OH NO - ACNE!
“Oh no! Acne!” This thought went through your mind - or even escaped your lips - at least once. It is reported that these nasty skin pimples affect each of us at least once in their lives (with rare exceptions) and it is the most common skin disease in adolescence. How does Traditional Chinese Medicine look at this problem?
In ancient China, acne was called “White Thorn Disease”. This poetic name was chosen because of its similarity to the situation where we prick the skin on the thorns and then the white liquid starts to flow out of the blisters. Well, bed of roses can be uncomfortable.
The Czech term “acne” comes from the Latin Acne vulgaris and it seems that we have chosen mostly vulgar terms for this chronic skin disease. Skin abscesses are called furuncles, but they are also commonly referred to as boils, pustules or vesicles. Commonly (or colloquially) we call them black-heads, pimples, spots, blotches, zits etc. Such a number of names suggests that, especially in adolescence, we literally have no right name for these intruders.
There's no help for it – so now what?
Traditional Chinese Medicine always looks for the real cause of the disease. Therefore, also in acne, it is necessary to find out why the shoe hurts (probably it is not a thorn in the side this time...). There are five main reasons:
1. Heat in the lungs
This is the situation where heat in the lungs is combined with the external wind. This creates the internal wind with hot toxin. Pimples with white or black dots, possibly even red pustules are then spread all over the body at the speed of light. In particular, we find them on the face and they most often occur – of course – in puberty.
2. Heat with hot toxin in the large intestine and stomach
The state is similar to the previous case, except that the course is much more serious. Pustules can sprout not only on the face, but also on the chest and upper back. The skin becomes more and more oily - especially when we eat sweet, fried and fatty foods. Other problems then get deeper “under the skin” - we have heartburn, flatulence after eating, constipation or, on the contrary, softer stools.
3. Mucus stagnation with blockade of blood
In this case, it is not a “coincidence”, but a long-term acne that goes deep and is painful and inflammatory. After cysts and hardened nodules, shiny scars remain on the oily skin. Our tongue is then usually coated with a yellow oily coating.
4. Wet heat with blood blockade and hot toxin
If our nodules are deeply inflamed and very painful, the cysts are filled with pus and then scars and dimples are formed, our tongue is likely to be red and covered with a yellow coating.
5. Heat in blood with stagnation
This manifestation of acne affects especially middle-aged women or when they stop taking hormonal contraception. Hardened nodules are found around the nose and mouth, on the cheeks or between the eyebrows. The condition then exacerbates during ovulation or before menstruation, which is usually painful and accompanied by premenstrual syndrome. However, there is no need to be upset.
