Acne Doesn't Stop At Menopause — How To Treat It From A Holistic Derm

For anyone going through it, this should come as no surprise: Menopause brings many changes to the body. The sudden changes in hormone levels can affect everything from sleep to temperature regulation, mood, and skin.

When people think about how menopause changes your skin, they usually think about two major aspects: collagen loss and increased dryness. These, of course, are issues that affect quite a number of people during this time. Notably, your collagen levels can decline in fairly increased percentages: Skin can lose 30% of its collagen during the first five years of menopause and about 2% of its collagen every year after for the next 20 years. Dryness, too, becomes an increased issue as the skin barrier function becomes weaker, and therefore women experience significantly more transepidermal water loss, leading to flakier, more dehydrated skin. 

Acne, it seems, spares no age group. You can develop it as a preteen while experiencing puberty, develop it later in life with hormonal changes in your 20s or 30s (the bemoaned adult acne), and yes, you can get blemishes during menopause. And the thing is acne is a complex skin condition that has many contributing factors—some internal (like genetics or diet), some external (improper skin care routines), some environmental (the weather), and some lifestyle (you regularly work out in makeup). 

So, if you think about it, of course it can affect you at any stage of life, as there may be a number of reasons you are breaking out at the moment (this is especially true if you are genetically predisposed to it).

In menopause, acne seems to be the result of significant hormonal changes that alter the skin.

"As our hormones diminish in menopause, the functions they perform to maintain the health and vitality of the skin diminish as well, characterized by a change in sweat, sebum, and the immune functions resulting in significant alterations in the skin surface including pH, lipid composition, and sebum secretion," board-certified dermatologist Keira Barr, M.D., previously told us about menopause and skin. "These changes also provide potential alterations in the skin that may affect the skin microbiome." 

OK, first up: Nix some of your previously held notions of how to treat pimples. They're not going to help you here.

"If you're breaking out, you may not be able to tolerate the treatments you used as a teenager because the skin is thinner and drier and the treatments may be too harsh," says Barr. "Avoid acne products that can dry your skin, as that can make acne worse. Taking a look at your diet as well as dairy products and sugar can stimulate the production of sebum."