Menopausal Acne – Natural Remedies for Menopausal Acne

Menopausal acne is an unfortunate but common occurrence for some women who are going through perimenopause or menopause. If you find yourself having a case of acne at this time in your life, you would likely be wondering why this is happening at your age, and possibly looking for a way to prevent or at least reduce the outbreaks.

The cause of acne at this time is due to the fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone levels that your body is experiences during menopause. There is a dramatic decrease in estrogen, usually just before, or after menopause, and a relative increase in testosterone and this causes your skin glands to produce more oil than it has in many years – possibly since you were in your teens. An increase in testosterone produces excess sebum and your skin’s sebaceous glands go into overdrive which blocks pores.

If you are experiencing a severe case of acne, you may want to discuss your options with your doctor. For anyone that is experiencing a mild case of acne, you may be able to get away with adding an over-the-counter or natural remedy to your daily cleansing routine.


Natural Remedies for Menopausal Acne

Use good hygiene – regular cleansing. Wash the affected area at least two times each day with a gentle exfoliating facial wash, preferably morning and night. Then moisturize to prevent over-drying of your skin.

Increase your daily water intake to 8 to 10 glasses of water per day.

Eat healthy foods – avoid food with rancid fats (almost any processed food), cut out as much sugar as you possibly can, and eat more whole grains, fiber rich food and vegetables.

Add supplements to your diet – vitamins and minerals that combat excess oil, specifically vitamins B and C which help with oily skin and acne.

Herbs that help balance your hormones may help. See dong quai, wild yam, and vitex for information on each herb.

Sometimes supporting your liver will help. Your liver has alot of extra work to do during this time, processing all the increased levels of hormones while going through the transition.

Using yellow dock root to make a strong tea (simmer a 1/2 teaspoon in a cup of water for twenty minutes) can help your liver and your acne. Combining yellow dock with burdock root, echinacea root and sarsaparilla root in a tea can be very effective. Drink two to three times a day.

Over-the-counter remedies may include tea-tree-oil based acne creams or other herbal acne creams. Tea tree oil is anti-bacterial. Another topical anti-bacterial herb is lavender oil. If you buy the oil separately, make sure to get high quality oils. One brand I recommend is Floracopeia

Alternately, your doctor could prescribe some medication to help with a severe case of acne.

It doesn’t matter if you have a severe or a mild case of acne during menopause, the acne will most likely clear up as soon as your hormone levels and menopause symptoms return to normal. Menopausal acne is not serious in most cases, and is a temporary issue that can be controlled with a little extra care and attention.

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Natural Remedies for Menopause