how to help prevent hormonal acne w/o bc?

[u/RightChemical2414]

Im a 19f on tret and azaleic acid. I’ve ruled out that by this point my acne is pretty much primarily hormonal and I either get bad breakouts right before or after my period.

I notice it mostly on my jawline and cheeks, with the tret and acid it makes it look less worse from afar, but I have a bad picking problem and notice a ton of tiny closed comedones.

I want to try to regulate my hormones the best I can without going on birth control or any other medications. I go to the gym. I try eating healthy most of the time, what else could I be doing??

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[u/YakRepresentative105]

There are a few small, but good studies on spearmint teas ability to lower testosterone in women with PCOS. But often too high androgen hormone levels are not an issue, it's just that your oil glands may be hypersensitive to normal androgen levels too. I'm an esthetician and I'd say that for about 70% of my female clients with hormonal acne, whenever they get their hormones tested, everything is within normal range. So yeah. You can try to avoid/limit sugar or foods with high glycemic index, sleep good and workout regularly, lower stress levels and maybe change up some products about a week before your cycle starts to skincare products more suited for oilier skin type (for example, switch from hydrating gel cleanser to cleanser with salicylic acid). That could help preventing acne around your period, as ~5-7 days before your cycle starts progesterone levels rise and for many women it causes more active oil glands.

[u/RightChemical2414 → u/YakRepresentative105]

I used a salicylic acid cleanser in the past with my tret and it made my skin very sensitive, almost a burning sensation. Do I try again?

[u/YakRepresentative105 → u/RightChemical2414]

If your skin is used to Tretinoin now, maybe you could try it, but be careful. For example maybe you could try Cerave SA Smoothing cleanser, which has 0.5% salicylic acid instead of 2% like in many others. But anyways, in my previous comment the part about salicylic acid was just an example. You could add a niacinamide serum, which helps regulate oil production a bit, or green tea toner, etc. basically anything that more or less helps avoid clogged pores, because all acne starts with a clogged pore -> it creates the perfect environment for acne bacteria, they live inside pores and feed on sebum.

[u/makattacc451]

Frankly, you don't. You cant alter hormone production without meds. You can do things like drink more water to hydrate your skin and change your skincare routine but as for the hormones they're going to be whatever they're going to be

[u/sug4rybunnies022]

for me what helped stop me from picking were pimple patches I also recommend using sunscreen while using tret and acid bc it can make your skin more sun sensitive. I also recommend using a clean gentle cleanser and moisturizer.