How to treat acne: what it is, cause, how to fight it. Here are natural remedies to fight acne with herbal medicine and natural skin care.
Acne is usually a disease of spontaneous resolution typical of adolescents and young people, although some form of the condition may continue to persist in 10-20% of adults. Women in perimenopause-menopause are instead subject to acne rosacea (or couperose), which we will discuss in another post.
Acne what it is
Acne, or “inflammatory dermatosis of the pilosebaceous follicle and perifollicular tissue”, is a term used to describe some disorders caused by chronic inflammation of the pilo sebaceous follicles, characterized by the formation of keratin plugs at the openings of the sebaceous ducts, inflammatory papillae, pustules, nodules, cysts and scars, especially in the face and chest.
Acneic skin: causes and triggers
The factor that causes the expression of the disease in adolescents is the increased secretion of the sebaceous glands after puberty. The greater or lesser severity of the acne manifestation is linked to the amount of secreted sebum. Small cysts, called comedones, form in hair follicles due to the obstruction of the orifice due to the retention of sebum and keratin material. The blackhead can be closed (white dot) or open (black dot: “black” because it is caused by the oxidation of the lipid material and by the melanin normally present in the horny cells). The activity of a yeast (Pityrosporum orbicolare) and of bacteria (Propionibacterium acnes) inside the comedones leads to the release of fatty acids that cause inflammation inside the cyst with consequent rupture of the cystic wall and excretion of fatty debris and keratin from the cyst.
Aetiopathologically, acne is linked to the interaction of various factors (genetic, infectious, immunological, hormonal, food, etc.) that, directly or indirectly, can be conditioned by psychobiological stimuli. Stressors have, for example, an important influence on the triggering of crises. Acne is also a rebellious affection with relapses that are often poorly controlled by the traditional therapeutic treatment, which is often limited to a topical intervention only. Also the use of oral contraceptives can accentuate acne manifestations in the first 2-3 months of use, which can last up to a year after the suspension of this type of treatment. Also the contact with heavy oils, fats and tars, known comedonic agents, can induce an increase of acneic lesions.
How to treat acne
The aims of acne treatment are aimed at correcting follicle maturation anomalies and reducing sebum production, colonization by P. acnes and inflammation.
Pharmacologically, topical preparations are used (retinoids, antimicrobials) but also hormones. Retinoids work by normalizing the maturation of the follicular epithelium, reducing inflammation and increasing the penetration of other topical drugs; antimicrobials reduce the population of P.acnes and are effective in the treatment of inflammatory lesions.
The phytotherapic or gemmotherapeutic treatment, on the other hand, is first based on the drainage of the excretory organs, favoring their rebalancing (detoxifying action) and, if necessary, on a symptomatic action (anti-inflammatory, anti-infective and rebalancing at the neurovegetative level). A cosmetic treatment will also be performed hand in hand. Indeed, in the milder forms characterized by sebaceous hypersecretion, the presence of comedones or with a limited number of papules and pustules, a cosmeceutical approach aimed at regulating sebaceous secretion and preventing the onset of inflammatory processes, contrasting the hyperkeratinization of the pilo-sebaceous channel, obstructed by deposits of corneal cells, hyperseborrhea and bacterial proliferation at the origin of inflammation.
How to treat acne: herbal remedies
Italic depurative and omega 3 might be usefuls for a generic action. From literature, and example to treat acne also with the help of mother tinctures:
- acne: drainage phase and therapeutic phase
Here is a trio of mother tinctures to be prepared by placing them in equal parts in a single bottle: burdock mother tincture, artichoke mother tincture and tricolor violet mother tincture.
This is the purifying formula of first choice indicated for drainage as it is able to manifest both a global activity on the organism and elective on the skin tissue. To be taken 30 drops diluted in water 2 times a day for no more than 2-3 weeks. These officinal plants possess diuretic, diaphoretic and cholagogic properties such as to fully justify the reputation of depurative plants, that is, able to lightly enhance diaphoresis, hepatic activity, bile secretion, diuresis, intestinal transit and to regularize secretion of the sebaceous glands. The purpose of the drainage technique is to increase the overall physiological functions of depuration of the organism in a balanced way and to determine, therefore, a deep detoxifying action able to rebalance the internal homeostasis.
This is also the classic formulation indicated in the treatment of dermatoses in general, with the only difference that in the actual therapeutic phase the posology is different from that of the drainage: from 30 drops 2 times a day it is passed to 50 drops diluted in water 3 times a day for at least 2 months, so as to act more clearly on the ground, without fear at this point of causing an aggravation of the symptoms.
- acne and dermatoses in general: Bergeret and Tétau in “Drops for acne” write about laying mother burdock and dandelion tincture in equal parts in 125 ml bottle and using 60 drops in half a glass of water from drink slowly before 3 meals; in “purifying mother tinctures” they add an additional dye to the previous recipe: burdock mother tincture, dandelion mother tincture, tricolor viola mother tincture, in equal parts to be placed in a 125 ml bottle and used as follows: 50-70 drops , diluted in a little water and sipped slowly, fasting in the morning, and before 2 meals.
- Acne manifestations related to premenstrual hormonal disorders instead benefit from the administration of Sage Mother Tincture at a dose of 30-50 drops morning and evening, fasting, starting from the second half of the menstrual cycle, due to the presence in it of substances with follicle-like action (picrosalvina) and antibiotics (salvina ).
How to treat acne with gemmotherapy
In the treatment of acne an initial drainage is recommended (pre-treatment) with juniper bud extract: 30 drops diluted in water 1-2 times a day for 2 weeks. The actual treatment involves the use of walnut bud extract, which due to its eudermic, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties is extremely effective in treating acne. It can be associated with the black currant bud extract (indicated in the case of phlogosis) and the elm bud extract (a bud extract that helps to regularize sebaceous secretion). The therapy would be based on a cycle of 20 days a month for at least 3 months.
How to treat acne with our natural cosmetics
Here is the routine with our eco bio natural cosmetics that we recommend for the treatment of acne: morning and evening cleansing (combination skin detergent), day treatment (combination skin gel-cream) and pimples cream sebum lift serum anti imperfections, night treatment (Sebo lift night renewal treatment), for weekly treatments: peeling-mask anti-age face-body once a week; sebo-equilibrant pack vegan ok Phitofilos 2 times a week.
This homemade clay face mask is also useful: prepare an infusion of tricolor viola and add it to the green clay previously placed in a bowl. Mix everything together to obtain a homogeneous and creamy mixture. After cleaning your face, spread the mask over the affected parts and leave on for 10-15 minutes, then remove with warm water. This preparation has inflammatory and regulating properties of sebaceous secretion and is indicated in case of oily skin.
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