What can I do about post menopausal acne?
I’m wondering if your acne is all month long or concentrated around when you get your monthly estradiol injection. It might be worth seeing your gynecologist and trying a different delivery system for your estrogen like the little patches (Vivelle is just an example) that you change twice a week. It would be interesting to see if that solved the problem.
If that’s not possible, and your blood pressure isn’t too low, ask your dermatologist or gynecologist to consider prescribing low dose spironolactone for you (50-200 mg/day). It often alleviates those deeper, tender small cysts and has nice side effects like lowering blood pressure, decreasing fluid retention and decreasing unwanted facial hair growth. It’s been in use for 30 years for various medical problems.
Also, if the problem is more those pesky, hard white bumps under the skin (milia), a good dermatologist or a medical aesthetician can extract those for you easily with the right tools.
Dr. I