Alternative Acne Treatments - Chinese Medicine

Although more research is needed to investigate the effectiveness and safety of alternative and complementary methods, some people with acne have described an improvement in their skin after taking certain herbs, undergoing acupuncture, and exploring mind/body relaxation techniques such as meditation, biofeedback, and hypnosis.

 

The clearing of acne by spontaneous remission may play a role in the popularity of some of these natural treatments; in fact, they may simply work by the placebo effect. A placebo is a substance or procedure that contains no medication or obvious physical delivery of energy. Instead, placebos simply reinforce a patient's expectation to get well. So if patients think they will get better by taking them, they do.

 

The term Chinese medicine refers to a number of practices, especially acupuncture and herbal formulas. Chinese medicine has been practiced for over 4,000 years. The long-established concept has been that any illness is a reflection of an imbalance or blockage of energy or chi (pronounced chee), in the body.

 

One of the major assumptions inherent in traditional Chinese medicine is that disease is a loss of balance between Yin and Yang, the opposite poles of energy. Yin and Yang are the dynamic force of the Tao, constantly interacting with one another. Thus, in Chinese medicine, the physician will treat the underlying imbalance, not the symptoms of the disease itself.

 

For thousands of years, Chinese formulas (along with Indian, Tibetan, and Japanese approaches) have been used to treat acne. Herbal medicines are the prevalent tools used by Chinese physicians to reestablish the balance of Yin and Yang, returning the body to a healthy, balanced state (homeostasis). Both herbs and acupuncture are methods intended to restore homeostasis.

 

Chinese herbalists usually don't prescribe one single herb for their patients. Herbal preparations are usually made by blending a variety of different herbs. The individual ingredients are weighed, combined, and then cooked into a souplike mixture and drunk like a tea. The mixture can be very foul tasting.

 

The problem with herbal medications is that it's hard to know exactly what's in them because there is no regulation regarding their contents. Herbs can be just as potent as a medicine you get from your pharmacy. There have been reports of severe toxic reactions, so you should be very cautious before trying anything that is untested.

 

For those of you herbalists or do-it-yourselfers, we list just a few of the ingredients that are sometimes used to treat acne. The various herbs are combined based upon the type of acne that is present:

 

 

Modern research techniques have been done on very few of these botanicals; however, feverfew, a member of the chrysanthemum family, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties in the treatment of mild acne when it's applied twice daily for six weeks.

 

Sometimes, if the smell or taste of the herbal medicine is unbearable, you can take capsule or tablet forms of herbal medicines instead.

 

This method is supposed to work very slowly. Some of those who are very committed to herbal medicine have reported that if they persevere, the herbs will work as a preventative as well as a treatment of their acne. But many Western doctors believe that the acne would have cleared on its own and that any successes had more to do with belief in the treatment itself than in its efficacy.