Introduction

My journey with “surgical menopause” started 5+ years ago and like I’ve said in other blog posts, “it blew the doors off of my life!” No exaggeration! I’ve covered several of the main surgical menopause symptoms, and in my case, I can’t use hormone replacement therapy because of a cancer risk.

This post will be all about “healthy skin and surgically induced menopause” and how our skin changes after our ovaries are removed.

If you can identify with this blog, then you probably weren’t told a whole lot about what to expect after your hysterectomy/oophorectomy. The only advice I received was “lube, lube, lube.” That’s it! That really hasn’t helped me as I’ve had a lot more to deal with than needing lube.

Overview: 

I’ll give you a brief history of how I got here and how my skin was up until my surgeries. I like the “science” of things. I like to understand “why” things happen and “how” they happen. 

I’ll talk about why our skin changes after our ovaries are removed and what those changes were for me personally and how I’ve dealt/am dealing with them. I’ll offer what I know about how to take care of your skin into the future from products to supplements.

I’ll also talk about some lifestyle modifications to take care of your skin from the inside. I’ll touch on self-confidence and being okay in your own skin and how that journey is ever evolving. 

Finally, I’ll go over continuing education and learning more about skin care for ourselves and from others. We need to share what we’ve learned and make sure that women understand that taking care of their skin needs to be something they start NOW and do FOREVER no matter what happens in their future.

Understanding your skin and surgically induced menopause can empower you to make informed decisions.

1. Biological Changes

Your skin and surgically induced menopause: what happens?

The hormonal shifts after a bi-lateral/oophorectomy, (both ovaries removed,) are that estrogen and progesterone production stops and that puts you into surgical menopause. I never realized until creating this blog how important estrogen really is and how we have estrogen receptors all over our body.

In a nutshell, estrogen binds to fibroblasts that are receptors in your skin. They send a signal which causes a chain of events to occur resulting in collagen production. When your estrogen is taken away, the fibroblasts don’t get their signal and are less active. The result is the sagging and wrinkling you see in your skin.

Natural menopause is the gradual loss of hormones as you age, with your ovaries making less and less over time. The ovaries will continue to make estrogen for the rest of your life, however, it will be in very small amounts. Surgical menopause is natural menopause, only it happens instantly and completely. Like estrogen withdrawal, there are symptoms that hit right away, full on. More about this here.

First Year of Skin Changes

I wasn’t told anything from my doctors about what to expect concerning my skin and surgically induced menopause. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t told anything about ANYTHING that was going to happen as a result of the surgeries that I had!!

What I did notice first was that my skin seemed drier, especially when the seasons changed in winter. I attributed this to medications that I was taking and to the weather. It still didn’t dawn on me that my hormone deficiency was exacerbating the skin issues I already had.

I always disliked my oily skin when I was younger. It drove me bonkers and I was always looking for anything that would give me that “matte skin” look. I also had large pores on my nose and cheek area and disliked that too. 

I figured this all out but not until 4-5 years passed after my oophorectomy and I really regret not knowing sooner as I would’ve taken better care of my skin. The dryness was in part because of weather changes BUT estrogen loss and aging will make your skin drier as well.

In postmenopausal women skin thickness decreases by 1.13% per postmenopausal year, with an associated decrease in collagen content (2% per post-menopausal year) (Brincat et al 1987). The collagen content (types I and III) of skin is thought to decrease by as much as 30% in the first five years following the menopause (Brincat et al 1985; Affinito et al 1999).

The above paragraph was from here.

Practical Skin Care Strategies

Hydration:

Obviously the first thing on the list is Drink More Water! I would say that 75% or more people don’t drink enough! 

How to find out how much you should drink: Well, let’s do the math!

Take your weight, (I’ll go first! I’m 220 lbs. 5`10,) I’ll use 200 for math’s sake. 200 divided by half = 100.  The ounces of water I should drink in a day should be 100 oz.  At least! That’s about 6/ 16.9 oz. water bottles. I know, it sounds like a lot but it’s sooooo good for you! You will see!! 😁

But here’s the most important thing about drinking water. You actually have to do it!!

Nutrition:

Nutrition that supports the health of your skin is also super important. The drop in estrogen affects your skin’s ability to retain moisture and we can help change that through nutrition.

