Acne and stress have a synergistic relationship, meaning the more stressed a person is the more acne they will develop and with more acne comes more stress about the acne! Researchers at Stanford University conducted a study to try and disprove this relationship, but to their astonishment were wrong. Students with acne were screened and monitored during exam period for both acne activity and levels of stress. As the levels of stress increased so did their acne. (You can see the full study posted in our research section)

 

To me it is obvious that stress is a major culprit for many different diseases, especially acne. When someone is stressed the bodies delicate hormonal balance is lost and normal physiologic functions are not properly regulated. This leads to dis-ease.

 

In Chinese Medicine it is believed that stress binds up the free flow of the bodies energy, leading to stagnation and heat. Heat has a tendency to rise and over flow onto the face. Post adolescent acne or pre-menstrual acne is an excellent example of this. The woman who is stressed by her working life, finds as she approaches the 10 days before her menstruation that her face begins to break out. She is also moody and irritable with tender distended breasts. On the first day or so of her cycle she has much cramping and pain. Then as her menstrual bleeding ends everything gets better. Her mood, the pain, and her acne. In Chinese medicine we say that the heat generated in her body through the stress of her life is vented out via the menstruation.

 

What helps? Obviously learning to deal and cope with the stresses of our lives in a better more creative way helps a lot. This includes bringing joy back into our lives, proper rest and relaxation, and exercise. A proper whole foods diet filled with many good quality vegetables and less grease, sugar and processed foods, is essential.

 

When someones balance is really off kilter and the above lifestyle choices are not good enough, then the proper administration of Chinese herbal medicine can really help clear up their acne. It generally takes around 3-4 months of treatment to see good significant results. The added bonus for the women sufferers is that their menstrual cycle is also better regulated, having less cramping and a happier mind.