Acne is common dermatological concern that can affect both teenagers and adults. It makes me happy to help teenagers and young adults to treat their acne and see them feel more confortable in their skin.
Acne is a skin condition that occurs when hair follicles become clogged with oil, dead skin cells, and bacteria. It often results in the formation of pimples, blackheads, whiteheads, or cysts on the face, chest, back, or other areas of the body. Acne can be influenced by various factors, including hormonal changes, genetics, stress, certain medications, and lifestyle factors.
Teenagers and young adults can have very busy schedules and complex social lives that can weigh heavily upon their shoulders, making them feel depleted and imbalanced. I see people who seek our help for a wide range of problems from anxiety to eating disorders and sports injuries to acne.
Fortunately, we get very good results in treating acne with Chinese herbs and acupuncture.
In Chinese medicine acne and other inflammatory skin conditions are seen as being caused by a combination of too much heat and dampness.
How do we get too much heat?
Too much heat (also represented by yang energy) can be caused by emotional pressure leading to a constraint which in turn can lead to heat (a bit like a pressure cooker that warms up but doesn’t have the evacuation valve to release the heat). It can also be due to an excess of some hormones which can be yang and therefore lead to expressions of heat.
Too much heat can also be created out of a deficiency. When there is too little cold ( also reprensented by yin energy), it ends up showing up as an excess of yang. A blood deficiency can also be the cause of acne when teenagers are not eating enough or are eating the wrong foods making them blood deficient.
Now how do people get too damp?
In Chinese medicine, dampness is a condition where the body does not metabolize fluids well leading to excessive fluids in the body’s tissues. Microorganisms such as bacteria thrive in these damp conditions leading to pustules and cystic acne.
A weak digestive system that is stressed by irregular eating habits and by eating the wrong foods (fatty or greasy foods) will not transformed well food and accumulate damp in the body.
In clinic, I help patients with acne by using acupuncture to clear inflammation and using Chinese herbs to treat the dampness and heat.
Results usually take 5 – 6 weeks and are quicker if the patient also makes dietary adjustments.