Ways to Get Rid of Acne
- Posted on: Jul 12 2017
Saturday night is finally here, and you’ve waited weeks for the moment you get to take Rachel out for your first date. You’ve bought the freshest outfit and are looking to impress her tonight. Problem is you have a pimple at the tip of your nose making you look like Rudolph leading the sleigh. We’ve all had this happen at onetime. Acne can strike at anytime and effects teenagers to adults alike. Let’s dive into how to rid ourselves of this menace naturally.
Acne is a disease that affects the skin’s oil glands. The small holes in your skin (pores) connect to oil glands under the skin. These glands make an oily substance called sebum. The pores connect to the glands by a canal called a follicle. Inside the follicles, oil carries dead skin cells to the surface of the skin. A thin hair also grows through the follicle and out to the skin. When the follicle of a skin gland clogs up, a pimple grows.
Most pimples are found on the face, neck, back, chest, and shoulders. Acne is not a serious health threat but it can cause scars.
There are many types of pimples. The most common types are:
- Whiteheads. These are pimples that stay under the surface of the skin.
- Blackheads. These pimples rise to the skin’s surface and look black. The black color is not from dirt.
- Papules. These are small pink bumps that can be tender.
- Pustules. These pimples are red at the bottom and have pus on top.
- Nodules. These are large, painful, solid pimples that are deep in the skin.
- Cysts. These deep, painful, pus-filled pimples can cause scars.
Acne is the most common skin disease. Nearly 17 million people in the United States have it. People of all races and ages get acne. But it is most common in teenagers and young adults. Nearly 85 percent of people between the ages of 12 and 24 get acne. For most people, acne goes away by age 30. But some people in their forties and fifties still get acne.
The cause of acne is unknown. Doctors think certain factors might cause it:
- The hormone increase in teenage years (this can cause the oil glands to plug up more often)
- Hormone changes during pregnancy
- Starting or stopping birth control pills
- Heredity (if your parents had acne, you might get it, too)
- Some types of medicine
- Greasy makeup.
Some things can make acne worse:
- Changing hormone levels in teenage girls and adult women 2 to 7 days before their period starts.
- Leaning on or rubbing the skin.
- Pressure from bike helmets, backpacks, or tight collars.
- Pollution and high humidity.
- Squeezing or picking at pimples.
Nutritional Therapy
Description: Skin blemishes or pimples characterize this condition. It can occur at any point throughout the lifetime and is related to a hormonal imbalance. In Chinese terminology, the lungs control the skin, and acne is commonly a condition of ‘heat’ in the lungs. Thus, the Chinese approach to this condition is to cool the heat, cleanse the lungs, and also work externally on the healing process.
Recommendations: squash, cucumbers, watermelon, winter melon, celery, carrots, cabbage, beet tops, dandelions, aloe vera, mulberry leaves and plenty of fresh fruits
Remedies:
- Blend a cucumber, apply externally; leave on for twenty minutes then wash off.
- Apply plain, low fat organic yogurt; leave on for twenty minutes then wash off.
- Rub watermelon rind on the acne.
- Apply aloe vera.
- Eat watermelon or drink watermelon juice.
- Drink dandelion and beet top tea.
- Drink lukewarm water with two teaspoons of honey every morning on an empty stomach. This effectively lubricates the intestines. If one does not evacuate the intestines regularly, the toxins either end up in the liver or coming out on the skin.
Avoid: fried foods, fatty foods, spicy foods, oily foods, coffee, alcohol, sugar, smoking, stress, constipation, makeup, washing with chemicals or soap. Rather, wash with cool water. If the face is dirty, steam it with hot water to induce sweating; then wash with cold water.
One aspect that is overlooked in medicine is , acupuncture’s ability to effectively treat acne. Acupuncture helps by cooling the body’s internal temperatures. It also aids in balancing oil and hormonal production. Through acupuncture lymphatic function is restored and used to cleanse restored and used to cleanse.
Dr. Maoshing Ni and Cathy McNease from the Tao of Nutrition.
Tagged with: Acne, Nutritional Therapy, Pimples
Posted in: Evidence Based Medicine, Fitness, Health & Wellness