The Messages Hidden in Acne, Eczema, Rosacea, and More
Most skin conditions are treated as surface-level problems.
We get a rash, and we reach for steroid cream. We get acne and are prescribed a topical treatment. We focus on what we can see on the surface and, once those symptoms disappear, we consider the problem solved.
But what if your skin isn’t the problem?
In many Eastern healing traditions, your skin is treated as a messenger. Skin conditions aren’t seen as random or isolated. They are clues, signs, a reflection of something below the surface that is asking for your attention.
Modern medicine has also revealed just how closely the skin is connected to the rest of the body.
Did you know that both the skin and digestive tract contain epithelial cells?
Your gut houses roughly 70% of the body’s immune tissue, and researchers have identified a complex communication network between the gut and skin known as the gut-skin axis. When the gut microbiome becomes imbalanced, it has been linked to inflammatory skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis. This means that digestive health, immune function, stress, hormones, and the microbiome can all influence what appears on the skin.
Because the skin is tied to so many of the body’s systems, diagnosing the root cause of your symptoms can be complicated.
So how do you know what is causing your acne, rash, redness, vitiligo, etc.?
At Kai Wellness, we help you to interpret the messages from your body. Rather than treating the surface symptoms, we get curious about the underlying cause.
We dive deep below the surface to uncover what your skin says about your overall health. Then, together, we uncover the root cause, restore balance to the skin, and create lasting health from the inside out.
The Problem with Steroids, Antifungals, and Other Pharmaceuticals
Western and allopathic medicine have come a long way in treating our skin. It’s because of their research that we understand the connection between skin and the microbiome, hormones, stress, etc.
In some cases, a dermatology visit is essential to overall wellness. To diagnose skin cancer, for example.
But there are also many skin conditions that don’t have an obvious dermatological solution.
Acne, eczema, rosacea, vitiligo. Many of these conditions are treated with steroids, antifungals, or other medications that manage symptoms without finding out why those symptoms appeared in the first place.
In our experience, jumping into steroids, antifungals, and other pharmaceuticals is a major problem.
- Prescription creams may suppress inflammation but they also allow both the doctor and patient to completely dismiss the underlying cause.
- Antifungals may kill the fungus on the surface, but they don’t address the imbalances that resulted in the skin growing a fungus in the first place.
- Steroids, while effective to stop itching and calm a rash, run a risk of pushing inflammation deeper into the body. There’ll be a six month “remission”, then the inflammation will come back worse than before.
If the underlying problem isn’t resolved, symptoms may disappear temporarily, but they often return because the root cause remains.
Your body uses the skin to push toxins out. When symptoms appear on the surface, toxins are moving from the depths of the system using the path of least resistance. If we push those toxins back in and down, the body will simply find another way to eliminate them, often creating an increase in systemic inflammation.
At best, steroids, anti-fungals, and other pharmaceuticals are a temporary solution.
So, what can you do instead?
What Your Skin is Saying
At Kai Wellness, we often look at the skin through the lenses of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Functional Medicine to give context to your symptoms.
- Redness, inflammation, itching, and flare-ups often indicate excess heat.
- Acne, pus-filled blemishes, weepy rashes, or skin that struggles to heal can be caused by dampness.
- Flaky, scaly, itchy, or cracked skin (as is common in Santa Fe and other desert climates) is a result of dryness.
- Psoriasis and vitiligo are often associated with blood heat toxins.
- Herpes and some forms of eczema point toward patterns of dry heat.
Heat, damp, dry, toxins- these descriptions aren’t just physical. That means, you don’t have to live in a desert to have dry, heat symptoms.
Instead, they speak more about what is happening to the environment inside your body.
They are patterns we can use to understand not just what’s happening on the skin, but throughout the whole body.
Knowing you tend toward redness and inflammation (an excess of heat), can point us toward addressing excess heat throughout the body. Our approach will include strategies to reduce systemic inflammation, which in turn reduces inflammatory cytokines, homocysteine, and HsCRP. These markers are associated with heart attacks and strokes, as well as issues with your metabolism. Lowering systemic inflammation also lowers your risk of developing these life-threatening diseases.
Or maybe you tend toward dampness, like those with acne or weepy rashes. Our approach will focus on clearing dampness and phlegm, which in turn improves energy, brain function, digestion, and mental clarity.
Dry, flaky, itchy skin often points toward deeper deficiencies involving blood, Qi, and nourishment. Addressing these imbalances can support tissue repair, brain health, resilience, and healthy aging.
In Chinese Medicine, the goal is never simply to make a symptom disappear.
The goal is to understand why that symptom appeared in the first place.
The worst thing we can do when confronted with symptoms on the skin is shut it down. Better to understand why your skin is reacting this way, and help whatever is trying to leave the body to leave.. for good!
At Kai Wellness, we treat the underlying root cause to bring lasting results that support system health and wellbeing, and prevent more serious issues in the process!
While every case is unique, certain patterns appear again and again in my clinical practice. Here are some common skin conditions and the root causes we often investigate when treating them through a Functional Medicine and Chinese Medicine lens.
Common Skin Conditions and How to Treat Them
These are just some of the more common skin issues that are readily treated at the root level with Chinese Medicine.
Acne:
Not exclusive to hormonal teenage years, acne can plague any part of the body and occurs at any age. Not all acne is hormonal. Western treatment includes antibiotics and harsh acids, as well as birth control pills that significantly alter the body’s biochemistry and bring on a slew of side-effects and long-term imbalances. Regular antibiotic use runs the risk of creating antibiotic-resistance, not to mention its deleterious effects on the microbiome and digestive system. In Chinese Medicine, acne is treated as heat toxin (in the case of red pimples) or accumulation of damp (in the case of pussy white-heads) that is known to have systemic roots that can be treated with herbs, diet and lifestyle.
