Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine ● Longevity Nutrition

Acne

Eczema

Psoriasis

Urticaria

Impetigo

The treatment of skin disorders is an area where Traditional Chinese Medicine shines.  Its diagnostic approach is very sophisticated and offers explanations and solutions for which there are often none in conventional medicine.

Debunking the Inflammation Myth

If there is inflammation, there is something causing it.  It’s time to let go of the myth that the immune system creates inflammation for no reason.  It is not the result of a “misguided” or “weakened” immune system.  These are Santa-Claus-like explanations that have no basis in logic or science.  Diseases of inflammation, including most autoimmune disease, always have a root cause that triggers the immune system to act.  Suppressing inflammation with herbal or conventional medicine without treating the cause is like turning off a fire alarm while the room is filling with smoke.

The symptoms that are experienced with skin disorders like itching, burning, swelling, flaking, redness and discoloration are all a result of inflammation caused by our own immune system.  Our immune system is always fighting battles.  Under healthy conditions, our body and our immune system remain in balance so that we do not experience symptoms.  When we catch a cold or flu, our immune system launches an appropriate attack to fight the virus.  With skin disorders there are always two main factors involved.  First is the presence of a substance that the immune system considers and invader.  We call this substance a trigger. Second, the immune system overreacts to the trigger.  As a result, it creates excessive, ongoing amounts of various inflammatory chemicals that manifest as skin disorders.

The most common triggers include:

  • Excessive consumption of lectins in the diet
  • Excessive consumption of irritants from grains in the diet
  • Undiagnosed food allergies and sensitivies
  • Reactions to metals from hardware in the body
  • Reactions to substances from cosmetic implants and procedures
  • Residual toxins from insect bites
  • Various artificial chemicals and fragrances
  • Latent or low-grade infections in the body

The most effective way to cure skin disorders is to identify and remove the triggers of inflammation.  Even after a trigger has been eliminated it can still persist in the lymphatic system and skin for several weeks or months creating ongoing symptoms.  Effective treatments exist for clearing these triggers from the tissues to speed healing.  However, some triggers cannot be easily removed.  In these cases it is possible to normalize the immune response so that the inflammatory symptoms are much less or, in many cases, completely eliminated.

Most conventional treatments involve blocking the inflammatory chemicals or completely shutting off parts of the immune system.  Traditional Chinese Medicine uses various herbs and treatments that remove the triggers, quell the inflammation, normalize the exaggerated immune response and heal the tissues. Over time, the entire body and immune system become healthier and more resilient and treatment is no longer required.