Dealing with hormonal acne is one of those multifactorial problems that makes both women and practitioners incredibly frustrated.
That’s because there are almost always several different organ systems involved…and it’s hard to tell what’s driving what half the time.
Because of this, it’s really important to have a plan the incorporates all of the common factors that lead to the development of hormonal acne.
What is Hormonal Acne?
Even though it’s named in a way that would make any reasonable person assume it’s the endocrine system that’s driving the miserable cystic acne, that’s only part of the equation.
It’s true that hormonal acne reflects endocrine dysfunction (and the ensuing hormonal imbalances) that lead to acne cropping up at predictable and cyclical portions of the menstrual cycle.
However, hormonal acne is is intimately related with a couple OTHER systems:
- The Gut
- The Inflammatory System
- The Detoxification Organs
- The Blood Sugar Regulation System (and the entire Endocrine System)
In order to fix hormonal acne for good, the plan you follow for healing has to address all of these!
Syncing with Your Cycle for Fighting Hormonal Acne
When you’re dealing with a problem such as hormonal acne, that involves multiple organ systems, it can get overwhelming to incorporate a bunch of changes at once and feel like you need to stick with them forever.
Enter: syncing with your cycle.
Turns out, there’s a reason that no one wants to stick with doing a bunch of stuff all of the time. It’s because the body DOESN’T LIKE IT EITHER.
Just like most things in nature, our bodies are made to ebb and flow through cycles and periods of change.
When we approach our problems–such as hormonal acne–with a full fledged plan (even if it’s a great integrative one!) that is super rigid, the body tends to respond with increased levels of stress. You can guess what good that does for solving hormonal acne.
Not to mention, hormonal acne is already notorious for causing emotional distress and problems with self-love. The last thing we want to do is create a situation where you have tons more reasons to feel bad about yourself while treating your hormonal acne!
Hormonal Acne and the Endocrine System
Any time the endocrine system is disrupted, it’s important to consider how hormones are processed. After all, if you have a bunch of partially inactivated hormones floating around in your bloodstream, the body won’t know that your hormones are actually low…and therefore won’t get the signal to make you the hormones you actually need!
In our modern world, hormone mimicking substances often offset the balance of the endocrine system and are a big contributor to the development of gut damage, poor blood sugar regulation, and ultimately, the onset of hormonal acne.
Detoxification for Hormonal Acne
At this point, it’s probably easy to see that where we’re going with this hormone-processing piece is effective detoxification.
Regardless of whether our hormones are high or low, it’s important for the body to metabolize, process, and remove hormones we no longer need from the body. (This is especially true given the huge amount and variety of hormone-mimicking compounds we come into contact with daily.)
This means that our liver, lymphatic systems, kidneys, and gut have to be working effectively.
While detoxing is in vogue right now, most programs focus on detoxification without any regard for the natural hormonal cycle that spans 28 days (on average).
Detoxing and Optimizing Inflammation at the Right Time
Turns out, it’s not enough just to support detoxification. You have to support detoxing AT THE RIGHT TIME in the cycle. This seems like a minor point…but has major consequences!
Not super surprisingly, the same is true when it comes to controlling inflammation in the body.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING. Because we’re hoping to work WITH our body instead of AGAINST it.
When we effectively support an optimum inflammatory response in the body, it has huge downstream effects on our gut health and the regulation of blood sugar levels.
(Often, people talk about this as the other way around. While we agree that working on gut health and decreasing cheap sources of sugar in the diet as very important, we also think there’s something to be said for making these changes a lot less of a struggle if you support a healthy inflammatory response at the beginning. After all, we all know that we should eat less sugar…but how many of us are really good at doing that?? This is a “work smarter, not harder” kind of thing. As you feel better, it’s easier to make healthier choices…and a positive spiral appears!)
Using the Cycle to Address Hormonal Acne Naturally
If you haven’t already, make sure to read our explanation of the 4 phases of the menstrual cycle and what health aspects are best to focus on at each portion of the month.
Unfortunately, what we can cover in this post is just a teeny-tiny tip of the iceberg! There’s a lot more to be discussed.
However, if you’re totally new to this approach of living more in sync with your menstrual cycle as a way to naturally treat hormonal acne, our free Wild Feminine Cycle Guide is what we created to ease you into this more natural and effective way of approaching your health.
Besides going more in-depth on both detoxing and inflammation, you’ll learn how to move, how to relate to others, and how to treat yourself in a way that’s more in sync with your natural flow…and will ultimately get you the results you’re looking for.
Goodbye for good, hormonal acne! We won’t miss you.
XOXO,
