Menopause comes with changes, both emotional and biological. It is when a woman stops menstruating for over a year that she goes through menopause and there are many symptoms associated with this condition. Skin problems, muscle and bone weakening, hot flashes, mood changes and joint pains are some common complaints. Some women experience acne during this menopause period.
Menopause and Acne: Causes
Do not be alarmed if you witness acne during menopause, as it is quite common. Acne is linked with a menopausal woman taking HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) treatment. The HRT has progestin in the treatment and can cause the skin to breakout in a rash or acne, if excessive androgen is produced. However, treatment is possible through a form of Vitamin A, called retinaic acid.
Apart from acne during menopause, many women suffer from discomfort caused due to flaky or itchy skin. This condition called, seborrhea, is considered a close cousin of initial acne. Topical creams, especially those containing progesterone, are helpful in clearing it up. Estrogen use should be limited for those wishing to prevent the breakout of acne, as estrogen used in a cream form can result in skin discoloration, rashes, as well as oily skin.
Any change in the normal hormonal setting can trigger off acne during menopause. It can be due to issues like imbalanced nutrition or emotional dysfunction, like unresolved relationships or lack of physical exercise that affects the metabolism, and thereby disrupts proper functioning of hormones.
Menopause and Acne: Treatments
Menopause and acne are problems that have led many women to resort to counseling for clarification as a menopause related issue. Health care practitioners acknowledge that this skin eruption may happen due to the change of life. Menopause is medically considered as a stage in a woman's life, during which significant hormonal changes take place, and a woman slowly loses her fertility, or ability to conceive.
The reason for hormonal dysfunction is linked with the female sex hormones: estrogens and progesterone production decline and lead to problems in the skin and organs. Thus, when menopause sets in, there is a gradual shutdown of the ovaries and the hormone deficiency is permanent. This hormone deficiency triggers off other typical symptoms of menopause and mood swings, hot flashes and adult female acne occurs.
To further understand the underlying causes of adult female acne, it is necessary to follow how one of the strongest androgens, testosterone, causes the skin to produce more sebum. Sebum is actually skin oil, the increased production of which is responsible for blocking skin cells, and making it difficult for a woman to slough off dead cells.
When these skin cells are caught in the pores and hair follicles, already filled with excess oil, it results in pimples and acne. A plug of waxy oil and skin cells is formed, and this causes inflammation and infection. If not treated in time, the pimples become a full-blown case of acne.
Menopause and acne in women need not be a cause of distress any more because the estrogen deficiency causing acne breakouts, loss of skin firmness and texture are a cosmetic problem which has new treatments and effective cures available today.
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