Acne and imbalance—What to do

Acne is an exterior sign of internal imbalance. If you have acne, look at your diet, any hormone fluctuations you may be experiencing, and how you are taking care of your skin (or not). All of these have to be in balance in order to control and eventually clear acne.

If you have acne, products and facials—although helpful—are not the sole answer. I believe you must also look to your diet. Please don’t discount the possibility that what you are putting in your mouth is having an effect on your skin. I highly recommend getting in touch with a clinical nutritionist or someone who really understands the relationship between food and skin. I believe you have to go to the source of the problem (in this case, food being a potential contributing factor) rather than merely treating the symptom, which is problem skin. Hormones are the primary cause of skin problems, but food does have a secondary effect.

For those of you with acne, I recommend following The Basics (cleansing, toning, and hydrating with a moisturizer specifically made for problem skin), along with diligent exfoliating with a gel peel (gommage), plus a clay mask. Whenever there are problems with the skin, exfoliating and masking should be done at least two or three times per week.

I also recommend taking a good look at your sugar consumption, something that a lot of people tend to disregard as an issue with skin problems. I can tell you as a practicing aesthetician for more than 30 years and also someone who is sensitive to the sweet stuff, sugar is a major contributor to many peoples’ skin breakouts and also acne. (Although this photo depicts blood sugar issues from sugar, the problems I’m talking about is skin breakouts and oilier skin. But blood sugar issues are certainly caused by ingesting even a little sugar.)

In order to really treat acne, I truly believe you must get your entire house in order. Don’t just look for topical or oral medications from your dermatologist to work miracles on your skin. It really takes a commitment to proper eating habits, a good skin care program, staying away from picking at the skin, and sometimes using prescription topical or oral medications to further reduce the lesions on your face.

I also want to say that if you are a teenager with acne, the element of time is another important component to helping your skin issues to disappear. Sad but true, sometimes you just have to get through the hormone surges your body is going through over time before your skin will clear up. All the other items I’ve talked about in this article will definitely help your skin, so don’t give up!

For more information, see:

• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin
• Sugar & Skin Problems  
• The Basics 1-2-3 Program for proper skin care