Acne.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Friend with acne
From: gold.ilp.mit.edu (Mark D. Gold)
Date: 23 Apr 95 12:37:55 -0500

> I've been lurking here for a little while, but I've decide to de-lurk for this post. My friend (a teen) has severe acne. She is currently on an oral drug (name unknown), Retin-A, adn another topical solution. The treatments she is usiing help, but it is still very bad. Her skin is nwo quite sensitive adn peels quite a lot at times. I want to find some gentle way to help her with her problem, but lack the knowledge. Please post here.

Adrienne,

If your friend is amenable to the idea, I suggest that she make a visit to a local holistic healthcare practitioner (with her parent's help and approval if she is not an adult -- of course). Look for an experienced holistic practitioner who can counsel your friend in:

1) Dietetic adjustments that may need to be made (e.g., cutting down on fatty foods & sweets and adding healthy foods such as vegetables). I like Annemarie Colbin's books (e.g., "Food & Healing") for a good how-to book on healthy eating (e.g., whole grains, vegetables, fish, legumes, kelp, miso, fruit, etc., etc.)-- it also has a good description of dietetic contribuatory factors to skin disease.

2) Proper hygiene for treating and preventing acne (which your friend is probably already familiar with). Warner-Lamber Company (a drug company) puts out a pretty good brochure call "Skin Savvy" on techniques to improve the health of skin. Your friend may be able to get a copy from her healthcare practitioner (or I can FAX you a copy). The only adjustments to the ideas in the brochure are 1) to get *all* skin care (and hair care) products from a natural food store and 2) use spring water for steam baths.

3) Prescribe supplemental treatment such as internal and/or external herbal treatments. A formula with blood cleansing, liver cleansing, and lymphatic cleansing herbs might (or might not) be prescribed, for example.

4) Other lifestyle adjustments may be suggested such as moderate exercise or stress-reduction techniques (yoga, meditation).

I stopped drug therapy for my illnesses when I was a teenager, but I didn't visit an experienced practitioner and thus I spent a much longer time than necessary trying things that never could have worked in my case. In your friend's case, I think drugs should not even be considered until holistic healing techniques have been tried. The damage caused by supressing skin disorders with drugs (as opposed to actually healing the skin disorder) is something that should be avoided.

Try to find a practitioner who is willing to look at the big picture (diet and lifestyle adjustments) as well as prescribing other treatments when necessary. Avoid practitioners who believe that supressing skin diseases is the same as healing skin diseases. If you need help locating an experienced practitioner, there are several listings available. Please send me email if you need information on these listings. Also, you may want to post your query to holistically-oriented mailing lists. Please send email if you want information on how to subscribe.

Best regards,
- Mark
gold.ilp.mit.edu

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Friend with acne
From: dawn.MCS.COM (Dawn E. Kuczwara)
Date: 30 Apr 1995 20:12:33 -0500

Another really great remedy is put 1 part oatmeal and 2 parts farina in a blender. Once you've got it into a powder, put about a $.25-sized amount in your hand and a little water (only enough to make a thick paste). Then put it on the affected areas. THIS WILL DRY YOUR SKIN, but not too much, and the results that I've seen are well worth it.

This receipe was given to a friend by a dermatologist after _nothing else_ would work. He had sever acne at 21, and this got rid of it in two weeks. Great for all over and small spots.

I used this when I was a kid (hit puberty early; had _bad_ acne before boys knew what girls were - got teased 'cause I was the only only one, but had great skin by the time everyone else got it! :-) It did wonders, and still does for occasional flare ups.

Hope this helps!

From: dany.efn.org (...)

> My friend (a teen) has severe acne.

I used to use zinc when I was younger and had an acne problem. I had some 50mg and some 15mg tablets. It took a week or so on 50mg a day to have an effect, then 15mg/day would usually keep it in check.

I don't remember where I heard about this, but it worked.

-Daniel