The ABC Homeopathy Forum
24 years old, still having acne issues
Hi :)I am in desperate need of advice... I am 24 years old and just cannot seem to get rid of the acne on my face. I't's moved around over the years, and I've had pretty much all of the trouble spots at one time or another. Lately, though, it has been mostly showing up on my cheeks and chin, along with a redness on my cheeks that my mother says 'looks like a rash'.
I went to a regular doctor, but after I explained to her that benzoyl peroxide only dries out my skin and may or may not actually reduce the acne, she referred me to a dermatologist that 'would give me some antibiotics, if they don't work, perhaps accutane.'
At that, I balked. I have always felt that acne was a symptom of something inside of me, not just some mysterious skin condition that persists no matter what I try. If it was jsut a skin issue, then the rest of my family should have it, but they have all grown out of it despite having rather unhealthy diets compared to myself. When I read about homeopathy and the belief in fixing the cause of acne rather than treating the symptoms, I decided to ask for advice.
I'll try to summarize my personality... I'm a -very- low-key person, generally the last one to get angry and stressed, though that can happen if I just don't understand something and get frustrated. Currently I am getting about 8 hours of sleep every night, and it is fairly regular, but not completely the same due to school hours fluctuating. I have a great family life, regular periods, and in general am pretty happy.
Physically I am fair-skinned and rarely get enough sun to tan my skin, I blush easily and have a pink undertone to my skin, and I tend to have cold hands. I have circles under my eyes despite getting a lot of sleep, and my hair is rather thin, though it has pretty much always been that way.
I recently started taking Washington Homeopathic Products, Inc's No. 1 Acne pills (containing Berberis Aqui. Tinct., Sepia 3x, and Antimon. Crud. 3x) and using Thera Neem soap on the recommendation of a homeopathic store near me, but the pills don't seem to be having any effect and the soap only worked for the first week or two, until it dried out my face too much.
Thera Neem lotion and some kind of facial serum was recommended to help with the driness, but that just made me break out more.
After trying that, I discovered that a lot of acne has to do with an overloaded liver, and so I went on a cleansing diet to help that out, since I -do- tend to be a bit constipated. It seemed to calm down the acne a little at first, but it is a very small improvement, and overall didn't really help much.
Please, can anyone give me advice?
emmilely on 2009-03-10
This is just a forum. Assume posts are not from medical professionals.
Try Sulphur 30 thrice every day, for 3 days and let me know.
Ataulkaafi last decade
Hi there,
speaking from my own experience, it sounds like your skinproblems are most likely linked to your diet, and it would be well worth your while to do a basic diet for a while (2-4 weeks), to see what improvement you get.
I myself find that if I stick strictly to organic products only, and avoid processed foods, I can get all my skin problems to disappear completely, but you may be less sensitive, and can maybe get away with just avoiding a few things that seems to affect your skin the worst.
Try cutting drastically down on dairy, wheat, garlic, spices, coffee and tea, for 2-4 weeks to start with, and see how you go - if there's only some improvement but not a lot, try cutting things out completely, just for a week or two, and see what happens.
There are plenty of alternatives to those foodstuffs nowadays, any healthshop will have lots of different products that do not have eg. dairy and wheat.
If you're really determined you could do an elimination diet for 2-4 weeks, ie. you cut your diet down to absolute basics (you could ask your doctor to supervise such a diet, but be prepared for them telling you that your diet do not affect your skin, and most will also tell you not to cut down on dairy, in spite of the fact that dairy seems to cause a lot of trouble to a lot of people - google the internets :0) for more info if interested).
Also, if switching to organic foods seem to help, be aware that supermarket organic foods are _not_ always as organic as you'd hope, but again, you may not be sensitive enough to have a problem with this.
I'll give you a list of things that do not affect my skin, and if you wanted to try a strict diet for a while, you could maybe start with these.
Note, that things like vitamin pills etc. may set your skin off as well, depending on the additives in it.
My 'safe' list:
Banana
Avocado
Olive oil
Rice (white, brown should be fine too)
Most vegetables (cooked from their original form, not processed in any way)
ie. broccoli, carrot, potato etc.etc.
Spinach and all other leaves, lettuces etc.
