Chinese Herbal Medicine and Acne?

Question

I went into see chinese herbal doctor because of my right cheek having bumps, redness, and occasional itchiness. I went to see my doctor and she called it a form of dermatitis. When I went to the herbal doctor, he said that I have a bad case of dampness in my body and prescribed me one week worth of medicine to make and drink.

I drank them for a week already, the bumps that I have are gone but it is causing me to break out badly, some of them are now fading but are still present. Some of them are small blemishes around the mouth and are painful. When will they be gone? I am less red but still feels the itchiness possibly to scar trying to heal themselves. I just finished my medicine two days ago so I duno if I have to wait for another week to see more results?

Answer 1

The Herxhiemers Reaction or healing crisis is when the body detoxes of dirt, and can worsen symptoms, like acne, before the skin clears up. Personally I had bad acne all through my teens, and even after, I didn't like the bitter taste of Herbal tea, so I tried other things. As I will now detail, but it depends on the cause:

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Acne or pimples have two causes:

1) Hormone imbalance, causing the sebaceous glands in your skin to produce more oil, which feeds Acne bacteria, which causes the sebaceous glands to become inflammed, red, hot, and swollen, this happens so white blood cells can fight the acne bacteria. Thi occurs at pubery {usually}, or during pregnancy. This theory is accepted by conventional medicine/dermatologists.

2) Candida overgrowth in the gut, produces many toxins, which leach into the bloodstream, and can result in acne, as this is one of the ways the body rids itself of toxins, if you do not drink enough water, {1/2 your body weight in ounces per day}, however, if the toxic load is high, as it is with candida, water alone will not cure acne.

This is rejected by conventional medicine {due to various reasons, although I can vouch that this is a genuine medical condition, read 'The Yeast Connection' by Dr. Cook MD}, and is accepted by alternative medicine practionioners, Herbalists, and some Medical Doctors.

Do the candida spit test, or find a local nutrition-based lab to test you for candida overgrowth, e.g Blood test {antibodies against Candida, not very accurate}, or Urine {to test for a metabolite of candida, 'D-mannitol Urine Test', most accurate, yet hard to find a lab that performs this test, pioneered by Japanese Researchers}, or a Comprehensive Stool Test {Good, 2nd best, yet can be too expensive}.

Candida Spit Test Instructions, you can do this at home, immediately after waking up:

http://www.thewolfeclinic.com/pdf/Spit_T...

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The Good News Is

In either case, there are things you can do to reduce/cure your acne.

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1) If your acne is caused by a hormone-imbalance.

Vitamin A - 10,000 IU per day, {no more than 5,000IU if pregnant, as this can cause birth defects similar to the drug Roaccutane}

Vitamin B Complex

Vitamin C - 1000 - 2000mg per day, as Low-acidity Magnesium Ascorbate Powder.

Zinc - 20mg per day, in chelated amino acid/ bio-available form. 'Mineral' is a good brand, as is 'Higher Nature'

DIM - Di-Indole-Methane, shown to regulate bad hormones that cause acne, andhas immune modulating effects on the skin, 100mg - 400mg per day. {DIM - Highly Reccommended supplement!, if you decide to take nothing else on this list, take this}

Chromium - 400mcg - 600mcg per day

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2) If Candida-overgrowth is causing your acne

Severe Acne is often associated with Candida Overgrowth, please see the following website.

http://www.significanthealing.com/Sympto...

I suffered from acne for years, I managed to cure my acne by following a nutritional approach/ a special 3 day Apple Fast, this was my supplement regime:

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Fasting

Day 1

- 10-15 Red/Golden Delicious {most high in pectin, do not substitute for Green apples} Apples. {You can eat as many Apples as you like, on average I ate 10-15, just tot give you a figure for how many apples to buy. The best place to buy these apples in a Local Farmer's Market, in bulk, and its organic/cheap; Although even apples from the superstore will work as well}

- 3 litres of Alkali Water, {to make alkali add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to every litre of filtered/spring water}

- Coffee e***a, scientifically proven to detox the liver and kidneys. You will urinate alot after, so drink lots of water before/after.

- 2x S. Boulardii Probiotic Supplement {this flushes out Candida Albicans, and lodged fecal matter, use this instead of imodium/laxatives}

- Oil of Oregano Capsules x 4

- Oxygen Elements Plus/Max by GHT, 21 drops, trice daily as 7 drops in a glass of filtered water

- {Optional Step} 3 tablespoons of Colloidal Silver, in between meals, alternatively use diltued Iodine BP oral suspension {available at chemists}.

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Day 2

Same as Day 1, although substitute the 'Oil of Oregano Capsules x 4' for 4x Olive Leaf Extract {Optional, you can stick to taking Oil of Oregano for all 3 days, I just happened to have these other anti-fungals at home. I thought to cycle the anti-fungals, like Doctors do with antibiotics for Small Bowel Bacterial Overgrowth}

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Day 3

- Same as Day 2, although substitute '4 x Olive Leaf Extract' for 4 x High potency Ginger/Allicin Extract

- Drink 1 glass of grape juice before bed

- And 1-2 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, to restart digestion.

