How Do Hormones Affect The Skin?

Hormones have a big part to play in the appearance of our skin. Let’s understand how.

The human body houses many hormones, which are responsible for carrying out necessary bodily functions. However, these hormones can also exhibit their presence or lack of through other physical changes, one of the most notable (and irritating) being its effects on the skin.

Hormonal Acne

Your hormones usually start getting produced more as you hit puberty. With the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone on the rise, your sebaceous glands start to produce higher levels of sebum, which result in ‘oily skin.’ The oil from the glands and the dead skin on your face combine and block the pores on your face, suffocating your pores, thus creating the ideal situation for bacteria to live in, eventually causing acne to pop up.

Though there are several factors that affect sebaceous glands to act up, hormones are a pretty common one. In women, their menstrual cycles also cause the hormone levels in their bodies to fluctuate and cause an outbreak of hormonal acne.

Aging

As we age, our hormones usually settle down and stop acting up. Their production in our bodies decreases significantly, and that shows on our skins. Hormones, specifically estrogen, play a great part in the appearance of youthful and beautiful skin. Estrogen maintains skin thickness and regulates skin moisture.

With a decline of estrogen in the body, the skin starts losing its thickness and firmness, resulting in the appearance of wrinkles and eventually saggy skin. The decrease in skin moisture would also make your skin dry and make it far more prone to wrinkles and fine lines.

Though there are still not a lot of studies conducted to fully understand ALL the effects of hormones on our skin, it is known for sure that hormones play a big role in not just our inner workings but also the outer appearance of our bodies. Sarah Young