Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is very common in women of reproductive age. Pretty much everyone has heard of it! However, few people know the full list of symptoms. They know the big ones like irregular periods, infertility, weight gain, and hormonal imbalance. However, there’s a lot more that women with PCOS deal with on a daily basis.
One unusual symptom of PCOS you may not have heard of is skin darkening. It can happen anywhere on the body, but often shows up in creases and on the inner thighs. But, why??? How is this related to PCOS? That’s what I’m going to discuss today! I’ll break down why skin darkening occurs and how you can fix it to look and feel your best!
PCOS Dark Inner Thighs: What it is and Why it Happens
There are a lot of natural treatment options for PCOS and the dark skin patches that it causes, but you’ve got to know what causes this symptom before you can treat it! Interestingly enough, insulin resistance is to blame. Here’s how…
How Does PCOS Cause Dark Inner Thighs?
Up to 80% of women with PCOS have insulin resistance. This is where your body doesn’t process glucose correctly, and instead of converting the sugar into energy, it’s stored in your bloodstream and in your body as fat. Of course, this adds weight and raises your blood sugar levels, but that’s not all it does. High insulin levels can prompt the ovaries to produce more androgens (like testosterone), causing a lot of PCOS problems.
Insulin resistance and hormonal imbalance trigger many common symptoms, including fatigue, intense cravings, irregular menstrual cycles, excessive hair growth on the face, head hair loss, mood swings, sleeping problems, and conditions like acanthosis nigricans. Acanthosis nigricans occurs when high insulin levels stimulate the growth of skin cells and melanin, leading to hyperpigmentation. This results in thick, dark patches and skin tags, often appearing on the inner thighs and in skin folds. So, the key to improving your skin texture and evening the skin tone is improving your insulin sensitivity!
PCOS Hyperpigmentation Treatment Tips
Do slow-weighted or meditative exercises every day.
Exercise is essential to increasing insulin sensitivity to lower those blood sugar levels. As you workout, your muscles require more energy. So, instead of storing sugar as fat or pumping it into the bloodstream, your body uses that glucose for workout fuel! Over time, working out actually makes your body more responsive to insulin, so even on the days you miss a workout your insulin resistance won’t worsen. When you make working out a routine, your insulin sensitivity just gets better and better!
Beyond that, exercise can also detoxify your skin, increase blood flow to your cells, and help balance hormones, meaning it can improve your overall skin health. If you’ve been doing intense workouts for a while and always feel fatigued afterwards, opt for slow-weighted or meditative workouts! You can learn more about PCOS exercises here and The Cysterhood app is full of PCOS-friendly routines.
Relieve some stress.
High stress triggers the hormone cortisol, our stress hormone, and it tells our brain that we’re stressed, which creates a vicious cycle because our blood sugar goes up when we’re stressed…making us more stressed! Not managing daily stress can make our brain think that we’re in danger, this is one of the many things our body does to protect itself. In order to protect ourselves, our body stores insulin and fat. We don’t want that! (Here’s more on the relationship between stress and insulin resistance.)
So, reducing stress is important for lowering insulin resistance and improving those dark patches. Try relieving stress by practicing self-care, getting outside, doing something you love, meditating, or anything else that helps you relax!
Eat a balanced diet.
I don’t think you’ll be surprised to hear that eating well can lower your blood sugar levels! I recommend an anti-inflammatory gluten- and dairy-free diet packed with nutrient-dense foods that’ll support your healing! Though you should avoid gluten, dairy, processed food, sugar, red meat, and alcohol, a PCOS-friendly diet doesn’t have to feel restrictive at all!
You don’t have to give up what you love. With just a few ingredient swaps, you can still eat pizza, cupcakes, ice cream, chicken nuggets, pancakes, and more! You can find all of my fave PCOS-friendly recipes on The Cysterhood app!
Take helpful vitamins and supplements.
No matter how solid your diet is, it’s hard to get all your necessary vitamins and minerals because just having PCOS and inflammation makes us nutrient deficient! Nutrient deficiencies are common, and when we have them, it’s difficult for our body to do what it’s supposed to, including processing glucose. Some of the most helpful vitamins for skin darkening are vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, omega-3, and Ovasitol! You can grab any of these supplements on Ovafit, where we have high-quality, PCOS-friendly supplements made specifically for you and your unique body!
Drink plenty of water.
Staying hydrated can help your skin in more ways than one. Not only can it help with hormone balance and inflammation, which can help improve insulin sensitivity, but it can also ensure your skin is soft, healthy, and able to properly filter out environmental toxins. So, for skin health (and your overall health) drink plenty of water!
Get better quality sleep.
Sleep is essential for hormone balance and healthy metabolic function. When we don’t get enough quality rest, the body struggles to regulate insulin, cortisol, testosterone, and other key hormones. So, prioritize better sleep hygiene to give your hormones the support they need.
Protect your skin from the sun.
No, sunscreen, protective clothing, and other topical treatments won’t lower insulin resistance. However, UV rays can have a similarly negative effect on your skin, triggering your body to produce more melanin. More sun means MORE skin discoloration. So, protect your body from the sun and especially protect it around the areas where you already have thick, dark patches of skin.
Establish a good skincare routine.
Taking care of your skin externally is just as important as taking care of internally. So, if you’re struggling with PCOS-related skin issues, it may be time to update or establish a good skincare routine. I recommend glycolic or hyaluronic acid cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer, and sunscreen in that order. Then, I suggest you gently exfoliate once a week to even your skin tone, improve skin texture, and encourage cell turnover. For more on this, listen to our episode of A Cyster and Her Mister all about PCOS skincare!
Heal the dark skin patches by improving your insulin sensitivity!
A treatment plan for dark skin patches starts with addressing insulin resistance. The best part is, improving insulin sensitivity will not only help your skin, but it’ll help a lot of other PCOS symptoms too, like cravings! You’ll also see improvements in losing weight, fighting fatigue, treating cystic acne, and more.
For more on healing your PCOS naturally and living symptom-free, check out the PCOS Weight Loss blog and the A Cyster and Her Mister podcast.
