Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By Dr. Melissa (Mel) Irvine, DNP – Clinical Sexologist – Specializes in Sexual Medicine and Beauty
The skin is no unsubstantial organ. In fact, it’s the body’s largest and a significant defender from outside contagions. Beyond the protection it offers your body, the skin also offers a unique ability for you to gauge your internal health purely by looking at it.
However, with an organ so large, many things can affect it, one of which is your hormones or, more accurately, an imbalance in them.
Hormonal Imbalance
Much as the name suggests, a hormonal imbalance occurs when your hormones are no longer balanced, either because a hormone is secreted too much or too little.
Hormonal imbalance can be disastrous for your well-being because your hormones regulate many different processes in the body, including your development, metabolism, and reproduction. So, if you’re producing too much or too little hormones, it can also affect these processes.
Some of the impacts of hormonal imbalance include primary ovarian insufficiency, early menopause, and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in women, and prostate cancer in men.
Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance
While the symptoms of hormonal imbalance can vary based on the hormone out of balance, some of the general symptoms of hormonal imbalance include:
. increased stomach issues
. sudden weight loss/gain
. weakness
. skin dryness
. fatigue
. body aches
. increased urination
. persistent thirst
. anxiety
. mood swings
. changes in appetite
. hair loss
. infertility
If you notice any of these symptoms, it’s best to visit a doctor specializing in hormones to pinpoint the cause of the imbalance and correct it. Often, hormonal imbalance can be an indicator of an even bigger issue, and choosing to ignore the symptoms may cause life-threatening risks, which is why it is always recommended to address hormonal imbalances as soon as you notice them.
Luckily, hormonal imbalance can often manifest on your skin, helping you see if something is unbalanced internally. If you’re aware of what to look for, and what skin conditions may be due to hormonal imbalances, you have the advantage of knowing when there is a need to look more closely into your hormone levels.
How Hormonal Imbalance Affects Your Skin
As we know, the skin is the largest organ in your body, so its health relies on many things. However, one of the most important components of your skin comes from the sebaceous glands under your skin that produce sebum, a natural oil secreted through the pores of your skin.
Sebum helps protect the skin from UV radiation, locks in moisture, and transports fat-soluble antioxidants to the surface of the skin, which can then help prevent oxidative skin damage.
However, as with all things, too much can be a problem. In fact, too much sebum production is often the cause of various skin issues like inflammation and acne. One reason for excess sebum production? An imbalance of androgen, or male sex hormones that are present in those of both genders.
Sebum is not the only important part of the skin, either. Your skin is composed of the protein collagen, which is a building block of your skin. It is collagen that helps to give your skin a youthful appearance, and when your collagen production is down, your skin may start to sag.
Estrogen, a female sex hormone, is crucial in producing collagen and helps keep your skin thick and hydrated. If your estrogen levels are low, such as the case with older women entering menopause, skin can become thinner and more sensitive.
It’s not just those entering menopause who see these results of low estrogen, though. A survey found that 2 out of 5 women still getting a period each month report unusually sensitive skin before and during their menstruation, which is generally the time when estrogen levels drop. Many women also notice an increase in sebum production before and during their menstrual cycle, which can contribute to acne.
When we look at the effects of hormonal changes on the body, it’s clear that hormonal imbalance can manifest in changes to your skin.
Hormonal Imbalance as Skin Manifestations
Let’s take a look at the different skin imperfections that can result from hormonal imbalances.
Under Eye Dark Circles
The constant companion for college students staying up all night to study, under eye dark circles are a skin problem resulting most often from adrenal fatigue.
When you experience more stress, your body produces more of the stress hormone cortisol. However, excess cortisol production can cause poor sleep at night because it tends to make people feel restless. If you continually suffer from poor sleep, dark circles can appear around your eyes.
Furthermore, if you’re suffering from low estrogen levels, the skin under your eyes can become thinner, which can make the darkness even more prominent.
Dry Skin
While common during the dry and cold winter months, dry skin can also occur to those with hormonal imbalances, specifically if hormones such as estrogen decline. This is because a reduction in estrogen can cause a decrease in sebum production. Sebum is essential for retaining moisture in your skin, so if your body is not producing enough sebum, it will not stay hydrated enough and can experience dryness, roughness, and flakiness.
In addition to estrogen, thyroid hormones also stimulate the oil glands, but instead of increasing sebum production, they reduce it. So, if you suffer from hyperthyroidism, or an overproduction of thyroid hormones, you may experience dry skin.
Acne
It can be frustrating to experience acne in your 20s and 30s, with most people assuming it is an affliction only for teenagers. However, hormones can significantly influence your body’s sebum production, leading to acne, regardless of age.
