24 Unpleasant Hormone Imbalance Symptoms

Hormones are chemical substances that are present in our body and fulfill a series of functions. Most of them are proteins or lipid derivates. They act as messengers, telling certain cells in our organisms to behave in a way or another. As such, they are powerful tools our central control systems such as the nervous system use to regulate our functions and make sure we keep our homeostasis or inner balance at place.

They have one or more target organs which have specific receptors for those hormones. When a hormone binds with a receptor, it has an effect. As you can guess, it is extremely important for our body to have all hormones available and ready to be released, and we shouldn’t have too much or too little of any of them. If that is the case, whatever the reason, then we could experience a series of unpleasant symptoms. Here are some of them.

1. Acne

Acne is a harmless, yet sometimes quite bothersome, symptom that affects both men and women at any age, but especially their teens. It happens when the oils that our skin produces naturally are caught beneath the surface of our skin, creating features such as whiteheads and pimples. There are some factors that influence acne, such as the level of irritation or dryness of the skin, the secretion of oils and the population of different bacteria that are present on the surface of our body.

However, one of the most powerful influence factors is hormones, specifically androgens, commonly known as male sexual hormones. An excess of androgens, such as what happens in syndromes affecting the adrenal glands or the gonads, will cause acne, or make it worse in case it was already present. Androgens stimulate the sebaceous glands that produce skin oil, so they increase their activity and make our acne worse.