Holistic Answers to Acne Questions

People tend to think of their skin as a covering, like they think of their clothes, something that covers their bodies to make them more attractive and protect what lies beneath it.

Actually, our skin is an organ of the body, the largest organ. One of its purposes is to deliver an oily substance called sebum to the surface of the skin via fine hair follicles, through the openings called pores. This is part of our bodies' cleansing process.

The hair, sebum and the cells that line the follicle can form a plug which prevents sebum from reaching the surface; this is the beginning of acne.

The mixture of oil and cells allows bacteria Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) that normally live on the skin to grow in the plugged follicles. These bacteria produce chemicals and enzymes and attract white blood cells that cause inflammation.

When the wall of the plugged follicle breaks down, it spills everything into the nearby skin – sebum, shed skin cells, and bacteria – leading to lesions or pimples.
What is acne?

Acne is an imbalance believed by doctors to result from an increase of male sex hormones in both males and females, which causes the sebaceous glands to enlarge and make more sebum. Some research indicates genetics can affect the tendency to develop acne, also using certain drugs or greasy cosmetics. Acne can occur during puberty, pregnancy, or while starting or stopping birth control pills. Acne is most commonly found in teenagers, usually disappears by the 20's or 30's, but has been known to extend into the 60's in some people.

Acne is usually not a serious health threat, but it can be accompanied by both emotional distress and physical discomfort. Permanent scarring can result in severe cases.
How can acne be treated?

Acne, like all chronic health problems, requires a systemic,wholistic approach for its control, and in some cases cure.

The goals of treatment are to heal existing lesions, stop new lesions from forming, prevent scarring, and minimize the psychological stress and embarrassment caused by this disease. Treatment options include drug treatment, skin treatments, diet, and lifestyle changes. Any and all treatment should be conducted under the supervision of a doctor.

Drug treatment is aimed at reducing several problems that play a part in causing acne:

* abnormal clumping of cells in the follicles
* increased oil production
* bacteria
* inflammation.

Be forewarned, all medications can have side effects. Check with your doctor and pharmacist.

Tea tree oil has been proven effective at killing acne bacteria and healing scars, and it won't clog pores, but many acne sufferers are very sensitive to the oil. So start out with a very mild dose. Add only a drop or two of pure tea tree oil to an ounce of pure aloe vera gel, which is particularly soothing and healing to irritated skin. Increase the amount of tea tree oil as you wish.

Limited research indicates that tea tree oil applied to acne lesions on the skin may work slower and may also cause fewer adverse effects (skin dryness, itching, stinging, or redness) than do other commonly prescribed acne drugs. The speed of action depends on the strength of the tea tree oil application.

Aside from individual experiences of irritation, there are no known side effects from using tea tree oil, but the oil may cause excessive drying of the skin when used with some other drugs that are used to treat acne, such as tretinoin (Retin-A, Renova) or isotretinoin (Accutane).
Dietary and lifestyle changes can help

There's more to this story; more than can be written in a short article. I will briefly touch on research-based information that supports dietary and lifestyle change to limit or help eliminate acne.

Most importantly, your diet will not cause or prevent acne, but if you are predisposed to getting acne, certain eating habits will encourage flareups, other habits will help your body fight the problem.

Firstly, eating refined carbohydrates and sugar leads to a surge in insulin and an insulin-like growth factor called IGF-1. This in turn leads to an excess of male hormones, which encourage the skin to excrete large amounts of sebum.

Secondly, a diet rich in raw foods and antioxidants means that we consume more nutrients and fewer acne aggravating free radicals.

Lifestyle changes eliminate other factors that may trigger or worsen acne outbreaks. These include avoiding oily skin products and grease in the work environment (don't work in a kitchen where foods are deep fried, for example!), pressure from sports equipment and helmets, backpacks, tight collars, or tight sports uniforms; and environmental irritants, such as chemicals, pollution, and high humidity; touching your skin excessively or squeezing blemishes; hard scrubbing of the sking; and avoiding stress.

