Well Women Guide to Oily Skin - What are the real causes?
The nightmare of oily skin. Is there a real cause? Endocrine disorders are a major contributing factor, as well as a congested liver. I have always suffered with oily skin. I have found it a real challenge over the years, from teenage to adulthood. It is only over the last couple of years that I thought about the fact that there must ultimately be a real reason, an actual underlying cause. Not purely the fact that I have oily skin and just have to live with it. I had to use tissue paper to mop up the oil (usually ruining my make up) several times a day. It was miserable. Please click here, to read about how acne may be caused by hypothyroidism and discover how Armour Thyroid corrects this. I have always wondered if there is an actual cause. After all, we are prescribed medication for spots and acne and there are thousands of remedies for topical application. What we are mainly finding is that preparations sold specifically for oily skin and excess oily production, as well as temporary "fixes" are actually making the problem worse. We are also finding that the more make up we layer on to give our complexion an unshiny glow, the more oil is pumped out which then ruins the entire look within about half an hour of application. My daughter who is nearly 15 has to agree that I was right. Since she stopped using all the teenage spot treatments, harsh toners and facewashes, her complexion is much improved. They were aggravating the condition. She now uses only 100 per cent natural and rarely suffers with large outbreaks of spots. Industry makes money out of spot and skincare, so while you are buying it in vast quantities, they are not going to tell you it makes things worse. Your poor skin doesn't need all the applications of products and is usually unable to breathe or overstimulated by so much attention. As you know from reading through this website, I only use products that are natural. 100 per cent natural. In doing so, my oily skin has improved dramatically. I still have oily skin, but gone seem to be the days where I felt as though I had an oil slick on my face with huge open pores and congested blocked pores in the form of whiteheads. Also, my skin looked yellowy and also blotchy with itchy dry patches. I was very confused. Some days it looked so appalling, I would layer oil control products, foundation, concealer and powder just to make it look even and for about an hour, it worked. But by the time I arrived at my destination, my skin usually looked worse than ever. Since diagnosis with Hashimoto's disease, I have researched many medical condition, especially any that I suffered with myself, so that others could benefit from my findings and using myself as a guinea pig. Most won't like what they hear on this page and I quite understand why. After all, in our desperation to make our skin look good, we are using all sorts of things deemed to help, from vast amounts of B5 to powerful topical chemical products and harsh cleansers as well as severe do it yourself skin peeling products and microdermabrasion. About 4/5 years ago, I used a product called Evolution-X Vilantae whereby you had to take around 20 capsules a day. I already had Hashimoto's disease at the time but it was not being treated with thyroxine. This treatment has many testimonials as being a wonder treatment for oily skin. Sadly, it did absolutely nothing for me and my oily skin remained. The reason? My hormones were so out of balance that until this was addressed first, then no other products could possibly work. I was also taking birth control pills (in my ignorance), so my hormone levels were totally up the spout. A lot of problems regarding oily skin and acne actually all boil down to autoimmune disease and thyroid or endocrine illness. When you think about it, oily skin and acne start at puberty when the sex glands are in hormone producing overdrive. You never see a baby/child with oily skin or acne. Nor do you see an elderly person with it. This leads us to be aware that problems are largely from around the ages of 12 to 55. Basically it seems to occur when there is an out of balance situation in our body. What else can bring it on? Well, weather, strangely. My skin is always more oily, even now, when I am in a hot country such as Spain, or when weather conditions are hot and humid. This is because these conditions specifically stimulate the production of oil. Cooling the skin down with iced water sprays, refridgerated Aloe Vera Gel certainly help. Using vast quantities of sun cream on this type of skin makes it worse so make sure you use a natural ingredients oil free light as possible lotion. Drink plenty of iced or very cold water. Carry a cold water spray and aloe vera gel with you (pure) see Purenuffstuff who make a totally pure one without added chemical preservatives for around £5 for a jar. Avoid any kind of foundation or heavy face creams or astringent toners. Pure lavender water is very good as a toner (cool it in the fridge in hot weather) and African Black soap as an extremely gentle facial wash. Ironically, pure organic extra virgin cocnut oil is a good moisturiser when used sparingly. Although if you get prickly heat too, then don't use cocnut oil on the prickly heat areas. Stress causes the sebaceous glands to pump out more oil due to over stimulation of the adrenal glands, so daily de stressing techniques are important too. They strengthen the body in its reaction to stress and the pumping out of adrenal hormones. Medication can also be a cause of over oil production and certainly in those with an endocrine disorder, the use of synthetic hormones can cause this, especially birth control pills and or HRT. Liver conditions can also cause over oil production. If you have a specific liver condition, then speak to your GP if you have noticed excess oil and or acne where none existed before. Since out of balance hormones is ultimately responsible, then many of the private doctors I suggest (email me for these) deal specifically with hormone problems, thyroid and adrenal as well as nutritional problems which can then bring hormone imbalance back into control. Of course if you have an undiagnosed thyroid condition and have many of the symptoms on the thyroid page as well as skin that won't behave, then the oily skin conditions won't settle down until hormone levels are back in sync. Adrenal Insufficiency can also be resonsible so this will need addressing and bringing back into harmony. A good detox can also benefit the condition and the taking of liver detoxifying products such as Chamae Rose and Milk thistle to remove toxins from the body and decongest the liver. In my own view, if you have an endocrine disorder, then using harsh chemical products in your daily life wont help as they unbalance the systems cuasding oestrogen dominance and therefore, oily skin. It is actually a vicious circle. In my own discoveries however, I have found complete change from complete change, dietary, food state non synthetic supplements such as pure msm and chlorella as well as food state zinc and alpha lipoic acid, no synthetic bith control pills, using natural bio identical tansdermal progesterone cream to balance oestrogen dominance, using completely natural skin care from Handmade naturals, Essential Care and Purenuffstuff I avoid any make up, shampoos conditioners and face and anti aging products other than organic and natural which can be purchased from Love Lula the organic apothecary who also do skincare and have a strict ethos regarding nasties used in their products. They also do skin supplements and the products I use in the home, such as cleaners or every kind, washing and laundry products, air fresheners etc are all environmentally friendly so free of all real baddies. It is with all this in mind that I find that my endocrine and immune system is hugely improved. I feel that it is a collection of many things rather than one specific thing that has been responsible for my improving health. When I used all the chemical products, cleaners and ate junk food, then I was suffering both healthwise and severely oil skin, but when I changed my habits, then this all improved dramatically over a period of time. (It takes time to detoxifyyourself of this rubbish by abstaining) I was a big fan of all the products you can think of, from Clinique, Clarins, Estee Lauder, Chanel, oil control prodtcs, heavy makeup and would not even answer the front door unless I was fully made up. Now I am no longer held to ransom and my skin is far better than it ever was. Sorry, but I'm afraid there is no easy solution. There is no miracle product for those who are already in an out of balance situation hormonally. It takes time, perseverance, and often life changing actions to regain your health first and then your looks. Basically, you have to treat the underlying cause. Simply applying facial products are just not enough and the same goes for anti aging. Click on the links below to find out more about how your internal health affects your skin.
To read about the endocrine system as a cause of oily skin please click here
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