the cause was something far more sinister and underlying.

Hormones.

If you're wondering how I came to this conclusion, I found it through face mapping.  Face mapping is basically an old Chinese belief that acne in different regions of the face point to different body systems out of whack.  According to face mapping, acne along the jawline (which I never used to get before) is caused by hormone imbalance.  From there, I did research on hormonal acne and that's how I got my answer.  Everything finally made sense: the sudden onset, the acne along the jawline, the acne being cystic...  I finally found the answer but now I'm stuck figuring out the cure.

I'm sure that this acne problem is also due to stress.  It's no secret that women in this day and age are subject to higher levels of stress than previous generations due to higher education and higher demands from careers, balancing relationships, family life, etc.

The biggest challenge for me is just trying not to be bothered by it and covering the acne up with makeup during the day (which thankfully does a good job).  Acne really does lower self-esteem and can make a person feel very helpless.  I think I can relate much better to people with severe acne problems now that I know how it feels not being able to easily get rid of it.

I've tried a lot of things that are said to help:

  • Excluding dairy from my diet
  • Drinking more water
  • Eating more fruits and veggies
  • Exercising more
  • Thoroughly cleansing my face each night
  • Adequately moisturizing
  • Wearing sunscreen

I'm sad to say that it hasn't really given me any results yet.  But I really don't want to go on hormone therapy or use medication.  I just don't believe in messing with the internal workings of my body any further.

Maybe it's because I'm in college and have to deal with chronic high stress..  So once summer vacation hits, I won't feel so stressed out and my skin might improve.  That's my theory anyway.

We'll see what happens.  I really hope this is just some shitty stage that my skin's going through that will eventually pass.

Comments

Lov.e Chloe said…
That is absolutely terrible! :(
I hope you get better soon!
March 13, 2015 at 8:54 PM
MiNapi said…
@Lov.e Chloe, thank you! I think it's slowly getting better. I've quit milk and yogurt and it seems to be helping. :D
March 15, 2015 at 8:53 PM
lovepirate said…
Oh no, I hope you'll be better soon! :(
The sad truth is... that since I'm not taking any hormones anymore my skin got worse, too. It's not that bad and nothing some good make up couldn't handle. But somehow it still bothers me.
I hope you'll find a good solution for yourself. <3
March 22, 2015 at 11:27 AM
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