Acne

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Acne

Once viewed as the bane of burger-eating, cola-guzzling teenagers, acne also affects plenty of adults as well.

In spite of what your friends have told you, breakouts aren’t the product of poor hygiene or poor diet. At the root of the problem is an overproduction of sebum, a waxy substance that clogs the pores and leads to blackheads, whiteheads and pimples. In teenagers, this overload of sebum is caused by the hormone explosion known as puberty. In adults, it can result from heredity, stress and women’s monthly hormone fluctuations.

So what can you do when your skin won’t act its age? Treat it with kid gloves. That means no harsh soaps or frenzied scrubbing. Women should avoid oil-based cosmetics, which can clog pores and encourage breakouts. The natural remedies in this chapter—used in conjunction with everyday hygiene and with your dermatologist’s approval—may help prevent or relieve acne, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When... Your skin becomes severely inflamed, with a reddish or purplish cast. You’ve tried over-the-counter medicines and they aren’t helping. Your pimples are forming scars after they heal.

Acupressure

Acupressure can improve the appearance of your skin, says Michael Reed Gach, Ph.D., director of the Acupressure Institute in Berkeley, California, and author of Acupressure’s Potent Points. According to Chinese medicine, the stomach meridian is one of several energy pathways that govern skin function. Press both St 2 points, which are situated one finger-width below the lower ridge of each eye socket, in line with the center of the iris and in an indentation of the cheek, says Dr. Gach. (To help locate the points, please see the illustration on page 564.) Hold the points for one minute. Dr. Gach says to do this three times a day for clearer, more radiant skin.

Aromatherapy

tea tree essential oil is a natural antiseptic that is gentle to the skin and speeds the healing of blemishes, says Los Angeles aromatherapist Michael Scholes, of Aromatherapy Seminars, an organization that trains professionals and others in the use of essential oils. He suggests applying a single drop of tea tree oil directly to the blemish after cleansing.

For information on preparing and administering essential oils, including cautions about their use, see page 19. For information on purchasing essential oils, refer to the resource list on page 633.

Ayurveda

Angry-looking red pimples filled with a yellowish discharge are a sign of excess pitta dosha, says Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc., director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (For more information about the Ayurvedic doshas, see “All about Vata, Pitta and Kapha” on page 28.) To control acne, he suggests adopting a diet that includes plenty of bland foods such as oatmeal, applesauce and basmati rice and eliminates fried foods, spicy foods and citrus fruits.

Dr. Lad also recommends this daily routine for cleansing your face: First, wash your face with chick-pea paste, made by mixing one teaspoon of chick-pea flour (available in some health food stores and from Indian grocers) with a little water. Dry with a clean towel. Then apply a paste made by mixing one teaspoon of almond powder (you can make your own by grinding peeled almonds in a coffee grinder) with a cup of goat’s milk (available in most health food stores). Let this almond-paste mask dry on your face for a few minutes before washing it off.

If you live near an Indian grocery store, Dr. Lad says to look for a sandalwood-turmeric cream that you can apply after removing the mask; follow the label directions when applying the cream. A word of caution from Dr. Lad: It may be best to use sandalwood-turmeric cream at night, because it can color your skin a faint yellow. He suggests testing it first to see how it looks. Any discoloration should wash off in about two weeks. Or, he says, you can ask for a cream that is made with white turmeric; it won’t stain at all.

Dr. Lad also recommends drinking cumin/coriander/fennel tea. He says to combine just under 1¼2 teaspoon of each of the three herbs (you should have about 1 teaspoon of the herbs when they’re combined), put them in a tea ball and steep them for ten minutes in a cup of hot water. Then strain until the water is clear of the herbs and drink this tea after breakfast, lunch and dinner.

He also suggests drinking “blue” water. “Fill a clear bottle with water and cover it with blue plastic wrap,” Dr. Lad says. “Put the bottle in the sunlight for two hours, then drink the water, one cup daily in the morning.” He adds that the unused portion can be sealed and stored in the refrigerator for two to three days.

Food Therapy

Acne may be caused by consuming the wrong foods, says Elson Haas, M.D., director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California, and author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition. He recommends following his three-week detoxification diet (see “Detoxing Your Ills” on page 48).

“For some people, acne may be triggered because they’re sensitive to sugar, wheat, chocolate—foods that are more acid irritating in the body,” he says. “What happens is these foods can cause more mucus and pus in the hair follicles, clogging up pores. Other times, acne may be the result of intestinal yeast, and when you give up cheeses, baked goods, sugar and other yeast-producing foods, the skin clears up.”

