How Estrogen Dominance Causes Melasma and Dark Spots
How Estrogen Dominance Causes Melasma and Dark Spots
Did you know that estrogen plays a major role in the development of melasma?
Many melasma triggers (such as stress, adrenal dysregulation, iron + copper dysregulation, histamine intolerance, the types of fats you consume, a sluggish liver, etc.) that are seemingly unrelated to hormones, are in fact related to estrogen in some way, and can lead to an estrogen dysregulation.
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Maybe you’ve heard the term ‘estrogen dominance’ before but don’t really know what that means?
Estrogen + progesterone needs to be in a certain ratio with each other.
If estrogen goes higher than progesterone this is considered ‘estrogen dominance’, which can cause all sorts of symptoms in the body.
What does Estrogen Dominance have to do with melasma?
When estrogen is higher than progesterone, this increases the production of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH).
MSH is responsible for producing melanin (pigment) in your skin.
So, estrogen dominance can increase MSH, which increases pigment in the skin, leading to darkening of the skin
In other words:
Estrogen higher than progesterone (aka estrogen dominance) = increase in MSH = excess melanin/darkening of skin.
HOW ESTROGEN DOMINANCE HAPPENS
Estrogen dominance happens when estrogen goes higher than progesterone.
Estrogen dominance can happen in a few ways:
1. Old estrogen isn’t being eliminated from the body efficiently + gets reabsorbed.
Usually caused by a sluggish liver or constipation.
Certain factors can cause also cause estrogen to get stored in tissues
2. Progesterone drops too low causing estrogen levels to be higher than progesterone
Often called ‘relative estrogen dominance’. In this case, estrogen isn’t necessarily too high, it’s that progesterone is too low, causing estrogen to be higher than progesterone.
Common in perimenopause when progesterone levels naturally begin to drop. It’s also becoming more common for women who are younger to have low progesterone from a stressful lifestyle.
3. Estrogen from outside sources, such as birth control pills, HRT, plastics🧋, personal care products
4. Producing too much estrogen (less common than the others)
It’s usually a combination of some of these!
Example: a woman might have low progesterone from a stressful lifestyle, combined with exposure to xenoestrogens or birth control pill, and a sluggish liver.
If estrogen is higher than progesterone, this increases the production of Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone (MSH), which is responsible for producing melanin in your skin.
Estrogen dominance increases MSH, leading to darkening of the skin.
SYMPTOMS OF ESTROGEN DOMINANCE
The next question most people ask is ‘How do I know if I have Estrogen Dominance’?
Testing is always an option but Signs + Symptoms can also tell you a lot.
Common symptoms of Estrogen Dominance:
* PMS symptoms: breast tenderness, menstrual cramps, moodiness
* Heavy periods
* Bloating
* Weight gain, especially hip + thighs
* Irregular cycles
* depression/anxiety
* Fatigue
* Fibroids
* Endometriosis
* Fibrocystic breasts
* Low libido
* hot flashes/night sweats
* Acne, especially along jawline + chin
* Cystic acne
* Mood swings/irritability
* headaches/migraines
* Dry skin
* Infertility
* Uterine +breast cancers
* Ovarian cysts
* Early onset of menses (before age 12)
Lab tests can be useful, but they don’t always tell the full story.
I’ve had many women tell me they had their hormones tested + everything was fine, so that means their melasma isn’t related to hormones.
All lab tests are not created equal.
Also, certain factors can cause estrogen to get stuck in tissues, which can create estrogen dominance symptoms, but still have estrogen appear normal or low on blood tests.
One example: Iron + estrogen have a reciprocal relationship with each other, so they can increase each other.
Iron stuck in tissues can attract estrogen into the tissues, which among other issues can lead to Estrogen dominance symptoms.
I’m by no means saying that a quality hormone test isn’t sometimes useful, BUT a standard blood panel won’t tell you if estrogen is stored in tissues.
If you’re doing things that are contributing to Estrogen Dominance, then why not start by removing the factors that can be causing Estrogen Dominance to begin with?
In addition to addressing whatever caused the Estrogen Dominance, using foods like broccoli sprouts, cooked cruciferous veggies, and raw carrots can help remove estrogen out of the body
We’ve gone over HOW estrogen dominance happens (not getting removed out of the body, too many outside sources of estrogen, low progesterone, etc)
There are numerous factors that can make those things occur.
POTENTIAL CAUSES OF ESTROGEN DOMINANCE (ED):
* Chronic stress
* Sluggish liver
* Poor bile flow +/or constipation
* Outside sources of estrogen: from things like HRT, BCP, and xenoestrogens
* Low progesterone
* Copper +/or Iron dysregulation
* Perimenopause
* Histamine intolerance
* Weight gain/excess fat
If any of these are an issue for you then it could be contributing to Estrogen Dominance.
You can see why I don’t recommend starting with just a supplement for Estrogen Dominance.
Many times, women jump right to taking a supplement like DIM, but I don’t recommend that.
If low progesterone is contributing to ED, DIM can’t help with that, and DIM could push estrogen too low.
Also, a supplement can help remove estrogen out of the body, but if you’re still doing things that cause Estrogen Dominance, then it’s a cycle of constantly having excess estrogen + then relying on a supplement to remove it.
If you remove the root cause of the Estrogen Dominance, this can keep it from coming back.
To learn more about reversing melasma long-term, check out my (free) video below!
Reversing Melasma Masterclass
In this Video you’ll learn:
MY STORY WITH MELASMA + REVERSING IT MANY YEARS AGO
WHY YOU HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO GET RID OF YOUR MELASMA
WHAT REALLY NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET CLEAR, RADIANT SKIN