Acne or Pimples

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Acne or Pimples can be helped by acupuncture. I classify acne by the patient's age, as acne in adolescence and acne in adulthood. Here are some patient’s questions and my answers.
 

Age: Acne in adolescence and adulthood

"My 16-year-old son is suffering thru a super bad case of acne. We’ve been to a dermatologist who prescribed him Accutane. He told us that it would get worse before it would get better. That was 4 months ago. When we went back a month ago, the same doctor said "wow, in my 25+ years of practice I have never seen a case this bad" and then prescribed Prednisone to counteract the Accutane. But, it still seems to be getting worse. It is actually leaving holes and tunnels in the pores of his skin. What do I mean by "tunnels"? If he has 2, 3, 4 of these pimples/zits, pustules in a small cluster, he can rub a finger over the top for one; the infection will ooze out of another from under the skin and is a mixture of pus and blood. I know it sounds really gross, but it’s true. When he’s in the shower the stream of the water is excruciating painful for him. The scabs get soft and fall of his skin, exposing the holes underneath the skin. 
This condition has already affected his self-esteem and given him a complex. Thank you for any suggestions or advice."

Unless we understand the real cause, treatments may fail. His age belongs to spring, if there are seasons in life. Spring is growing season. When trees try to grow too fast, many branches grow. If trees have too many unnecessary branches, they can’t produce good fruits unless a few branches are trimmed.

Our organs also have seasons, according to acupuncture theory. The organ related to acne is the liver. When liver function becomes excessive, liver overcontrols spleen and stomach. Stomach produces heat. This heat rises up and stays at the face causing acne. This only applies to younger age groups. Minor acne may be treated with over the counter, even though the real cause is not treated. The idea that acne is caused by bacteria is far from the truth, in my opinion.

Acne is due to imbalance between body organs as described above. Acne is just a manifestation of body unbalance. Treat the cause with acupuncture and acne will be removed in a wonderful way.

Young teens have more tendencies for acne. When they become older in their late teens, acne disappears in most cases without special treatments. Some people of the young generation pay lots of attention to their face and experience low self-esteem because of untreatable acne.  Their parents must give attention to their problem to prevent depression or anxiety.
 

Acne in my late thirties: young adulthood

"Ever since being weaned off antidepressants, my face has been breaking out with acne / zits on my temples. Never have I had zits or acne. Not even during my teen years! "
"I'm about 40. Isn't that too old for zits? All I know is that I'm starting to break out and it seems to coincide with having stopped my SSRI." 

All medications are handled by the liver for detoxification. I am not sure if you should be weaned off the SSRI without a proper diagnosis, but I am sure that there are side effects with many medications.

Acne in your case is produced by an imbalance of liver and stomach and gallbladder. Acupuncture can treat depression and acne at the same time. If you try to treat just acne alone, it may take a longer time and there is a good possibility of recurrence.
 

Adult acne

“I'm a 45 year old male and over the last year have recently developed an issue with acne. My pores keep getting very clogged and I keep developing unattractive large pores. I also get the hard nodule type of acne. I've been washing with dermatologist recommended cleansers, Cetaphil, etc., using Clindagel, Erythromycin gel, IQ Derma, Proactiv, etc. and the antibiotic Minocyline -- nothing seems to work. Facials do not help; the two dermatologists have gone to haven't been that helpful. I've stopped eating nuts, thinking maybe my diet was it.”

Pimples are usually products of heat from organs in the body. Pimples are red. Red color means heat according to acupuncture theory. Heat has a tendency to rise from lower area to top. In this case heat rises from lower body to face. Therefore we just reduce heat from related organs to take care of pimples. Pimples are just manifestation of organ imbalance on the face. The origin is from certain organs. The real focus is where the heat comes from. As long as we find which organs produce heat, we remove excessive portions of heat by balancing with other organs. Most patients need 3-6 sessions in my clinic with an herbal prescription.

Note: Some questions above were answered by me through an internet forum.


Location on face

Most common areas are for acne are on the forehead, temples, cheeks, and jaws. Treatment principles may be the same and locations are not important to western science. However treatment principle is very different with acupuncture. There are two theories about this.

The first theory is to correspond facial area with organs such as forehead; heart, nasal area; spleen, right cheek; lung, left cheek; liver and chin; kidney.

Second theory is by the yangming channel which is stomach and large intestine. This theory doesn’t cover forehead area unfortunately. Whatever causes your acne must be determined by your acupuncturist based on further information; such as bowel movement and digestion.
 

There is nothing better than a guarantee.

If we can’t cure within one month, we are going to treat you for the following month on us. If we are not successful, we are going to pay back what you paid to us. This is based on two acupuncture treatments per week, eight treatments in total in a month and one month herb supply.
 

Acne and Hormone Imbalance

Some asked about acne by E mail. “How do you guarantee to cure acne within one month or money back as on your web?” She got so many treatments by MD for 17 years, but only temporary improvement. MD said the cause was hormone imbalance. She asked me how I treat hormone imbalance. I answered the hormone imbalance diagnosis may be wrong. If that is right, MD doesn’t find proper treatments yet. Or that is the wrong diagnose. Am I right or wrong?

She received antibiotics and birth control pills. I believe the person who makes birth control pills must go to hell as these are so bad for women and I am against the idea.

I explained the color of acnes is red. The red means heat. So we have to find where the heat comes from and modify the route. Then acne will be cured automatically.