Health Foods - Nutrition:
Acne Skin Disorders - Lets squeeze in a look at Acne
This information is provided to help you with a better understanding of how Natural acne treatments work.
There are many levels to creating good health. Often a certain combination of treatments is effective for one person and different for another. So working out what is right for you can be quite complex, however it is well worth the effort.
Many people do not realize or ignore the fact that their skin is an 'eliminating' organ. Acne as a health issue is more than skin deep and by working on all levels of your body (lungs, bowels, kidneys, liver etc), you will be doing yourself a favour in the long term by bringing your whole body system into greater harmony. Your insides will feel healthier and your outside appearance will reflect the healing changes you've made inside.
Let's start with Western Medicines Acne description which can be categorized into three different types:
which is the most common, is contributed to by the androgenic sex hormones and often heralds the onset puberty. This results in an over secretion of sebum (waxes) and oils in the skin's sebaceous glands. Testosterone during this growth stage also seems to stimulate the increased production of keratin proteins in the skin which in turn blocks the pores. Acne vulgaris outbreaks are mostly found on the face but also can break out on the neck, back and shoulder regions.
It is important to remember with skin disorders, besides the biochemical disharmony that occurs they are aggravated by stress, poor dietary decisions and food quality, poor personal hygiene habits and even environmental toxins (chemical irritants/pollutants). Nothing happens in isolation. Medical Researchers are not sure why some people are more prone to this excessive buildup of androgens in the hair follicles however for some it does appear to be an inherited trait. And again, that is just what is happening on the one level, the skin layer - there is more going on than that.
is a more severe form of acne vulgaris where cysts and scarring from deep pustules form and accumulate pus compounds. These cysts stay below the skin surface and instead of discharging their contents; they infect surrounding tissues, resulting in localized infection pockets and long term scarring deep in the tissues.
usually occurs in the middle age bracket - 30 - 55 years where the face becomes flushed and covered with rash like pimples, similar in appearance to acne vulgaris in terms of its redness and pimples. This is thought to be caused by a variety of things - menopausal imbalances, fungal/parasite infection, metabolic imbalances, B-vitamin deficiencies, metabolic deficiencies.
Standard Acne treatments vary from squeezing the blackheads and pustules; using antibiotics or isotretinoin (Roaccutane); facial applications; dietary changes; and vitamin A creams.
Antibiotics need to be given in high doses for long periods of time (6 - 8 months) to be beneficial. If you resort to using antibiotics please read up on the side effects - they can include severely irritated conjunctiva and eyelids, dry and sore nasal passages and nose bleeds, forms of eczema, photosensitivity, muscle and joint pain, cracked lips and facial dermatitis.
In light of these quite severe side effects, it is worth every effort to change and improve your overall health as opposed to compromising your existing level of health. And if it takes 6 - 8 months for antibiotics (which means 'anti' bacteria, and cannot select the life enhancing bacteria from the overgrowth bacteria)to be effective, then working on your health and lifestyle for 6 months is surely worth a try before you resort to the heavy medicines.
Article by Shauna Kendall