Acne - Did You Know These Facts

Sonia (name changed) suffered from acne vulgaris for last 2 years, making her miserable, as visits to college were quiet embarrassing. She has become depressed and irritable listening to the advises of friends and relatives. She has stopped going to parties and other social gatherings. She has tried many treatments, used lotions, astringents, but to no avail. It has been estimated that 70% of the population have some clinically evident acne at some stage during adolescence.

Hormonal changes at puberty seem to trigger the condition. Hormonal imbalance causes abnormal quality and quantity of sebum. Increased sebum secretion and formation of horny plugs (comedones) are the earliest abnormalities. Increased sebum secretion makes the skin greasy (seborrhoea). Blackheads and whiteheads (comedones) usually accompany the greasiness. Comedones are horny plugs composed of follicular debris and compacted sebum. There is no truth to the myth that comedone represent a tiny worm. Visible comedone can be expressed out by pressure on surrounding tissue, but they form again within a few days. Inflamed reddened papules develop from blocked follicles. Sometimes they develop pus-containing vesicles at their top (pustules). In some cases, papule becomes quite large and very unsightly and is called nodule. When these nodules eventually subside, they leave a fibrotic scar, which may turn hypertrophic (keloidal acne).

The face - particularly the skin of cheeks, lower jaw, chin, nose and forehead, front side of chest, shoulders and upper back are the commonly affected sites. The condition varies in severity and intensity among individuals. For most, disorder is annoying and troublesome but may be limited in extent and may last for few months. For few, it may be a disaster as it disfigures them and wave after wave of new lesions is quiet disheartening. In some women, premenstrual flare is noticeable. Use of cosmetics can also precipitate acne formation. Constipation and food aggravations may accompany acne.

Homeopathic Approach

Patients contact homeopath in two distinct patterns:

1. When the problem has just started - and underlying hormonal imbalance and associated conditions appear to be minimal, homeopathic treatment relieves the condition in a short span. 
2. When the problem has lasted for quite some time, many treatments-local applications have failed, patient has become depressed, hormonal imbalance and other associated problems like constipation etc are also there, prolonged homeopathic treatment is needed to gradually set right the imbalance. As the treatment progresses, size, number and frequency of new lesions decline and other associated conditions improve. Food aggravations should also diminish. 
3. Use of cosmetics and other local applications should be avoided. If the face is excessively greasy, washing the face with a simple soap twice or thrice a day is enough. 
4. Try not to express out lesions as this may lead to pitting marks. Though total removal of pitting marks is impossible, but it has been seen that proper homeopathic treatment may help diminish the pitting marks. Patience and perseverance pays. 
5. A close photograph of the lesions at an interval of 3 to 4 months may prove helpful to make a thorough comparison of the improvements.
6. The added advantage is - overall increase in immunity. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a homeopath.