Acne and Sex Hormones

Why is acne more common in men than women? Why is it more common in teenagers than old people?

Androgen, the 'male' hormone

At puberty, a girl's ovaries produce the 'male' sex hormone androgen, in addition to estrogen and progesterone in her ovaries. The adrenal glands above the kidney produce androgen too. Boys at puberty and adulthood produce far more androgen than girls, making them more prone to acne.

Androgen is a hormone that makes your skin oily and more likely to result in acne. Androgen is responsible for the appearance of pubic and underarm hair. Androgen starts being produced at puberty.

Androgen stimulates immature sebaceous glands to become mature sebaceous glands. These glands produce sebum, the oil on your skin. Too much sebum can cause acne.

How androgen is related to acne 

Androgen stimulates the production of oil on your skin. Excess oil produced by the skin blocks the sebaceous ducts. Bacteria multiplies below the blockage. This bacteria causes the surrounding tissue to be infected, leading to pimples, or acne.

What worsens acne

Stress

Stress causes an increase in androgen, which stimulates sebaceous glands, increasing oil production. This excess oil can worsen acne.

To counteract acne, try to relax. Check out Stress

Heat and humidity

Hot and humid climate leads to more perspiration which worsens pore blockage, which worsens acne.

Hormones that clear acne.

The female sex hormone, estrogen on the other hand increases the production of sex hormone binding globulin. Globulin binds androgens preventing them from accessing the sebaceous glands in the skin.

A certain progesterone, cyproterone acetate, which is found in a birth control pill also blocks the androgen stimulation of sebaceous glands. This helps clear acne. This is the reason why starting on certain birth ntrol pills appear to clear your complexion as a 'side effect'.

Not all birth control pills have this effect though. some contain a type of progesterone which have the same effect on your skin as androgen. That would lead to the worsening of your acne.

Here are more  Acne products

Effective acne treatments

A full acne treatment system would include all the skincare products you need to clear your acne. These are meant to go together for the best results. Here are some great acne systems to try.

DCL Acne Healing System is clinically proven to dramatically reduce Acne, Irritation, and Inflammation.

Skinceuticals Acne Care System unclogs pores and improves the appearance of acne ridden skin.

Neutrogena Advanced Solutions Complete Acne Therapy System clears the skin and prevents new pimples from forming.

Here are more Acne Remedies

References

 Skin Wise: A Guide to Healthy Skin for...