Picture by Chris Jarvis on Unsplash
“Oh no, it’s the stupid acne again. Nothing you can do about it anyway…” – do you feel like this? Or do you still have hope that there’s something to be done about it?
That acne has or could have something to do with puberty is probably clear to everyone. This has mainly to do with the hormonal change from child to woman/man. Statistically, more male adolescents have to fight acne than female adolescents, because the male hormones seem to be more responsible for acne. Note: Everyone, whether man or woman, produces male and female hormones, only in different doses. There is certainly also a “genetic disposition” as they say, a predisposition that is anchored in the genetic code. Because otherwise everyone would get acne, which is not the case.
But there are many other causes, the first and foremost is certainly nutrition. In many articles we come back to the topic of nutrition again and again (see for example the article on fatty liver). Nutrition has a very big meaning for how healthy we are. Please imagine this: You eat three times a day, i.e. you take in a large amount of substances every day. It is obvious that the choice of substances you eat is extremely important for how you feel. Food can be either poison or medicine, both are possible.
Dairy products, sugar (it’s contained in almost every readymade food!) and wheat flour are pathogens of inflammation in acne. This does not mean that if you change your diet, acne will instantly disappear. It isn’t that easy, because it is well known that those who want to be beautiful must also suffer. This is of course not true (nobody has to suffer), but you should do something more to reduce acne.
Because you can definitely ask yourself the question, what actually needs to be treated for acne? A change of diet would be more the direct influence on the whole organism. One would be more likely to fight the cause (one of the causes) of acne. The dermatologist who gives you a cream, on the other hand, treats the symptoms – blackheads, inflammation, pimples or pustules – but does not intervene in the system, as they say today. So should you rather get to the root of the problem (i.e. treat it systemically) or rather fight the symptoms? From your gut, you are probably more inclined to fight the cause(s) than the symptoms. That sounds more holistic somehow. But is that also true?
That would be at least so, if there really was something like a simple cause-effect relationship in humans. This was already thought more than 400 years ago by the famous philosopher Descartes, whose philosophy founded modern science. He imagined man as a machine. A treatment of the machine would then be quite simple, I adjust a screw (= I eat less sugar) and the machine runs smoothly again. Especially the mind – today we would rather talk about the psyche – should have nothing to do with this machine.
This philosophy of medicine is becoming more and more obsolete. For one thing, a phenomenon or symptom may have not just one cause, but several and they may even contradict each other. And on the other hand – as everyone actually feels – we cannot simply exclude the psyche. Body and psyche – so the modern view – are only two sides of the same coin, they belong together and can only be considered together.
So fighting the causes is not that simple. We are of the opinion that it is always best to consider both: Causes and symptoms, because – as modern medicine has proven – the symptoms can also be treated.
But what is actually treated for acne, what are the symptoms?
Well, the pimples and inflammations are caused by disturbing a natural process of skin lubrication. We have sebaceous (fat) glands in the skin – mostly together with hair follicles, but there are also some without a direct connection to the follicles. These can produce a lot or little sebum and fat, they can become clogged and so on. Our skin actually needs the fat because it protects the skin and hair from drying out, and also from bacterial attacks. During puberty, sebum production is suddenly increased. In addition, it should be noted that the passages that bring the sebum to the surface are covered by horn. Not only does the hormonal change cause more sebum to be produced, but also more horn. At some point the horn blocks the sebaceous gland passage and then the process resembles a volcano whose caldera is blocked. The sebum (the magma) pushes to the surface and the hornification prevents this. Up until the point where everything explodes (inflammation). Bacteria do the rest. Our face is colonized by many different bacteria, and that is a good thing. But we also come into contact with bacteria that attack us instead of protecting us. The weaker the skin, the easier it is for the bacteria. They settle in the glandular ducts and then the body reacts with an inflammation, because it wants to get rid of them because it experiences them as attackers.
A good treatment of the symptoms described here should therefore
- reduce the sebum production,
- clear the clogged drain channels,
- keep the aggressive bacteria at bay and
- reduce the inflammation.
So, now you hopefully know a little more about your acne, how it develops and on what levels it can be treated. In the next part, we’ll put together some tips for you that may be important for you if you suffer from acne.