Dr. Haas also recommends eating foods high in beta-carotene, such as carrots, pumpkin, cantaloupe and other yellow-orange fruits and vegetables.

Herbal Therapy

Take black currant seed oil or evening primrose oil, both of which are available in capsule form in most health food stores, says Barre, Vermont, herbalist Rosemary Gladstar, author of Herbal Healing for Women and other books about herbs. The standard adult dosage for both of these herbs is three 500-milligram capsules a day, according to Gladstar. She suggests taking this dosage every day for three months or until your acne clears up, whichever comes first. Black currant seed oil is less expensive than evening primrose oil and works just as well, she says.

Homeopathy

In severe cases, acne should be treated by a medical doctor or homeopath on an individual basis, says Maesimund Panos, M.D., a homeopathic physician in Tipp City, Ohio, and co-author with Jane Heimlich of Homeopathic Medicine at Home. For an occasional mild outbreak, however, she recommends trying these remedies.

If you have itchy acne, restless sleep and unpleasant dreams, try taking Kali bromatum 6X three times daily until you notice improvement, says Dr. Panos. A similar dosage of Sulphur may subdue acne for a person who sweats profusely, has rough, hard skin and is frequently constipated, she says. If you have pus-filled pimples, Dr. Panos suggests a 6X dose of Antimonium tartaricum, taken three times daily until you notice improvement.

All of these remedies are available in many health food stores. To purchase the remedies by mail, refer to the resource list on page 637.

Imagery

In his book Healing Visualizations, Gerald Epstein, M.D., a New York City psychiatrist, suggests that you close your eyes, breathe out three times and imagine yourself standing in a large, open field of green grass on a perfect day. Envision stretching up toward the sun. Notice that your arms are becoming very long as you reach, palms up, into the sky. The sun’s rays seep into your palms and circulate through your palms and fingers and beyond the fingertips so that there is a ray beyond each fingertip. If you are right-handed, see a small hand at the end of each ray at the fingertips of your right hand and five small eyes at the end of each ray at the fingertips of your left hand (if you’re left-handed, reverse the order).

Turn the five small hands and the eyes to the area where the acne is located. Using the eyes to emit light so that you can see what you are doing, take a golden fine-bristle brush in one of your small hands. Carefully cleanse and scrape the acne pustules in the entire area. With another small hand, shine a blue laser light directly on the cleansed area and watch the skin healing. Realize as you do this that your acne is permanently clearing up. Use a third small hand to apply a salve of blue sky and sunshine to the area to keep the skin dry and clean. Open your eyes.

Dr. Epstein says to practice this imagery three times a day, three to five minutes each session, for three cycles of 21 days on and 7 days off.

Juice Therapy

“Acne is a signal that the organs of excretion aren’t functioning optimally,” says Elaine Gillaspie, N.D., a naturopathic physician in Portland, Oregon. She recommends stimulating the liver with a blend of one part beet juice, three parts carrot juice and two parts water to help clear the complexion from the inside out.

For more information on juicing techniques, see page 93.

Reflexology

Try working the liver, adrenal gland, kidney, intestine, thyroid gland and diaphragm reflex points on your hands or feet, says St. Petersburg, Florida, reflexologist Dwight Byers, author of Better Health with Foot Reflexology.

To help you locate these points, consult the hand and foot reflex charts beginning on page 582. For instructions on how to work the points, see “Your Reflexology Session” on page 110.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

Use the food sensitivity diet (see “Food Sensitivity: How to Discover the ‘Healthy’ Foods That Can Cause Disease” on page 52) to eliminate any foods that might have a role in causing the problem, suggests David Edelberg, M.D., an internist and medical director of the American Holistic Center/Chicago. He also says people with acne may want to take the following vitamin and mineral regimen to help control outbreaks: 30 milligrams of zinc picolinate twice a day; 2 milligrams of copper a day; 400 international units (IU) of vita min E twice a day; and 150,000 IU of vitamin A a day for two months, then reducing the dose to 50,000 IU a day for three months, followed by a maintenance dose of 10,000 IU daily.

Yoga

A series of five yoga poses can help increase blood flow to your face, flushing away toxins and providing nutrients to your skin, according to Alice Christensen, founder and executive director of the American Yoga Association. She suggests a daily routine of these poses: standing sun (page 607), knee squeeze (page 612), seated sun (page 616), baby (page 618) and cobra (page 622).