little bit more about them before answering more questions. The
hormones that are important in acne are the sex hormones, which star
being produced in larges quantities from puberty. Androgens such as
testosterone are the main male hormones,and progesterone and oestrogen
are the female ones.
It may seem strange that women produce some male hormones, but the
oestrogen is made from testosterone by special cells in the ovaries.
No all of it is used, so some does pass into the blood stream and
circulates round the body.
The female hormones can have a modifying effect on the action of the
testosterone,which is why hormonal changes and treatments apply only
to women. In general progesterone will tend to make acne worse and
oestrogen will make it better by making the skin less responsive to
testosterone.
My daughter has not started her periods yet (she is 15) but has had
spots for the past two years. I thought you had to have your periods
before getting spots. is this likely to improve once she stars her
periods?
Starting periods is only one of the changes associated with puberty.
Her level of hormones heve probably been rising for several years and
will have had other effects on her body such as growth of breasts and
sprouting hair in the pubic area.
She is probably normal but occasionally there are some problems with
the mix of hormones that can produce bad acne and stop periods, so it
may be worth discussing things with her doctor.
I´ve been told that there might be a problem with my ovaries and that
is why I get acné . If this is so, what is it, and why do boys get
acné?
You might have a condition called Polycystic Ovaries. To understand
this condition you have to know a little bit
About how the ovaries work. They contain specialised cells that
produce eggs and the hormones to make the eggs mature ready for
fertilisation and to maintain a pregnancy if conception occurs. Lots
of eggs try to mature together and come up to the surface of the
ovariy in separate "packages" (follicles) with the hormone-producng
cells.
Usually , one of the follicles becomes dominant and grows into a
fluid-filled sac, or cyst, which then bursts to release the egg. This
cyst can measure 2 cm before it bursts. If the egg is not fertilised,
the whole process stars again .
Polycystic ovaries occur when twice as many follicles as normal star
to grow each month and none of them emerges as the dominant one. We do
not yet understand why this happens but the result is that many
follicles survive to form cyst. These are smaller than the normal
single cyst-5-8mm- and gradually collect on the outer part of the
ovary. "poly" just means "many" ; and all these extra cysts make the
ovary twice its normal size.
As well as being larger, a polycystic ovary does not work as well.
Slightly higher levels of testosterone are produced and it is not
changed into oestrogen as efficiently. This leads to more testosterone
getting into the blood stream and affecting your skin , to cause acné.
Boys have a higher levels of testosterone because it is their main
hormone.
