HOW TO TREAT ACNE WITH HERBS

Learn how to treat acne with herbs to heal acne from the inside and out, and to help support clear, healthy, and radiant skin.

Acne is often mistreated by focusing on skin as an external organ. But, in reality, the health of our skin is a reflection of our internal health. Using herbal medicine is a great option to treat acne by focusing internally.

Below are the top herbs and uses for treating the most common causes of acne. It is important that proper hydration, plenty of sleep, and a balanced diet is just as important as herbal remedies to help heal the skin from within.

Treating the Cause of Acne

First, figuring out the cause of your acne is the best step in deciding what herbs will be the most beneficial for your skin. To start out with, liver congestion brought on by poor diet, excess hormones, and a toxic environment is a significant cause for chronic acne. Hormone imbalances are another cause for acne, that can be in conjunction with, or separate from liver congestion. Next, chronic inflammation and infections, internally and topically are other sources of acne. Lastly, don’t forget about the impact stress has on acne and skin health.

Below you can read about the different causes of acne, and learn specifically what herbs are best to use.

Liver Congestion

Liver health and acne go hand in hand. Why? Because they are both organs of detoxification. Your skin is your biggest organ of detoxification, which is often done through sweating. Your liver specifically filters hormones, caffeine, alcohol, and environmental stressors. When the liver is overwhelmed with too much to filter, inflammatory byproducts start to build up in the body, and they aren’t properly eliminated. Supporting your liver is one of the best first step to help detoxify your skin.

Liver supporting herbs include:

Milk Thistle
Dandelion Root
Burdock Root
Turmeric
Yellow Dock

Hormone Imbalances

Hormonal acne can be a result from either too much testosterone, or poor estrogen/progesterone imbalances.

Elevated testosterone is often present with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which is more likely going to cause acne throughout the entire month. Other symptoms can include weight gain, irregular periods, ovarian cysts, and excess hair growth.

Herbs to try include:

Spearmint tea
Saw Palmetto
Green Tea

Estrogen/progesterone imbalances result in acne worse around menses, especially on the chin. Other symptoms can include breast tenderness, heavy and painful periods, and emotional changes with menses.

Herbs to try include:

Vitex
Black Cohosh

Chronic Inflammation & Infections

Excess inflammation in the body can be a big trigger for chronic acne. Inflammation especially feeds bacteria. This results in painful cystic acne. The problem with conventional treatment is that it only addresses the bacteria, but does not address the chronic inflammation that drives bacteria. Address the inflammation at the same times as the inflammation can be especially helpful to resolves stubborn chronically inflamed acne. But, it is also important to look specially at the gut. The gut is one of the most common places for chronic inflammation and chronic infections. These two can go hand in hand worsening acne.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial herbs include:

Green Tea
Berberine
Turmeric

Stress

Stress can be a large factor to acne, especially acute acne. Ever get a pimple at the worse possible time? This likely was induced by excess stress, that is likely feeding inflammation. Treating the stress is the best possible way to reduce stress induced acne.

Herbs that reduce stress include:

Holy Basil
Ashwaghanda
Lavender
Passionflower
Chamomile

If you’re dealing with ongoing hormonal imbalance, digestive issues, inflammation, and stress that is not improving, it may be best to work with a naturopathic doctor directly.