- A Word of Caution - You will feel very down, and have a headache through this 3 day fast, if you have candida, this is known as the Healing crisis or Herxheimer's Reaction, tis is good as it means candida is dying, I reccommend if you decide to do the fast, do it in the holidays, or on a friday, then over the weekend so it does not interfere with work/university/whatever. The second day is the hardest.

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After Care Day 4 - 60

- 4.5g of Glutamine powder, before bed, to heal the gut/leaky Gut Syndrome, damage caused by Candida Albicans

- Extra Virgin Cocconut Oil 4 tablespoons per day, after meals, this heals the gut also, and kills any remaining Candida Albicans/other pathogenic fungi, bacteria, viruses.

- Oxygen Elements Max/Plus 21 drops, 7 drops thrice daily, or a cheaper alternative would be Hydrogen Peroxide 35% Food Grade, 1 drop to a pint of water, build up slowly, do not exceed 25 drops.

- {Optional} Ginkgo Biloba 60mg per day - Increase blood circulation, , scientifically proven to improve memory and concentration

- Vitamin/Mineral complex by Higher Nature 'Advanced Nutrition Complex', to eliminate dificiencies from the fast, and give the body what it needs to heals itself. 3 capsules daily. 1x Omega 3 by 'Nordic Naturals Ultimate Omega'

- Kefir - made at home {join Yahoo Kefir Making Group, to obtain Kefir Grains} drink 1 pint for breakfast, 1 pint prior to bedtime. This is a probiotic drink.

- {Optional} Fivelac probiotic supplement by GHT, 4 times daily, then twice daily for maintenance.

- S. Boulardii x1 capsule, prior to bedtime.

- {Optional} Consider also supplementing with Oxy Powder to oxygenate the gut/blood, and kills any remaining candida. Although this is an expensive supplement, I personally did not use this, as I had no knowledge of it.

- Anti-Candida Diet, no sugar, yeasts, ect. Also stop cooking with Vegetable oils, and replace with Virgin Olive Oil, or better Virgin Coconut Oil {anti-candida, and anti-bacterial/acne}. Vegetable oils are rancid and causes alo of oxidation in the body, and hus aggrevate and can cause Inflammation, which is not good for your acne, which involves: Inflammation. Make sure it is 'Virgin' or 'Extra Virgin' {in the case of Olive oil}, these oils are more expensive, but worth it.

Continue the anti-candida diet for 6 months, then leave the supplements, continue to eat healthy, eat sugar moderately, continue taking Vitamin/Mineral complex and Omega 3.

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Alkalising the Body

Candida or Acne bacteria cannot thrive in an alkalised, oxygen rich body, the following will help you alkalise your body to an optimal state:

- Drink alkali water, add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to every litre of filtered water that you drink

- Eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables with food.

- Cut down on citrus fruits, soda's, sugar

- Replace table sugar with Xylitol, this alkalises the body and promote health/ fights candida, and is a prebiotic.

- {Optional} Consider buying a Bob Beck Ozonator, to oxygenate water before drinking, this also alkalises the body/ kills candida alibicans.

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My Experience/ Life Story....Don't fall asleep...

I suffered from severe acne in my teens, which was not long ago, I was on Roaccutane 4 times!, 16months in total {cumulative, 4 month/16wks period per treatment}, it worked great, clear skin, yet the acne returned after 3 months of stopping the treatment, when the drug began to wear off. The side-effects were also nasty, Migraine headaches, chapped lips, ect.

I finally found the cure to acne, not in antibiotics or roaccutane {accutane} but in Herbs, Orthomolecular medicine and Alt. Medicine. My acne was caused both by Candida overgrowth {due to 6months of antibiotic use, tetracycline} and Hormonal imbalance, so I followed both of the above suggestions. The 3-day apple fast reaps brilliant results, I highly reccommend you look into this, do not do it near your period.

Hope this helps.

Almost forgot....

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Topical Application to Acne Pimples

- MSM cream or lotion is said to work well, I did not try this though, I was reccommended this by my Naturopath. Further, DMSO with help reduce inflammation, associated with the acne condition.

- Apply Virgin Cocconut Oil to skin prior to bed {this will kill the acne bacteria}, in addiiton apply Aloe Vera Gel to the affected areas, Buy an Aloe Vera plant, this is best, cheap and most effective. You can cut a small portion of the leaf of and the Aloe Vera leaf with seal/heal the leak, it is easy to look after, 100ml of water watered weekly!

- Salt Face Wash - Fill the sink with lupe warm water, add lots of salt, until the water becomes murky/cloudy, splash face with this water several times, covering