Water, and fizzy water
Apple juice
Cranberry juice
Lean meats (beef, pork, lamb, that you cook/roast yourself)
Chicken (don't get 'cornfed', the yellow colour is an added colour)
Fish (again 'plain', not smoked or whatever, the 'smoked' bit is a chemical they add to the fish, which sets my skin off no end)
Hmm, there may be other things, but the above should be plenty for a plain diet for a few weeks.
Once your skin has got much better, you can do tests, where you try and eat a new food, to see if it sets your skin off.
Only add one new food at a time, and wait a day or two, before you add yet another food, otherwise it'll be too difficult to work out which food set your skin off.
You can also Google 'food intolerance' and 'skin problems' (without the quotes) and see what you get.
One final thing:
Apparently homeopaths say, that if you treat the underlying imbalance that cause one to react to foods, you will no longer get reactions, and can eat freely.
I don't currently have enough money to find a very good homeopath to try this out with, but I would certainly love to have a go. May be worth investigating, if you know a very good homeopath.
Hope this is of any use, and if you decide to give it all a go, please feel free to ask more questions, I'd be very happy to tell you more about my own experiences.
Many kind regards,
Susanna
speaking from my own experience, it sounds like your skinproblems are most likely linked to your diet, and it would be well worth your while to do a basic diet for a while (2-4 weeks), to see what improvement you get.
I myself find that if I stick strictly to organic products only, and avoid processed foods, I can get all my skin problems to disappear completely, but you may be less sensitive, and can maybe get away with just avoiding a few things that seems to affect your skin the worst.
Try cutting drastically down on dairy, wheat, garlic, spices, coffee and tea, for 2-4 weeks to start with, and see how you go - if there's only some improvement but not a lot, try cutting things out completely, just for a week or two, and see what happens.
There are plenty of alternatives to those foodstuffs nowadays, any healthshop will have lots of different products that do not have eg. dairy and wheat.
If you're really determined you could do an elimination diet for 2-4 weeks, ie. you cut your diet down to absolute basics (you could ask your doctor to supervise such a diet, but be prepared for them telling you that your diet do not affect your skin, and most will also tell you not to cut down on dairy, in spite of the fact that dairy seems to cause a lot of trouble to a lot of people - google the internets :0) for more info if interested).
Also, if switching to organic foods seem to help, be aware that supermarket organic foods are _not_ always as organic as you'd hope, but again, you may not be sensitive enough to have a problem with this.
I'll give you a list of things that do not affect my skin, and if you wanted to try a strict diet for a while, you could maybe start with these.
Note, that things like vitamin pills etc. may set your skin off as well, depending on the additives in it.
My 'safe' list:
Banana
Avocado
Olive oil
Rice (white, brown should be fine too)
Most vegetables (cooked from their original form, not processed in any way)
ie. broccoli, carrot, potato etc.etc.
Spinach and all other leaves, lettuces etc.
Water, and fizzy water
Apple juice
Cranberry juice
Lean meats (beef, pork, lamb, that you cook/roast yourself)
Chicken (don't get 'cornfed', the yellow colour is an added colour)
Fish (again 'plain', not smoked or whatever, the 'smoked' bit is a chemical they add to the fish, which sets my skin off no end)
Hmm, there may be other things, but the above should be plenty for a plain diet for a few weeks.
Once your skin has got much better, you can do tests, where you try and eat a new food, to see if it sets your skin off.
Only add one new food at a time, and wait a day or two, before you add yet another food, otherwise it'll be too difficult to work out which food set your skin off.
You can also Google 'food intolerance' and 'skin problems' (without the quotes) and see what you get.
One final thing:
Apparently homeopaths say, that if you treat the underlying imbalance that cause one to react to foods, you will no longer get reactions, and can eat freely.
I don't currently have enough money to find a very good homeopath to try this out with, but I would certainly love to have a go. May be worth investigating, if you know a very good homeopath.
Hope this is of any use, and if you decide to give it all a go, please feel free to ask more questions, I'd be very happy to tell you more about my own experiences.
Many kind regards,
Susanna
Susanna_ last decade
Anything on here praising dermalund is an advert.
The moderator will remove the post and ban the fake user name as he has done countless times.
The moderator will remove the post and ban the fake user name as he has done countless times.
♡ simone717 6 years ago
Im 22yrs female I too had the same problem since my menarche ...I used homeopathy for about one yr and it cured acne all over my chest back and part of the shoulders but pimples over my face still exists ...better consult a good homeo physician who provides u with German medicine ...
Lavanya natti 6 years ago
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