Treating Acne With Chinese Medicine
Perhaps not surprising, adolescents and even those who suffer from adult acne will look high and low for ways to rid their complexions of the unsightly blemishes. While mild cases may be covered up with make up, the more severe ones actually do require intervention. Several pills and tinctures are now available that have produced passable and even amazing results, but unfortunately there is also a high price to pay: in some cases the use of these medications will lead to birth defects in the unborn while in other cases severe allergic reactions make the person’s visage look and feel worse than before! What is more, once the medications are stopped, the acne will most likely return within a short period of time.
§ Acne, in Chinese medicine, is believed to be an expression of a disharmony within with qi, the life force that moves freely throughout the body. This lack of harmony is thought to have been created by heat and also humidity.
§ Heat may be seen either spiritually as someone who is subject to anger and fits of rage, or physically as a way of pinpointing someone who is constantly pushing the body to the point that it overheats and sweats.
§ The latter leads to the issue of humidity, where the body is storing or subject to too much liquid. This may also refer to an insufficient water intake that keeps toxins within the tissues rather than flushing them out. At the same time, working in an environment where the person is exposed to humidity or engaging in a lifestyle where humidity is embraced, such as visiting saunas, all fall under this umbrella.
§ Fighting acne with Chinese medicine will require the heat to be cooled with special nutritional combinations that are to be eaten or avoided. Herbal supplements may assist with extracting toxins from the body and also permitting retained water to be released, thus curing the body of the humidity that is causing the skin eruptions.