Why Do I Have Acne in my 30’s?

Are you struggling with acne in your 30s or 40s? Maybe you were even someone who hardly had a breakout in your teens, but now you’re dealing with acne and you have no idea why! I’m sorry – it’s so frustrating. 

An increasing number of women are dealing with breakouts in their 30s and 40s. Although we know we shouldn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed, sometimes those emotions can get the best of us. It can be hard to look in the mirror and find new breakouts or to feel like you have to put makeup on if you’re going to step out your door. 

I want you to know you’re not alone. Let me explain why you may be dealing with adult acne and what it would look like to take a natural approach to fixing it.

Hormonal Acne in your 30s and 40s

Although you’re not in the prime “hormone fluctuation” years of your teens, you could still have imbalanced hormones – estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, or more! –  that might be leading to adult acne. 

Outside of hormones, we’re going to look into other common contributing factors to adult acne. This can include everything from gut health to pore-clogging topical skincare. Finally, we’ll finish with actionable tips on what to do about adult acne.

Types of Adult Acne

Acne vulgaris is the type of acne that shows up usually in the t-zone on your face (forehead, chin, nose, and cheeks). The pimples are your usual mix of redness, whiteheads, and blackheads.

Cystic acne, on the other hand, is the larger red bumps that are harder under the surface. Most of the time these don’t change into actual “pimples”. This kind of acne can be very tender and painful. It mostly shows up around your jawline, neck, back, and shoulders.

Contributing Factors to Adult Acne

The top three contributing factors to adult acne I most often see are: hormonal imbalances, gut issues, and poor choice in skincare products. These are layered topics, and the degree to which one or another affects the skin varies greatly depending on your bio individuality. 

Acne, Hormones and Birth Control

For many, acne is a result of imbalanced hormones. Some women struggle with hormonal imbalance more in their teens, and others in their 30s and 40s. Some go on the pill to “deal” with hormones at some point in their lives and others don’t. Our bodies and backgrounds are all so different!

Maybe you are one of many women who were put on birth control for acne at a young age. You were told that it would “treat” your acne. The reason women get put on birth control is they think it will regulate their hormones and therefore fix their acne. In reality, the pill just inhibits your hormones from fluctuating. When you come off of it, old patterns of hormonal disruption and imbalance resurface…and sometimes worse than before. The pill is simply a Band-aid to cover up existing hormonal imbalances, so treating the root is necessary in order to truly get rid of acne. 

Also, when you come off the pill, your androgen hormone secretion becomes elevated. Since the pill suppressed your androgens, now the elevated levels can overstimulate your sebaceous glands and cause worse acne.

Maybe you’ve been off the pill for a really long time, or you were never on it at all, and you’re still dealing with persistent adult acne. Despite not having been on the pill, you might still be struggling with hormonal imbalance! For many women, this includes estrogen dominance, high cortisol, and/or elevated androgens such as testosterone.

If you look up symptoms of elevated estrogen (estrogen dominance) or elevated testosterone, you’ll see acne listed time and time again. How do hormones like these become imbalanced in the first place? Poor diet, stress, environmental toxins, and even poor gut health are some main contributors I see with my patients.

Gut Health and Acne

Yes… my favorite subject! Your gut health and acne are incredibly interconnected. When your gut isn’t happy, many times your skin is the thing that signals it. Signs of poor gut health show up as acne, redness, rashes, itchiness, rosacea, or even cysts. Oftentimes dysbiosis and candida are to blame. When I have a patient with cystic acne in particular, I always want to check for fungal overgrowth in the gut. I’ve found that to be a huge contributing factor. 

Gut damage can be caused by:

• Hidden toxins in your beauty products or household cleaners
• Environmental toxins in your food or water supply
• Inflammatory foods and an unhealthy diet
• Holding onto major stress
• Chronic or long-term use of antibiotics or NSAIDS
• Underlying chronic infections such as parasites or fungal/yeast overgrowth

Sometimes getting to the root cause isn’t so simple. All of these contributors could be interconnected. One factor could exacerbate another, making matters even worse. Or gut problems in combination with hormonal imbalances could all be contributing to acne. Because gut health is so foundational to overall health, including skin health, I think this is the natural place to start when wanting to clear up your skin.

Acne and Allergies or Sensitivities

Food allergies, intolerances, and food sensitivities can all cause inflammation and gut damage, which ultimately leads to breakouts. Finding unknown food sensitivities is where I see an opportunity to address your acne in your 30’s. Since food sensitivities aren’t as apparent as food allergies, they can be hard to pinpoint. (*Note, We do offer food sensitivity testing via the TDW Community, if that is of interest.) 

By eliminating common food sensitivities, like dairy, gluten and eggs, some women see their acne clear up with a simple diet shift. Dairy, especially conventional, can contain added hormones and steroids. Eggs contain a naturally high level of progesterone along with other steroid type hormones that cause hormonal acne in humans, specifically around the lower jaw and lymphatic region. If eliminating those foods doesn’t help your acne, you could have another hidden food sensitivity that could be picked up from functional lab testing.