For women, estrogen and progesterone, which are key players in your menstrual cycle, can increase the amount of sebum produced, clogging your skin’s pores and leading to acne. As for men, an excessive amount of testosterone can also produce excess sebum.
For those experiencing acne due to hormonal imbalance, they most often appear on the chin, forehead, and nose.
Skin Tags
Skin tags are small skin-colored growths on the skin of your neck or eyelids, resulting from a compromise in your insulin and glucose hormonal balance. When these hormones start changing, estrogen can dramatically reduce, which affects your skin’s elasticity and can cause overlapping in your skin layers. When these skin layers experience constant friction, skin tags can occur.
In general, skin tags are most often associated with metabolic syndrome, PCOS, and diabetes.
Pale or Yellow Skin
Hormonal imbalance can affect your blood vessels, making your skin appear pale and waxy. However, hormonal imbalance is not the only cause of this appearance, with liver failure also lending itself to pale or yellow skin. If you notice that your skin or eyes appear yellow, check in with a doctor to determine the cause.
Balancing Hormones and Regulating Skin Health
If your skin is suffering from imbalanced hormones in the form of dry, thin, sensitive, or pale skin, correcting the hormonal imbalance is the best way to address the root of the problem and see improvements in your skin as a result.
The following are some of the possibilities for correcting a hormonal imbalance:
Oral Contraceptives
Oral contraceptives can help correct hormonal imbalance in women and, in some cases, are prescribed to treat acne. Oral contraceptives help to target the hormones that peak at ovulation, which is generally when those experiencing hormonal acne may see an increase in breakouts. Oral contraceptives keep hormone levels more even, lessening breakouts.
However, oral contraceptives are not for everyone, with those with a history of breast cancer, high blood pressure, or blood clots potentially unfit for this treatment. Talk to your doctor to determine if this is an adequate treatment for your skin and hormonal needs.
Anti-Androgen Drugs
As discussed, high levels of androgens, such as testosterone, can increase sebum production in some people, increasing the odds of clogged pores and acne breakouts. Anti-androgen drugs help to keep androgens from rising too high, which can help manage skin issues.
Testosterone Replacement
On the opposite end of the spectrum are medications that help address low testosterone, including testosterone gels and patches. These therapies help to fight the decline in testosterone production seen in some in men.
Check Your Lifestyle
While medications and therapies can help with hormonal imbalance, it is also best to ensure your lifestyle reflects healthy habits aimed at keeping your hormones balanced. Some of these habits include:
. exercising regularly
. getting enough sleep each day
. having a balanced diet
. drinking enough water
. managing stress levels
. reducing alcohol consumption
. avoiding smoking
These habits help keep your hormone levels regular while also supporting healthy skin.
The Influence of Hormones on Your Skin
Hormones are chemical messengers used throughout your body, and one area they can impact is your skin. Stress hormones such as cortisol and sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone can all cause unwanted skin reactions if unbalanced, such as acne, dry skin, sagging skin, or increased sensitivity.
If you’re noticing skin problems and can’t determine their cause, it might be something more internal. Reach out to a hormone specialist to get a reading on your hormone levels, see if there is an imbalance, and devise a treatment plan to help restore the equilibrium that your entire body, including your skin, will benefit from.
9250 Corkscrew Rd., Suite 15, Estero, FL 33928
239-351-5663
info@sextys.com | drmelirvine.com
References:
Nicolaou, A., & Kendall, A. C. (2023). Current insights into skin lipids and their roles in cutaneous health and disease. Current opinion in clinical nutrition and metabolic care, 26(2), 83–90.
https://doi.org/10.1097/MCO.0000000000000902
Fischer, C., Blanchette, D., Brogden, K., Dawson, D., Drake, D., Hill, J., & Wertz, P. (2014). The roles of cutaneous lipids in host defense. Biochimica Et Biophysica Acta (BBA) –
Molecular And Cell Biology Of Lipids, 1841(3), 319-322. doi: 10.1016/j.bbalip.2013.08.012
Estrogen: MedlinePlus Drug Information. (2017). https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/meds/a682922.html
Falcone, D., Richters, R. J., Uzunbajakava, N. E., Van Erp, P. E., & Van De Kerkhof, P. C. (2017). Sensitive skin and the influence of female hormone fluctuations: results from a cross-sectional digital survey in the Dutch population. European journal of dermatology : EJD, 27(1), 42–48. https://doi.org/10.1684/ejd.2016.2913
Ranabir, S., & Reetu, K. (2011). Stress and hormones. Indian Journal Of Endocrinology And Metabolism, 15(1), 18. doi: 10.4103/2230-8210.77573
Polycystic ovary syndrome | Office on Women’s Health. (2023). https://www.womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/
polycystic-ovary-syndrome