Click here to learn more about acne cures.

Excuse me while I step out for a while...

I'm not updating here as often as I should and wish I could. I seem to have bitten off more than I'm capable of chewing in a timely manner. I'm going to step out for a while and wait until I move yet again and get a few other projects going as well. I won't cut down the tea tree so you can revisit and rest in it's shade whenever you want.

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See you around!

Kathryn

Questions about tea tree oil

liara covert wrote:

I would be interested to learn how you initially got into selling tea tree oils and how this business has shaped your life. It is said that sharpening one's senses is an effective way to transform one's life for the better. What do you think about this? What additional advice would you add?

These are difficult questions. I initially became interested in selling tea tree oil when I came across a website advertising a Canadian home business in the health field, selling safe, natural products. I followed the links and found myself involved with Melaleuca, Inc. It isn't so much that the business shaped my life, as it found a natural place in it. I had used Melaleuca products for years, and had lived for over 30 years only using herbs and natural healing methods.

I truly believe that some of the most dangerous places in our lives are our homes because of the number of chemicals that find their way there. As we clean up our home environments, I believe that we sharpen our senses automatically. It's as if our senses close down as a protective measure when we bombard them with unhealthy stimuli.

As far as transforming our lives for the better by sharpening our senses...I'm not sure.

I believe in the transformative power of love. I believe in the power of attraction, that we create our own realities with our attention, our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

Maybe someone can help me out here. I love questions like that, that make me think deeply.

Planning ahead for a busy week

I'm planning for a long weekend off, my husband is dropping in for a visit next weekend. Of course he didn't give me much advance notice, but I'm doing my best under the circumstances.

My checklist is daunting: between now, Sunday morning, and Friday afternoon, I want to have at least 61 articles written. Yes, count them, 61; one is a "ghost" article for a client, the others are 20 articles apiece for my older website "Affiliate Marketing Tips", and each of my two new websites, "Favorite Free Knitting Patterns" and "Build Affiliate Websites". I also want to have 15 of them submitted to article directories and the rest posted to my sites.

The purpose of that "Build" website is to showcase how to build an affiliate website such as the "Knitting" one quickly and profitably, so it behooves me to stay on this one.

Oh yeah, and I want to keep up with all my blogging too.

Then there's food and entertainment, for the week and the weekend. I'm sure my husband will sleep a lot, and eat when he's not sleeping. I've got cookies made and in the freezer, along with some ice cream. On Friday I will make a big pot of stew, and defrost cookies and bread. Between now and then I have lots of handy finger foods: fruit, cookies, carrots, plus tonight I make a pot of fish chowder. Cereal, coffee, crackers and cheese...maybe we'll go out to a movie. What a treat, a date on Saturday night...be still my beating heart. Grandma and grandpa steppin' out, wild times ahead.

Sleep...no late nights gaming between now and then. I'm terribly addicted to a few games though; Bookworm, Aveyond, PokerStars, Fish Tycoon, Virtual Villagers (must remember to keep my fish and villagers alive however...) I get to play all these games in their full versions without buying them, thanks to Shockwave.com™ Unlimited. I just pay between $5 and $10 a month for unlimited gameplay of any and all games I want. This would be a great deal for a family especially; I've been only a family of one since my hubby's been working in the next province over *sob* but I'll be moving over there in April. Til then the computer's mine, all mine, MY precious.

You can try Shockwave.com™ UNLIMITED. FREE for 10 days.
How cool is that?


Beware...you too may become addicted to unlimited game play.

I wish I'd had more notice of this upcoming visit to stock up on tea tree oil and such. I will have to make a dash somewhere and buy retail. But I know my husband; I know he has used up his stash and out of sight, out of mind until cellulitis strikes again.

By the time the weekend comes, I'll be ready for a REAL weekend. I'll have to make sure tendonitis doesn't set in.

*Adds to list: stretch and exercise. And sleep...lots of sleep...

I frankly don't know how work at home moms get anything done. If I had to add toddlers to my list, I'd have a breakdown.