Poor Skincare Products

While some women can seemingly slather anything on their skin and still glow, others are much more sensitive to products in their skincare. A huge contributing factor to adult acne can be poor skincare choices. I see this in multiple ways:

• Choosing skincare that strips your skin of its natural oils, which actually causes it to overcompensate and produce too much oil!
• Choosing skincare with pore-clogging oils and ingredients. 
• Choosing skincare with endocrine-disrupting toxins further exacerbates existing hormonal imbalance issues. 

Natural Remedies for Adult Acne

Instead of relying on creams or medications for a band-aid approach, you can use natural remedies and a root cause approach to get to the underlying issues behind your adult acne. Then, be done with it once and for all!

Because acne can have multiple contributing factors, I love to preach holistic wellness and healthy living as a way to cover all of your bases. You don’t have to be perfect, but transitioning to an overall less toxic and healthier lifestyle can truly show up in your skin!

Clean Up Your Diet

We know that a lot of acne is caused by hormonal imbalance, so it’s important to focus on balancing hormones through the diet. While diet is individual to each person, there are certain principles of eating which are good for everyone. 

I encourage everyone to eat a real, whole-food, nutrient-dense diet with little added sugar or processed food. Additionally, eating enough protein is essential for hormone health. I also advise my clients to eat within 30-60 minutes of waking in order to regulate cortisol, blood sugar, and other hormones. Finally, I strongly advise waiting to have your cup of coffee (or caffeine of any kind) until after or during breakfast. 

There are some hero foods for those dealing with hormonal imbalance and adult acne. This includes cruciferous veggies like broccoli, Brussel sprouts, and arugula. Cruciferous veggies are particularly supportive of the liver and the body’s detox pathways. 

Also, food high in Vitamin D, omegas and healthy fats are also fabulous for the skin. This includes things like wild-caught fatty fish like salmon or sardines, beef liver, cod liver oil, avocados and mushrooms. 

If in doubt, the best diet for hormonal acne is to stick to an organic, whole foods diet with an abundance of anti-inflammatory and lower glycemic foods. One study found that people who consumed an abundance of carbohydrates and higher glycemic (sugar) load (aka the bad carbs) had greater insulin resistance and more acne.

Cut Out the Acne-Causing Foods

While we’re all so different in how we process food, there are some foods which are known for their ability to contribute to acne. These should be cut out of the diet for the time being:

• Processed foods
• Dairy (Especially conventional dairy, as it often contains added hormones and steroids, which can increase androgen production (male hormones) and lead to acne.)
• Gluten
• Eggs
• Added sugar
• Highly processed and inflammatory vegetable and seed oils (this includes oils such as: canola, corn, peanut, soybean, cottonseed or vegetable)

I would advise you to cut the aforementioned foods for 30 days before reintroducing them. (With the exception of added sugar and vegetable/seed oils, which are beneficial to cut for good!) It takes 21 days for the immune response to decrease by half, so the 30 day mark is an appropriate amount of time to notice a difference in symptoms. I often see clients cut foods for 7 days and say they don’t feel a difference. For many of these ladies, it simply hasn’t been long enough.

“The circulating half-life of IgG is approximately 21-24 days, which means that by approximately 3 months, antibodies to a particular food may be absent if the food has not been consumed by the patient. In other words, if the patient has not consumed the food prior to testing, no reaction to that food would be expected.”

Supplement for Better Skin

Supplements can be a helpful piece of the healing puzzle when it comes to adult acne. A few of my favorite supplements for adult acne include TDW Healthy Hormone Support and TDW Hormone Detox Support to remediate hormonal imbalances that may be contributing to adult acne. In addition, TDW Omega is a very beneficial supplement for skin health. 

Other Lifestyle Tips

• Check out my blog, How to Balance Your Hormones Naturally for more tips on how to balance hormones for optimal skin well-being (and health!). 
• Manage stress with yoga, meditation, and breathing exercises. Be patient. These practices take some time to get used to if you’re new!
• Ditch toxic shampoo, cleaners, make-up and other personal care items! These wreak havoc on hormone balance as well as the skin barrier itself.
• Enhance liver detoxification: this helps the body rid itself of toxins more easily so they don’t have to try and “escape” through the skin in the form of acne. In addition, the liver helps rid the body of excess estrogen and estrogen-mimicking chemicals, which leads to better hormone balance. 
• Looking to heal your gut? Join my highly touted and widely successful GET YOUR GUT RIGHT Program, where I’ve helped women heal their gut and coinciding symptoms like acne. You may not have major gut symptoms alongside your acne, and it’s still possible that poor gut health may be a root cause behind your acne!

If you have acne in your 30s or 40s, there is most likely some underlying imbalance in your body that is contributing to it. Balancing your hormones naturally, tossing toxic products, and healing your gut are three of the best things you can do to help your skin! 

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