Acne and Skin Health
Gold Coast
wave functional health
Dr Matt le Roux
Acne is not a skin disease. It is a signal from somewhere upstream.
If you have spent years cycling through cleansers, spot treatments, antibiotics, and the contraceptive pill trying to get on top of your acne, you already know the frustrating truth: most conventional approaches only manage the surface. They treat the pimple, not the person.
At Wave Functional Health, we look at acne differently. Acne is a visible signal that something upstream, in your gut, your hormones, your liver, or your nervous system, is out of balance. Clear skin is not the goal. It is the result of a body working the way it should.
You are not imagining it
Does this sound like you?
Persistent acne rarely has a single cause. It is usually the visible endpoint of several overlapping systems that have been under strain for months or years. The gut, the hormones, blood sugar regulation, and the nervous system can all contribute simultaneously, which is why treating the skin alone so rarely produces lasting results.
If you have already tried the standard pathway and found yourself back where you started, the pattern of your breakouts, when they appear, where they cluster, and what makes them better or worse, is often highly informative about which upstream drivers are most relevant to investigate.
Years of treatment.
Still breaking out.
I had a diagnosis, a prescription, and no explanation. Nobody had ever asked me about my gut health, my stress history, or what I was eating. Six months in, I finally understand what my body has been reacting to.
Individual experiences vary. This reflects one patient's journey and is not a guarantee of outcome.
You are not imagining it
Why standard acne treatments often fall short
Most people are told acne is caused by excess oil, clogged pores, and bacteria, and that the fix is topical retinoids, benzoyl peroxide, oral antibiotics, or hormonal contraception. These approaches can suppress symptoms for a while, but they rarely ask the more important question: why is your skin producing excess oil, or why is inflammation showing up on your face in the first place?
Antibiotics can reduce acne-causing bacteria in the short term, but they also disrupt the gut microbiome, which can worsen the underlying drivers of acne over months and years. The pill can regulate hormones temporarily, but it does not address why your hormones were imbalanced to begin with, and symptoms frequently return, sometimes worse, once it is stopped.
A root-cause approach asks a different set of questions. What is happening in your gut? How are your hormones being processed and cleared? Is your blood sugar stable throughout the day? Is your nervous system stuck in a stress response that is driving inflammation? These are the questions that explain why acne develops and persists.
An important note. Functional medicine does not replace specialist care, prescribed medication, or medical monitoring. It can help identify modifiable factors that may influence inflammation, immune resilience, symptom burden, flare frequency, and quality of life -- alongside your existing medical team.
The gut-skin axis
When the gut barrier becomes more permeable, bacterial fragments and undigested food particles can trigger a low-grade inflammatory response throughout the body. This systemic inflammation often manifests on the skin as breakouts, particularly along the jawline, cheeks, and chin. SIBO, dysbiosis, and poor digestive function can all disrupt hormone and nutrient processing and set the stage for inflammatory skin conditions.
Blood sugar and insulin
When blood sugar spikes and crashes throughout the day, the body responds with elevated insulin. Elevated insulin stimulates androgen production and increases oil gland activity, both of which contribute directly to acne formation. Blood sugar stability is central to a functional approach to hormonal acne and is often overlooked when the focus stays on skincare alone.
Hormone clearance and the liver
If the liver's detoxification pathways are sluggish, whether from nutrient insufficiencies, poor gut health, or high toxic burden, excess hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone are not cleared efficiently. This hormonal accumulation can worsen breakouts regardless of how clean your skincare routine is. Liver support and oestrogen clearance are often a necessary part of resolving hormonal acne.
Nervous system and stress
When the nervous system is stuck in a sympathetic, high-alert state, the body produces higher levels of cortisol and stress hormones. This shifts oil production, alters immune function, and increases systemic inflammation, all of which directly contribute to acne. Addressing the skin in isolation while ignoring a dysregulated nervous system means treating only half the picture.
Conditions We Support
Contributing factors we investigate
A look into our process
How Wave Functional Health approaches acne
Rather than guessing at which cream or supplement might help, a functional approach starts with identifying what is actually driving inflammation in your individual case. The pattern of your breakouts, when they appear, where they cluster, and what makes them better or worse, is often the first piece of the clinical picture.
From there, functional testing builds a precise understanding of which systems are contributing to your acne, so that the protocol can be built around what your body actually needs rather than a generic approach applied to everyone.
The goal is to address the drivers, not suppress the symptom. For most people dealing with persistent acne, this is the first time an investigation has gone upstream of the skin itself.
Detailed case history
When did the acne start, what makes it better or worse, and what other symptoms are present alongside it, including bloating, fatigue, irregular cycles, or poor sleep. The pattern matters as much as the presentation.
Gut health assessment
GI MAP stool analysis to assess gut microbiome balance, intestinal permeability, inflammation markers, and digestive function, as the gut is one of the most commonly overlooked drivers of inflammatory skin conditions.
Hormone and metabolic testing
DUTCH Complete hormone testing to map how hormones are being produced, used, and cleared, alongside blood sugar and metabolic markers to identify insulin patterns driving oil production and androgen activity.