Kudos for all you wahms.

business planning, business organization, health, tea tree oil

Are Essential Oils Safe? For Children?

I got an email the other day asking me about using tea tree oil full strength to remove a two-year-old's warts. The mother asking had already tried a few drops on a couple of warts and said they appeared to be drying up a bit.

This raises the question, how do we know if something is safe to use? Although we all share certain biological likenesses, we also each have differences. I guess the best advice I can give to this mother or anyone who wonders if an essential oil is safe to use, try it on a very small area first, exactly as she had already done.

With a child, who is so much smaller than an adult and therefore much more sensitive, this means only a couple drops. Wait and see if there is a reaction. An allergic reaction will be immediate, sensitivity may take a bit longer to appear as redness or a rash.

Use common sense! If the person needing treatment has a history of sensitive skin or is taking other medications, consult with a licensed naturopathic physician.

But know that for most of us, herbs and essential oils are wonderful medicines safe to use in moderation, like anything else. I use nothing else, have for over 30 years, and raised my children that way also.

tea tree oil, essential oils, natural medicine

The Big Picture: complementary, holistic, and yes, essential :-)

John left an excellent comment on Jan. 6th's post about essential oils as complementary medicine, and today I got an email from a reader asking me if tea tree oil was "better than" a popular over-the-counter remedy.

If you're familiar with my articles about holistic approaches to health, including diet and other lifestyle changes, then you understand a little bit where I'm coming from when I say I'm not anti-doctor. But even doctors don't just dish out "one size fits all" recommendations to people online.

Tea tree oil has had an amazing, life-changing effect on my life. I've seen it handle very serious chronic illness in my family. I still would never recommend it exclusively to anyone for any reason. I simply encourage and enjoy the dialog about using natural substances and holistic remedies for dealing with health issues. I choose to use them exclusively; I consult a naturopath when I have a question; I visit an acupuncture practitioner, massage therapist, reiki practioner, or chiropractor when I need their help.

But mostly they are a part of my own personal health insurance policy, and on a day-to-day basis I heal myself with herbs and vitamin C. I encourage others to do the same, or to at least enter the discussion.

When presented with questions like "is this better than that?" or "should I use this to cure that?", my answer will always be, this is what I would try, for myself. Then I would listen to and observe what my body tells me about that.

I rarely even get a cold. But some mornings I wake up to a general feeling of stuffiness, grogginess, or lack of concentration and willpower. I can almost always find something I did or ate the day before as the culprit. I know that I don't digest or handle dairy products well, for example, but occasionally I get the longing for a pizza or for cream in my coffee instead of soy milk. Going to bed late throws me way off the next day too.

When I make a pizza...I can't eat a piece and throw the rest away. When I buy a carton of cream, I can't just put it in my coffee one morning and dispose of the rest. So I rarely indulge in cream; when I do, I try to balance it by using some of it on a bowl of fruit. When I bake a pizza, I force myself to freeze at least half of it as individual slices, and limit myself to a slice or two a week.

This is what we call common sense. You find it when you observe, remember and believe. It helps to know what to look for, and how to treat illness gently, working with your body instead of against it.

Together we can explore and gain support for our belief systems. John Lennon reminded us to imagine. Let's not forget.

complementary medicine, holistic medicine, essential oils, tea tree oil

Do Essential Oils Really Cure Anything?

The use of essential oils has its foundation in antiquity. Ancient texts from Egypt, China, India and other civilizations all make mention of essential oils' healing properties. There are many references to oils in the Bible. Modern science is now documenting physical, mental and emotional healing with these oils.

The body/mind connection is not just something in the imaginations of a few people. It is real.

But maybe you aren't convinced, so go have a read in Science Daily.

I'm going to go soak in my lavender/tea tree oil bath, and enjoy the rest of my day stress-free. I have to go shopping, the oils will ward off the shopping cart germs too.

Have a wonderful day.

tea tree oil , essential oils, herbal remedies, natural healing