Hormonal acne are those pesky, painful and unpleasant pimples. Hormonal acne is linked to your hormones. Because of fluctuations of estrogen and progesterone, these acne show up. The stress hormone cortisol can also affect these hormones. But how would you know if you are suffering from hormonal acne?

Signs and symptoms of hormonal acne

You are not a teen but you have the acne

Hormonal acne is generally seen in your 20-something years. Women are most hormonally active during this time and that is why it shows up. Your 20s is often peak childbearing age and because of pregnancy, childbirth and lactation there may be lots of fluctuations in hormone levels in the body. However it does not mean that the problem will show up only during this time. Genetics can be another factor which may decide when hormonal breakouts start and stop. Even menopause can cause a resurgence of breakouts.

Pimples around your chin and jawline

If you are seeing pimples around your chin and jawline, it may be a sign of hormonal acne. This type of acne a generally seen on the face. Because of hormonal acne inflamed cysts are seen around your lower face, specially your chin and jawline area. It may happen because of too much oil production which can clog up your pores. Access common present in the body may stimulate the oil glands, which are generally located around your chin area. Because of the excess oil produced by the oil glands your skin can become a prime spot for such breakouts. However, besides your chin and jawline, it may also show up along the side of your face or down your neck.

You are much stressed

The stress hormone cortisol can affect all of your other hormones and ultimately result in hormonal acne breakouts. If you are prone to monthly hormonal fluctuations and that to too steep, because of acute stress, you are more likely to suffer from hormonal acne breakouts. It is very important to keep your stress levels in control if you do not want hormonal acne pimples to appear on your face.

Breakouts occur once a month

If you’re suffering from hormonal acne, you will see once a month breakouts. This type of acne manifests itself in a cyclical pattern. This may happen in women with regular menstrual cycles and also in postmenopausal women. The reason is that there are fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone levels in both the women.

Such hormonal breakouts generally pop up in the same place each month. If a previous pimple enlarged a specific pore, then during the next time breakouts, this same area may have those pimples.

You have painful cysts

If you are suffering from painful cysts, it may be a sign of hormonal acne. It is different from blackheads and whiteheads. Blackheads are surface level brownish spots and whiteheads are the tiny white dots of bacteria stuck in your pores. However there are different from hormonal acne. If you’re suffering from hormonal acne, you’re likely to have painful cysts. They are deeper bumps and day are under the skin’s surface. You cannot extract them with normal manual extraction. They’re generally tender to the touch as they have accumulated oil over a certain period of time.

References 1. Acne No More
2. Acne: Overview
3. Acne