Alopecia:
A rare disorder of hair growth, alopecia is also shown to have an auto-immune and nervous system component and can result from genetic factors and local or systemic disease (such as Hashimoto’s, pernicious anemia, diabetes, cancer, anxiety, and others). While often responsive to Microneedling, the underlying root cause is treated with Chinese Medicine by clearing heat toxin from the blood, promoting circulation that brings nourishment to hair follicles, and nourishing the deficiency of yin and blood.
Cherry angioma:
Appears following exposure to fire retardants (found in American bedding, clothing and in certain foods like Gatorade) and certain chemical adhesives. The best course of action is to remove harmful chemicals from your environment and replace them with natural alternatives.
Eczema + Psoriasis:
While eczema and psoriasis outbreaks will respond to steroids, it’s not a good idea to suppress them and leave them alone. Both of these skin issues are auto-immune diseases that have deeper roots. The good news? They can be treated at the root level. Auto-immune diseases are disorders of the immune system. Therefore, just treating the presenting symptom fundamentally ignores the actual issue. Once again, that approach leads to bigger issues down the road. To act preventively and treat the problem at the root is actually preventative for issues as serious as aneurysms and strokes.
Fungi/Tinea:
A common fungal disease of the skin, tinea infection is more common in humid and hot environments. Individuals with pre-existing excess of phlegm and dampness are more prone to tinea. It can also be caused by transmission from infected individuals or sources. There are several varieties such as Athlete’s foot, jock itch, pityriasis verticolor, candidiasis, and others. While western medicine unilaterally applies antifungals to treat this issue, Chinese Medicine looks deeper at the imbalanced conditions in the body that gave rise to this overgrowth of fungus in the first place. The herbs used to treat tinea are naturally anti-fungal while at the same time corrective of the underlying core issues such as immunodeficiency, or accumulation of dampness and phlegm.
Hives (urticaria):
These raised itchy welts rash appear as a reaction to sensitivities and allergies. Pushing hives down with steroids, while relieving the discomfort of itching, misses the mark by hiding from us the original reason the body was reacting in the first place. Think of hives as an early alarm system – it’s a sign that we’ve been exposed to something that’s toxic to us. The best thing to do is to get curious and uncover the cause, then we can take steps to clear it from our environment thus helping our bodies avoid feeling continuously attacked. This saves our immune system and decreases the likelihood of repeated inflammation which, over time, can lead to more serious health issues.
Melasma/Chloasma:
This condition affects the face with local light brown color hyperpigmentation. In TCM, this is called Mien He Han. Mostly brought about by Liver Qi Stagnation, chronic worry and anxiety contribute to its presentation as well as deficiency of Kidney Qi and disharmony between certain meridians. Various causes of irregular menses and pernicious anemia are among the biomedical causes. Luckily, this pattern can be treated over time with Chinese Medicine.
Purpura:
Do you ever notice tiny little pink/red/purple dots on your legs, particularly close to the ankles? While a dermatologist will likely dismiss them as a non-issue, Chinese Medicine knows that purpura are actually a sign of the loss of vessel integrity. The little red dots are bits of blood that have broken out of the veins and capillaries – something that is not supposed to happen! When it does, it is a sign that there is weakening of the vascular walls. And guess what? There is treatment! Targeted herbs can correct this issue which actually goes a long way toward supporting the vascular system as a whole.
Rosacea:
A chronic skin condition that most commonly affects the face, rosacea involves red macule and capillary vascular dilation. Chinese Medicine identifies Lung heat and Qi and Blood stagnation as underlying causes, which are subtle energetic imbalances that resolve over time with the correct herbal treatment.
Shingles (herpes zoster):
Perhaps the most feared and notoriously painful of the bunch, shingles is actually a manifestation of severe nervous system impairment. This is one of the skin problems that is most responsive to treatments with herbs and acupuncture, as well as nervous system regulation. Severe stress and impaired immune functioning give way to shingles even in people who have had vaccinations against it, and in those who have had Chickenpox in childhood.
Vitiligo:
An issue with melanin production that is thought to be in part autoimmune-related, vitiligo does not have a known cause or treatment in traditional Western medicine. Chinese Medicine, on the other hand, has a collection of herbal remedies that, over time, can support the reversal of de-melanization of the skin and promote a more even skin tone.
Working with an experienced doctor who looks for the why behind your symptoms is a valuable experience. Together, you can look at these imbalances in the context of your life and find ways to bring them into balance so you can treat the root and start on your path to healthy, clear skin.
How Kai Wellness Can Help
Kai Wellness offers a whole system approach to skin care, though the exact treatments will depend on you and your symptoms.
Cosmetic Microneedling can help boost natural collagen production and help your skin heal from acne scars, sun damage, and more. We work with specific herbal serums to target various skin conditions and regenerative exosomes as well.
Meanwhile, acupuncture can reduce systemic inflammation and stress-induced skin conditions. Functional medicine can help you discover the root cause of your specific symptoms, so you stop relying on creams and prescriptions to treat something deeper than skin level. Integrative counseling supports you emotionally and mentally as you let go of old patterns and supports your healing from the inside out.
Contact us to schedule a 15-minute free consultation for any and all skin concerns. We are happy to discuss next steps and hopefully work with you soon.
