Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Acne is well treated using naturopathic medicine. Acne is primarily a cosmetic condition, but may be painful, cause scarring and for some, become a source of frustration and social anxiety. Although most common in the teenage years, acne affects persons of all ages. Acne occurs in cases where there is overproduction of oil (sebum) in the skin, or irregular shedding of skin cells. When hair follicles become plugged with oil and dead skin cells. This plug may develop into a “whitehead”, “blackhead”, “pimple” or cyst, depending on whether the plug bulges, is open to the surface, becomes inflamed or is found deep in the hair follicle. The cause of increased sebum production is unknown, but hormones, bacteria, certain medications and heredity all seem to play a role. Professional healthcare should be sought out if your acne is painful, or you are concerned that your acne may result in scarring.
Symptoms of acne
Possible symptoms of acne include:
• Whiteheads (raised, skin-coloured bumps)
• Blackheads (dark, flat “plugs”)
• Papules (raised, red, possibly painful bumps)
• Pustules (raised, red, possibly painful, white pus containing bumps)
• Nodules (painful lumps beneath the surface of the skin)
• Cysts (painful, pus-containing lumps beneath the surface of the skin that may cause scarring)
Treatment of acne at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of acne treatment are to reduce acne symptoms, heal acne scars and correct any underlying hormonal imbalances or bacteria that may contributing to acne recurrence.
Conventional treatment for acne may include laser therapy or chemical peel, and a variety of medications including topical vitamin A derivatives, antibiotics or oral contraceptives which may have short- or long-term side effects. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to manage your acne symptoms.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, a typical approach to treating acne may be to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., incorrect hygiene, medication use, dietary factors, stress) or general health (e.g., polycystic ovary syndrome), identify and remove dietary triggers, address underlying hormonal or biochemical causes using cleansing protocols and soothe and heal the skin using botanical (herbal) medicines.
Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
• Diet therapy
• Cleansing protocols
• Botanical (herbal) medicines
• Homotoxicological medicines
• Nutritional supplements
• Homeopathic medicines
• Acupuncture
• Lifestyle counseling
• Relaxation techniques
References
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Acne. [Online]. [cited 18 Feb 2009] Available at: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acne/DS00169 .