Why Your Acne Won’t Go Away

Acne is one of the most frustrating and difficult skin conditions to treat. Yet so many suffer from chronic breakouts and treatments only provide temporary relief. Today we are going to dig into inflammatory basics, why some treatments work or don’t, and what you can do to heal your skin from the inside out.

Acne is my specialty; but I didn’t become an esthetician because I had bad skin. I developed bad skin in my late 20s. Working as an esthetician, I was desperately trying to clear up my skin. I was doing everything “right.” Professional treatments. Medical-grade skincare. Strict routines. And nothing worked. But still, no skincare product or treatment was working. That’s when I knew something wasn’t right, because I was doing everything I was trained to do and nothing was helping my skin. When I got pregnant with my first baby, my skin cleared up, and assumed my acne was hormonal and would clear once my hormones stabilized. 

After my third baby, not only was my skin really bad, but I had a lot of baby weight to lose. I did a 14-day gut cleanse to drop the baby weight which involved eliminating inflammatory foods and not only did I drop the weight, but my skin cleared up. This is when the lightbulb went off, the foods we eat impact our skin. I started testing this theory out on acne clients. And the ones who worked on healing their gut got similar results. Since then it has become my mission to understand the root cause of our skin problems.

What Is Acne?

Acne is a chronic inflammatory skin condition that results in bumps on the face, neck and body. Here’s what happens: your pores become clogged with dirt, oil, and dead skin cells from daily life. Once clogged, bacteria increases in the pores and inflammation occurs.

Acne Types

Acne can cause a variety of clogged pores, lesions, bumps, or nodules under the skin. If you’re dealing with any of these types of skin concerns, it is best to avoid picking or squeezing, because you can spread bacteria on the skin, which can worsen the condition or cause permanent scarring.

Here are the various acne types:

• Blackheads: Open pores, clogged with dirt and oil that oxidizes and turns dark
• Whiteheads: Closed pores that results in white bumps
• Papules: Small, red acne bumps that don’t contain pus
• Pustules: Pus-filled pimples, surrounded by redness
• Nodules: Large, painful, and underneath the skin
• Cystic acne: Similar to a nodule, deep, painful, and sometimes can have pus

Acne Defined

There are three forms of breakouts. Knowing which type you have will help you know what treatment option is most effective for you.

Traditional Acne is caused from clogged pores and excess bacteria. This type of acne is what you think of when you see acne. Skincare products are created to treat this type of acne. The result is blackheads, whiteheads, papules, and acne pustules caused by clogged pores filled with dirt, oil, and dead skin cells. This type of acne typically affects teenagers during puberty, due to increased oil production.

Hormonal Acne is triggered by a shift in hormones during puberty, pregnancy, perimenopause, or menopause. This type of acne shows up on the chin, jawline, neck, and around the mouth and is painful to the touch. Hormonal breakouts tend to be either nodules or cystic, making it difficult to treat. Hormonal acne WILL cause scarring if you pick or squeeze it. 

Internal Acne is not categorized, however, it is the most common form of acne. This type of acne is often caused by poor gut health or consuming inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy, sugar, or anything processed. The skin does not have blackheads or whiteheads, like traditional acne. This type of acne tends to be on the cheeks, around the mouth, and chin. Making shifts in your diet and eliminating inflammatory foods will improve your skin.

Why Traditional Treatments Don’t Work

Oral and topical medicine prescribed by dermatologists don’t fix skin problems, they put a temporary band-aid on it. At first, acne may clear, but often it comes back. Acne treatments often fail because dermatologists treat acne with either prescription medications, harsh topicals, or acne skincare products that strip the skin. This disrupts the skin barrier, causing skin dryness and leads to excess oil production. Drying out the skin doesn’t fix acne. The goal is to help your skin heal by targeting the root cause.

Is Gut Health and Acne Related?

When we look at the skin and see acne, we immediately think “what skincare products will fix this?” The truth is, stubborn skin is more than just a surface-level skin condition. Your skin is a detox organ, so when there’s internal inflammation or imbalances, your skin is the first to show it. Standard acne treatments fall short, because they treat the symptom, not the cause. Putting a band-aid on the problem won’t clear your skin. When you heal your gut, you’re addressing the root cause so  your skin clears up and stays clear. 

The Gut-Skin Axis

The gut-skin axis is the connection between the gut and the skin. Our skin and gut microbiome and barrier work very much the same. A disrupted gut will lead to skin inflammation. The gut and skin are connected via a feedback loop that can be altered where there is leaky gut or gut dysbiosis. This response presents in the skin in the form of acne, rosacea, eczema, psoriasis, and even sensitive skin. More studies are being published on this connection. PubMed says, “The skin and gut, both heavily vascularized and richly innervated organs with critical neuroendocrine and immune functions, are somewhat similar. Interestingly, mounting evidence suggests that the two organs have a bidirectional connection.”

How Do I Cleanse My Gut for Clear Skin?

Cleansing your gut can be healing especially if you have been dealing with digestive issues. However, when it comes to a gut cleanse, it should be done in stages to ensure optimal detoxification. If your body is in a state of inflammation and you do a detox, you can make yourself very sick. For example, if you are dealing with chronic constipation, and do a detox, you may suffer from flu-like symptoms because your body is already struggling to remove waste and cannot properly purge toxins. This is why opening up detox and drainage pathways first is crucial to cleansing the gut. 

I recommend finding a professional to help you properly detox and to prevent you feeling ill or having adverse side effects. The goal is optimal health through proper nutrition, lifestyle, and supplementation. When done correctly, your body will detox and your skin will begin to clear.

How Your Nervous System Prevents Skin Healing

This is one of the least talked about components of skin health, but may be the missing piece in many stubborn acne cases. Our skin and nervous system are connected. The skin has receptors tied to the nervous system to respond to senses, such as touch, heat, cold, pain, etc. Our nervous system is built into our skin, if our nervous system is unbalanced due to stress or poor gut health, our skin is not going to heal.

The gut and brain are interconnected via the gut-brain-axis. However, more studies are being done on the skin’s impact in this connection as well. PubMed says, “Currently, strong evidence indicates that gut microbes play a mediating role between skin inflammation and emotion. In 1930, [scientists] issued a ‘theoretical and practical consideration of a gastrointestinal mechanism’ by which the skin is altered by emotional and nervous states. Those authors linked emotions such as worry, anxiety, and depression to changes in gut microorganisms, which they proposed would promote focal and systemic inflammation (the brain–gut–skin theory).”

Ready to Get Started?

Acne can be frustrating, but you don’t have to go it alone. We are here to help guide you through your journey and help you get to the root cause of your skin problems. Click here to visit our website to book your functional medicine consultation. We offer both in-person and virtual consultations.