Foods containing omega-3:

• walnuts
• salmon
• chia seeds

Antioxidants: Vitamins C & E

• almonds
• citrus fruits
• berries
• sunflower seeds

Protein:

• fish
• lean meats
• eggs
• legumes

If you’re like me and you can’t take HRT, phytoestrogens might be of benefit to you. Foods like soybeans, flaxseeds and legumes.

What are legumes?

They are the fruit or seeds from plants like:

• peas
• broad beans
• chickpeas
• soybeans

Gentle Skincare:

Gentle skincare is basically a skincare routine where you don’t use harsh ingredients or chemicals. Our skin is more fragile and we want to take care of it now more than ever.

You don’t need to wrap your face in steaming hot towels and then go right into an ice bath to close your pores! Doing this will only strip your newly fragile skin of all the natural oils that it needs. Healthy skin and surgically induced menopause means you should try to avoid extremes of hot and cold in everything you do if possible.

Supplements are something I had to look into as I don’t have any choice about hrt and my symptoms were overwhelming. At this time I’m using this Ashwagandha for stress and anxiety, a supplement for hair, nails and skin and a calcium supplement that contains vitamin D. I also use Effexor, (Venlafexine) and Clonidine for hot flashes. I’ll recommend more as I try them.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I’ll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.

Beyond Topical Care

Lifestyle modifications

Exercise! I’m sorry, I don’t like to exercise. But guess what? It doesn’t matter what I like because exercise is one of those habits that will really help me in all ways from sleep to the fatigue that plagues me at times.

Gentle exercises and yoga for your face. It stimulates blood flow and there are 43 muscles in our face. If done properly, I believe that these habits could have an enormous effect on our skin health and appearance.

As we navigate through skin care and surgically induced menopause, it’s vital to stay informed about effective strategies for maintaining skin health.

Stress management:

You’ve seen me mention “cortisol” before and I’m talking about it again. It’s just a bad hormone!! When you experience stress whether physical or emotional, your hypothalamus releases a hormone that signals the pituitary gland, which then in turn signals the adrenal gland which starts producing cortisol to activate your “fight or flight” response.

Estrogen normally regulates all of these processes and without it…..well, you know.

Sleep and skin health: Something I “didn’t” know is that during sleep, skin repair and collagen production is at its peak. I love to sleep, by the way! 🛌🏻 It’s just good for everything!

Awareness of stress and changes associated with skin and surgically induced menopause can enhance your skincare regimen.

Emotional Resilience

Trust me, I understand how it feels to look in the mirror and actually “see” myself aging. It’s downright scary, isn’t it? New lines where there weren’t any the last time you looked. Or the extra neck skin that seemed to appear overnight!

We need to keep in mind that this is a natural process, though in surgical menopause, I would challenge that a little. A natural process that happens 75% faster than normal and was really tough to go through.

Building self-confidence starts with understanding. An understanding of what is happening inside your body. I take care of myself now better than I EVER have. Do you realize the immense power that you currently have to change the way you think and the way you do things? You don’t need permission to do this either, you just do it.

Ultimately, embracing the journey of skin and surgically induced menopause can transform your approach to self-care.

Long-Term Skin Management

Your skin is the largest organ of your body! It needs care just like any other part of you. We have our teeth cleaned, our hair done, exercise etc. 

Be sure to change up your skin care routine as needed. There are different seasons where you may use a stronger moisturizer and you’ll definitely need retinol for signs of aging. Keep an eye on any changes that you see and treat accordingly. New blog post on this soon!

The skin care industry is always coming up with newer and better solutions for skincare and aging. Stay as up to date as you can to all of the new items that you could potentially use. You can follow my blog as well! 😉

Conclusion

I know it seems unfair. All of the things that we are having to go through and process because of a surgery we had by choice or necessity. Now we have to face skin changes through this as well? 

Like I’ve said, Surgical Menopause is not for the faint of heart.

By getting closer to your friends, joining an online group for support or talking to your doctor, you CAN manage this part of your life, believe it or not!

I’ve come to like and respect myself in ways I never thought possible when I was younger. I quit smoking and stopped taking a very physically addictive medication, both during surgical menopause. That’s HUGE!

You can and you WILL come through this and you’ll be better because of it! Follow along with me if you like and let’s change the way people view surgical menopause and menopause in general and see it for the VERY REAL event that it is!

As Always!! Be sure to consult your physician before you start a new life style change, exercise program or supplements.