3 Ways PCOS Can Affect Your Skin — And How We Can Help

You might assume that polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the most common causes of infertility, only causes symptoms involving your sexual and reproductive systems. In reality, the condition can cause widespread symptoms, including some that affect your skin. 

In honor of PCOS Awareness Month in September, Orlando Dermatology Center is covering some of the most common PCOS-associated skin issues. At our offices in Oviedo, Orlando, Lake Mary, and Casselberry, Florida, dermatologist Vitaly Blatnoy, MD, and the team can help you manage skin issues from PCOS with advanced dermatological care.  

PCOS heavily impacts your hormones, and those hormones have far-reaching impacts throughout your body. If you have PCOS, your ovaries overproduce hormones called androgens. Androgens can influence your bone density, hair growth, sex drive, and voice. 

High androgens in PCOS can also affect your skin, and the issues might not respond to your usual skincare routine. Here are 3 skin symptoms you might experience from PCOS and how we treat them. 

1. Acne

If you have PCOS, you might have particularly oily skin. Many people with PCOS tend to get acne, especially on the lower half of the face, like your chin and jawline. This pattern of acne is a sign of having a hormone imbalance.

Unfortunately, pimples from PCOS tend to be large, deep, and often challenging to treat. You may notice breakouts around your menstrual period. Your acne from PCOS might not respond to ways you typically manage acne, but our team can provide personalized acne treatment. 

Treatments for acne

Treating underlying PCOS with hormonal birth control or androgen-blocking medications may help reduce acne.

When treating acne, the Orlando Dermatology Center team considers the root cause of issues. Our team might recommend treatments specifically for acne like retinoids or benzoyl peroxide to reduce your skin’s oil production.

1. Excess hair growth

Excessive hair growth, or hirsutism, is a common feature of PCOS because of the high androgens. Up to 70% of women with PCOS grow more hair than usual on your:

• Chin
• Jawline
• Arms
• Chest
• Abdomen

The hair growth is purely cosmetic and not a threat to your health, but you might not like how it looks. You can always shave or wax, but our dermatologists can help with longer-term solutions. 

Treatments for hirsutism

Orlando Dermatology Center can treat hirsutism related to PCOS with intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy, or IPL laser rejuvenation. This type of light therapy targets active hair follicles in targeted areas and can disable hair growth for long time periods. 

You can repeat IPL laser treatments later if your body hair grows back or becomes thick again. As with acne, hirsutism also responds well to general PCOS treatments like birth control. 

1. Dark patches

A rarer skin symptom of PCOS is dark, velvety patches in certain areas like under your armpits, on your neck, or in your groin region. 

This type of skin darkening, also called acanthosis nigricans, is associated with insulin resistance and might occur when insulin makes your skin cells overgrow.

Treatments for dark patches

Treating your PCOS or the associated insulin resistance may help lighten the dark patches. If you want to target acanthosis nigricans specifically, our Orlando Dermatology Center team can help. 

To make sure acanthosis nigricans is the cause of your skin darkening, our team may start with a skin biopsy. While there’s no specific treatment for acanthosis nigricans, IPL laser rejuvenation may help reduce the pigmentation by helping break down the excessive pigment. 

Get in touch

Orlando Dermatology Center can address skin symptoms of PCOS alongside your overall PCOS treatment. Call the office or request an appointment online to consult our dermatologists today.