It’s easy to just treat the surface when it comes to the skin. After all, the conventional medical model teaches us that the various organ systems of the body are separate- like islands onto themselves.

Naturopathic medicine, on the other hand, treats each body system as deeply interconnected with all other body systems. Naturopathic medicine looks at the body like a web, with each focal point representing an organ system that is intricately connected with every part around it.

In other words, to solve a skin problem you have to look under the surface and evaluate for deeper imbalances in the body.

Causes of Adult Acne

The causes of adult acne are numerous and highly individual. In Naturopathic medicine, dating back to the earliest pioneers of natural medicine, the phrase “emunctories” was coined. Emunctories are the body’s detoxification routes.

Detoxification is a crucial physiological process. We are well aware that we create waste and have elaborate infrastructures in our society such as wastewater treatment plants. The body also has waste management systems including breath, sweat, liquid waste, solid waste, etc.

The oldest Naturopathic doctors recognized that an accumulation of waste in the body- called toxemia- can overwhelm the emunctories. Emunctories that do not function properly can also add more burden and work for the other emunctories that are functioning- eventually overwhelming their capacity.

The skin is an emunctory that detoxifies through sweat and release of carbon dioxide through the skin. From a Naturopathic perspective, skin issues such as acne can arise from the overburdening of the skin as a detoxification route.

While the nuanced and complex interactions between imbalances in the body that can manifest as acne are vast enough to have a textbook written on them, we will pay attention to only several key players for the purpose of this blog.

Gut-Skin Connection

Imbalance in the gut is a potential massive source of inflammation and toxemia in the body. The gut is 30 meters in length (approximately). In other words, the human body is absolutely packed with gastrointestinal tissues. The surface area of the human gut is enormous since the gut lining is not flat and straight but covered in tiny, microscopic finger-like projections called microvilli.

Damage or inflammation to the gut, simply based on its massive size, can overwhelm the body with inflammation easily, spilling toxic compounds into the bloodstream that circulate and impact all of the other organ systems.

The gut is responsible for absorbing what we need from the foods we eat and keeping out waste products or indigestible compounds. Damage to the gut means that this function of the gut can become dysfunctional- in other words, we start absorbing what we should not and failing to absorb what we need.

Hormone- Skin Connection

There is a good reason why the hormonal transitions of life tend to provoke acne, such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.

Hormones, which are chemical messengers that control many body processes, can drive adult acne when they are out of balance.

Testosterone, for example, is a known aggravator of acne due to how testosterone increases the viscosity of sebum. Sebum is an oil-like substance secreted by glands in the skin to lubricate hair follicles, maintain the pH of the skin, and defend against harmful bacteria. However, more sebum is not better.

Testosterone thickens sebum, increasing the likelihood of it becoming trapped in pores. Trapped and stagnant sebum becomes a breeding ground for bacteria. This bacterial invasion calls the attention of the immune system, which infiltrates the area. A battle happens inside the pores between the immune system and the bacteria- manifesting as inflamed or pus-filled acne lesions.

What causes elevated testosterone levels? Hormonal imbalances such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, insulin resistance, high stress, a relative deficiency of estrogen or progesterone which balance the testosterone, and much more.

Thyroid issues can also provoke acne. Thyroid issues can increase risk of insulin resistance, which raises testosterone levels. Impaired thyroid function can also slow the liver, the primary organ of detoxification. When the liver is slow, the risk of toxemia increases exponentially.

Nervous System-Skin Connection

The nervous system is not only responsible for sensing the world around us, driving muscle contractions, and controlling automatic processes such as breathing or our heart rate. The nervous system is also deeply interconnected to the stress response.

There are two branches of the nervous system- the rest and digest portion of the nervous system (termed the parasympathetic nervous system) and the fight or flight branch of the nervous system (termed the sympathetic nervous system). The body can only choose one or the other at a time- we cannot be in a parasympathetic state and a sympathetic state simultaneously.

Stress- whether real or perceived- activates the fight-or-flight-oriented sympathetic nervous system. When this branch of the nervous system is chronically overstimulated, more testosterone tends to be produced.

Recalling back to the hormone-skin connection, this is the mechanism behind how the state of the nervous system can impact hormones which impact the skin.

Tying it All Together

The root causes of acne are not as simple as being skin-deep, as ideally, you can gauge for yourself by the end of this article. If you are an adult who has been suffering with acne, it is certainly worthwhile to first address the low-hanging fruit of skincare.  At Ageless Beauty Rx, we use DMK in our prescribed skin care and clinic treatments.  DMK’s signature Enzyme Therapy works alongside a clinic treatment plan and a home prescriptive program to achieve long-term results. Using DMK, our holistic approach to healing skin conditions means we address the root cause of the skin problem, not just the symptoms.  Our Master Esthetician will put together a treatment plan designed specifically to treat your skin’s needs.

However, if skincare alone does not resolve your adult acne, it’s worthwhile to consider Naturopathic care. Naturopathic physicians are trained to decipher the complex, interrelated systems of the body and treat the root cause.  Particularly, if you are having gastrointestinal symptoms, hormonal symptoms, or nervous system symptoms, you may benefit from a Naturopathic consult.  Our Naturopathic expert, Dr. Laurel Ash, is experienced with skin conditions including acne in adults.

Give yourself or someone you love the gift of clear, vibrant skin.  For more information on scheduling a skin consultation with our Master Esthetician or a Naturopathic Doctor at Ageless Beauty Rx, call our medical spa at (360) 597-2688.