Nervous system evaluation
HRV analysis to assess whether the nervous system is stuck in a stress-dominant state, which helps explain flare patterns that worsen during periods of pressure or poor sleep and guides the nervous system component of the protocol.
Targeted personalised protocol
A plan built around what the testing actually shows, addressing gut healing, blood sugar stability, liver detoxification support, and nervous system regulation in the sequence that reflects what is driving your individual presentation.
Advanced Diagnostics
Testing we use to investigate
Acne and Skin Conditions
← Scroll to see full table
| Test | What it reveals in an acne presentation |
|---|---|
| GI MAP Stool Analysis | Gut microbiome composition, intestinal permeability markers, digestive enzyme output, and inflammatory activity — addressing the gut-skin axis and identifying the dysbiosis or permeability driving systemic inflammation that manifests on the skin |
| DUTCH Complete Hormone Testing | Full cortisol curve, adrenal function, oestrogen metabolite pathways, androgen levels, and progesterone, showing not just hormone levels but how they are being broken down and cleared, which is where hormonal acne patterns are most commonly found |
| Fasting Insulin and HOMA-IR | Insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation, identifying the elevated insulin and androgen activity that drives oil production and acne formation independently of what blood glucose shows on a standard panel |
| Comprehensive Blood Chemistry | Inflammatory markers, liver function, nutrient status including zinc and vitamin D, thyroid function, and iron metabolism, all of which influence skin healing, sebum regulation, and the inflammatory environment driving breakouts |
| BioSign HRV Analysis | Autonomic nervous system balance and stress physiology, revealing whether a chronically elevated stress response is driving the cortisol and inflammatory patterns that worsen acne during high-pressure periods |
| SIBO Breath Testing | Where gut history or symptoms suggest small intestinal bacterial overgrowth as a contributing factor to systemic inflammation and nutrient malabsorption affecting skin health |
Beneath the surface
Nutrition patterns that support clear skin
While there is no single diet that resolves acne for everyone, certain nutritional patterns consistently support the gut, hormone, and inflammatory pathways involved. These are general principles — the right approach for your skin depends on what is actually happening in your individual assessment.
These are starting principles. Individual dietary recommendations are built around testing results and your specific gut, hormone, and metabolic picture rather than a generic elimination approach.
Acne is information, not just an inconvenience
Persistent acne, particularly the kind that has not responded to years of topical treatment, is your body's way of flagging that something deeper needs attention. Suppressing the signal without addressing the source tends to lead right back to where you started.
A functional medicine approach does not promise an overnight fix. It takes time to understand your gut, your hormones, your blood sugar, and your nervous system, and to build a plan around what your body actually needs to heal. For many people, that is the first time their acne has ever genuinely resolved rather than being managed.
Who This Is For
This approach may suit you if...
Frequently Asked Questions
What people ask about acne care at Wave
Yes. The gut and skin are connected through the gut-skin axis. When the gut barrier becomes more permeable, inflammatory signals enter systemic circulation and often manifest on the skin as breakouts, particularly along the jawline and cheeks.
The gut microbiome also directly influences how hormones, including oestrogen and androgens, are processed and cleared, meaning gut dysfunction can drive hormonal acne patterns even when circulating hormone levels appear normal on a blood test.
Cyclical, jawline-focused acne is typically driven by shifts in androgen levels in the luteal phase, blood sugar regulation, and the liver's ability to clear hormones efficiently. When progesterone drops and oestrogen is not being cleared well, androgen activity relative to oestrogen increases and oil production rises.
Addressing these underlying factors, rather than only the flare itself, is key to lasting improvement. Hormonal blood tests taken at one point in time often miss this pattern, which is why DUTCH hormone testing across the cycle is more informative.
Diet plays an important role in stabilising blood sugar and supporting gut health, but it is rarely the whole picture. Hormone clearance, nervous system regulation, and individual gut imbalances also need to be assessed and addressed for lasting results.
Many people who have already made significant dietary changes without lasting improvement have an underlying gut, hormonal, or stress physiology driver that diet alone cannot correct. This is why individual assessment matters more than a generic elimination diet.
This varies significantly depending on how long the underlying imbalances have been present and how many systems are involved. Many people notice initial changes within a few months as gut healing and blood sugar stabilisation begin to shift the inflammatory environment.
Full resolution of chronic acne that has been present for years typically takes longer as the gut, hormones, and nervous system recalibrate. A functional approach is not a quick fix, but for most people it is the first time their skin has genuinely resolved rather than being temporarily suppressed.
Testing is not mandatory, but it removes the guesswork and significantly improves the precision of the protocol. Functional lab panels can identify the specific gut, hormone, or metabolic imbalances driving your acne, allowing for a targeted plan rather than a trial-and-error approach that can take years to land on the right combination.
For people who have already tried multiple approaches without lasting results, testing is usually the missing piece that finally explains why.
Related conditions
Your skin has been telling you something.
It is time to find out what.
At Wave Functional Health we investigate the gut, hormone, blood sugar, and nervous system drivers behind persistent acne, building a protocol around what your body actually needs to heal rather than suppressing the signal on the surface.
Book a ConsultationConsultations available in clinic in Robina Gold Coast and worldwide via telehealth.