Im like a teenager, with acne

So the last 2-3 months I have noticed alot more acne, It was only on my chest, But has now moved to my shoulders too

Anything that you guys use to sort out pimples/acne?
 

Did you have acne on these spots in teenagehood.

Did you introduce any exogenous testosterone recently?

I would get E2 levels tested if so.

been on the same T dosage since march,
I think my levels are changing yeah

Yes estrogen has an accumulative effect in that sense.

Personally, as soon as I get acne on chest and shoulders/traps area - arimidex!

Interesting info regarding sex hormones and acne.

(Taken from a book called Breaking Clear by Dr. Edwin Ishoo)

“2. Do hormones play a part in the development of acne? Yes, sex-related hormones called androgens (i.e. Testosterone and DHT) can contribute to the development of comedone by increasing production of sebum, which normally protects and lubricates the skin, leading to congestion of the hair follicle pore. By contrast, estrogens reduce oil production. The increased oil production caused by a hyper-androgen state, can also worsen or exacerbate existing inflamed cystic acne by providing fuel to an aggressive, strain of P. acnes with high metabolic rate which competes for this food with the normal flora P. acnes strain with a much lower metabolic rate, effectively displacing it. However, androgen hormone spikes do not cause inflamed cystic pustules. Testosterone’s effect on inflamed cystic acne is similar to gasoline’s effect on fire. Gasoline is an accelerant not an incendiary in that it worsens fire but does not cause it. Testosterone spike often worsens the inflammatory response to the infection caused by a virulent strain of P. acnes, but it does not cause the infection. In addition to stimulating oil production, hormonal fluctuations cause modulation in the immune response and therefore effect the extent of the inflammation; but do not cause a bacterial infection. If hormones were the cause of pustular eruptions, then our entire skin would be involved and not just our face or a small segment of the skin. This is why I do not recommend treating hormonal exacerbation of cystic acne with more hormones such as progesterone in systemic birth control medications which the body can easily turn into more testosterone instead of short-term use of anti-androgens such as Spironolactone for women or Finasteride for men as a complement to the procedural or surgical treatment of the underlying infection to decrease skin sebum levels and not just artificially modulate the skin’s inflammatory response to the infection.”

So it seems DHT is the real culprit. Those who say they get acne from estrogen probably are actually getting it from the fluctuations in the hormone, not the magnitude of the hormone value - as estrogen reduces sebum production.

FYI it's not estrogen that's the issue.

I do not fully agree.
While sebum production can cause acne, there would have to be an underlying issue there, that is why isotretinoin works so well (while using it), it doesn't allow the sebum to exacerbate the issue via pathophysiology, thus hiding it.

I think for skin health, you should want slightly oily skin, the issue has to be greater than just sebum being produced.

Causes are multifactorial, it could be a gut change, which honestly I have found all SA products to be useless. You would need to reset yourself (laxative and toilet maybe lol).

It is one topic I do listen to anecdotal responses since we really do not have a great idea why it happens, or rather cannot always pinpoint or understand all cases fully.

Anecdotal responses I have heard:
- lowering SHBG (with DHT der.) helped many people, more FT, less E2 conversion with a DHT derivative may explain it... hard to say
- Controlling E2 ( pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1401498/ ) you can unlock this study pretty easily, various pathways this can occur.

Supraphysiological E2 levels are hard to define, we are working with very small values, sensitivity can be an issue.

I personally would try an AI over a 5α-reductase inhibitor any day.

You can disagree, it's a book written by a doctor about acne. Explains it all. I'm just passing on the message which correlates to all issue I have had with dht..

Sure and it is valid it could be an issue.

We don't know enough about acne,  it is possible this isn't even due to exogenous hormones, it could be a shift in gut bacteria, but yes I would say it is likely it is hormone related, E2 or DHT.

So, I bought some oxy (the teenager face wash stuffs)

wash twice a day with it, charcoal flavoured,


acne is clearing up a bit....Maybe I was just dirty