Why does hormones cause acne

J Am Acad Dermatol. Aydemir EH. Acne vulgaris. Turk Pediatri Ars. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellHealth. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page.

These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification. I Accept Show Purposes.

Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles.

Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Related Articles. Causes of Acne in Older Women. Is It a Pimple or Sebaceous Hyperplasia? Sebaceous Glands and Your Skin. How to Manage Oily Skin. This makes people with vaginas more prone to the intense hormonal fluctuations of pregnancy , childbirth, and breastfeeding.

Genetics can dictate when hormonal breakouts start and stop. One of the telltale signs of a hormonal breakout is its location on the face. These excess oil glands make your skin a prime spot for these types of breakouts. Though the chin and jawline are extremely common places for hormonal acne, it may also pop up along the side of your face or down your neck.

If you also develop acne on your back , chest, and shoulders, especially around your menstrual cycle, Dr. Jegasothy explains. Hormonal breakouts tend to pop up in the same place each month as well.

This is usually the result of a particular pore being enlarged in size by a previous pimple. However, Dr. Jegasothy says that it could be that the actual pore opening happens to trap oil naturally. This can vary from person to person and pore to pore. Cortisol, the stress hormone, can affect all of your other hormones, too, causing them to be all out of whack.

Cue those poorly-timed stress bumps. Those surface-level brownish spots that typically yield more gunk than you expected hello, blackheads and those tiny white dots of bacteria stuck in your pores hello, whiteheads are not in the same category as hormonal acne, which can come in the form of painful cysts.

They tend to pop up in the same place over and over again, becoming subacute or chronic. Because they have an inflammatory component, they require a more clinical approach to treatment that starts from the inside out rather than treating them topically alone.

Rodney says. So normal, in fact, that there are many methods to help treat it. Most people with hormonal acne have tried over-the-counter treatments to no avail. She recommends trying one of the hormonal acne medications or treatments listed below instead:. The hormonal acne treatment pyramid starts with good over-the-counter cleansers.

J Am Acad Dermatol. Lakshmi C. Hormone therapy in acne. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. Gollnick HP, Dreno B. Pathophysiology and management of acne. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. The role of androgen and androgen receptor in the skin-related disorders. Arch Dermatol Res. Husein-ElAhmed H.

Management of acne vulgaris with hormonal therapies in adult female patients. Dermatol Ther. Is hormonal treatment still an option in acne today? Schneider MR, Paus R. Sebocytes, multifaceted epithelial cells: lipid production and holocrine secretion. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. Deplewski D, Rosenfield RL. Role of hormones in pilosebaceous unit development. Endocr Rev. European evidence-based S3 guidelines for the treatment of acne.

Propionibacterium acnes : an update on its role in the pathogenesis of acne. Gollnick HP. From new findings in acne pathogenesis to new approaches in treatment. Serum hydroxy vitamin D levels in patients with acne vulgaris and its association with disease severity. Clin Cases Miner Bone Metab. Hormonal pathogenesis of acne — simplified. Int J Sci Stu. Cutaneous androgen metabolism: basic research and clinical perspective.

J Invest Dermatol. Acne is an inflammatory disease and alterations of sebum composition initiate acne lesions. Thiboutot D. Acne: hormonal concepts and therapy. Clin Dermatol. Acne: risk indicator for increased body mass index and insulin resistance. Acta Derm Venereol. Arlt W, Stewart PM. Adrenal corticosteroid biosynthesis, metabolism, and action. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. Glucocorticoids enhance Toll-like receptor 2 expression in human keratinocytes stimulated with Propionibacterium acnes or proinflammatory cytokines.

Role of hormones in acne vulgaris. Clin Biochem. Ultrasound assessment of the polycystic ovary: international consensus definition. Hum Reprod Update. The role of hyperinsulinemia in the pathogenesis of ovarian hyperandrogenism. Fertil Steril. Rosenfield RL. Current concepts of polycystic ovary syndrome. Guidelines of care for the management of acne vulgaris. Augmentation of gene expression and production of promatrix metalloproteinase 2 by Propionibacterium acnes -derived factors in hamster sebocytes and dermal fibroblasts: a possible mechanism for acne scarring.

Biol Pharm Bull. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia in adolescents: diagnosis and management. Ann N Y Acad Sci. Eric K, Ricardo A. Pregnancy and dermatologic therapy. Harper JC. Use of oral contraceptives for management of acne vulgaris: practical considerations in real world practice. Dermatol Clin. Anti-androgenic therapy using oral spironolactone for acne vulgaris in Asians. Aesthetic Plast Surg. Cochrane Database Syst Rev.

Effects and side-effects of spironolactone therapy in women with acne. Shaw JC. Acne: effect of hormones on pathogenesis and management. Am J Clin Dermatol. Hormonal therapy for acne. Semin Cutan Med Surg.

Layton AM. Top ten list of clinical pearls in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Van Wayjen R, van den Ende A. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes. A randomized, controlled trial of a low-dose contraceptive containing 20 mcg of ethinyl estradiol and mcg of levonorgestrel for acne treatment. Flutamide versus a cyproterone acetate-ethinyl estradiol combination in moderate acne: a pilot randomized clinical trial. Lowenstein EJ. Diagnosis and management of the dermatologic manifestations of the polycystic ovary syndrome.

Risk of complications due to anticoagulation during dermatosurgical procedures: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Combined oral contraceptives for the treatment of acne: a practical guide. Systemic and barrier contraceptives for the dermatologist: a review. Int J Dermatol. Treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist in acne or idiopathic hirsutism. J Endocrinol Invest. Profiling and hormonal therapy for acne in women. Indian J Dermatol.