Why do I still have acne at 28 years old?
Acne is a chronic inflammation of the hair follicles and sebaceous glands that occurs in adolescence, so people refer to it as “acne”. In fact, the onset of acne is not limited to adolescence. Women like you who are still suffering from acne beyond the age of 25 are suffering from post-pubertal acne.
The causes of post-pubertal acne in women are roughly the same as those of acne vulgaris. High levels of androgens in the serum or skin tissue, hyperkeratosis of the hair follicle ducts, and local bacterial infections are the main causes. Secondly, immune and genetic factors are also considered by scholars to be related to the occurrence of acne.
Like the increased mental stress due to owning a store and being a boss, foreign scholar Goulden’s research has found that this chronic tension will stimulate the pituitary-adrenal axis, leading to increased secretion of adrenal-derived androgens. Androgens may be the culprit of post-pubertal acne in women. Its elevation can, on the one hand, cause hyper-secretion of sebaceous glands and, on the other hand, promote hyperkeratosis of the epithelium at the mouth of the hair follicle, causing the mouth of the hair follicle to be blocked by keratin and sebum to accumulate because it cannot be discharged. This, together with the local propionibacterium multiplication and inflammation, causes localized skin acne. In addition, when women are pre-ovulatory, the level of androgens in the blood is often high, causing acne symptoms to worsen. This is why your acne may worsen before your period.
How can I treat this post-pubertal acne?
The main treatment now is to inhibit sebaceous secretion, reduce inflammation, and improve abnormal hair follicles and sebaceous duct keratinization. Antibiotics (e.g. tetracycline), isotretinoin, estrogens (e.g. Daing-35) and androgen antagonists (e.g. Amphotericin) and vitamins (e.g. vitb6) are mostly used.
Isotretinoin has teratogenic effects and contraception should be strictly practiced for 3 months prior to treatment and for 3 months after discontinuation. A pregnancy test should be performed 2 weeks prior to receiving treatment and also monthly thereafter to ensure no pregnancy.
I heard that herbal medicine can cure acne. Is it okay to take herbal medicine for my kind of post-pubertal acne?
Of course it is possible. I asked Mei carefully about her symptoms. Her acne worsens before her period, and her menstrual cycle is usually early or late, and her breasts are swollen and painful before her period. Her tongue and pulse were red with a thin yellow coating, and her pulse was thin and stringy. Therefore, I thought she was suffering from liver qi stagnation and dysregulation of the flushing process, so I chose a herbal remedy for her symptoms to dredge the liver and regulate the flushing process, together with the Chinese medicine San Huang lotion.
Is there anything I should pay attention to in my daily life?
You need to reduce stress, sleep and have a good mood. Wash your face regularly with warm water and avoid using poor quality cosmetics. With standardized treatment, acne will be forced to move away from your face!
Dietary blacklist for acne from a TCM perspective.
Traditional Chinese medicine theory considers acne to be wind-heat and blood-heat in the lung meridian. Special emphasis should be placed on not eating pungent, warm, “hairy” foods and fatty, sweet and thick flavors. This means that spicy, warm, fishy, hairy and fatty, too sweet and salty, and fried foods are on our blacklist. Here we will count what foods in our daily lives on our diet blacklist:.
1, fish, meat: fatty meat, lard, carp, silver carp, sea fish, shrimp, crab and sea shellfish, mutton, dog meat, bird meat, shrimp.
2, fruits and vegetables: chili, garlic, leeks, longan, lychee.
3, other: cream, butter, milk, egg yolk, sesame seeds, melon seeds, peanuts, sugar, pastries, tobacco, wine, strong tea, old fire soup. Fried foods.
Modern medical perspective on acne’s diet glory list.
Zinc and vitamin A both have the role of controlling skin sebaceous gland secretion and reducing epidermal keratinization, vitamin B1 can enhance appetite and maintain normal nerve activity, etc. Vitamin B2 vitamin B6 has the role of preventing and controlling seborrheic dermatitis.
1, vegetables: soybeans, mung bean sprouts, mung beans, soybean sprouts, tofu, eggplant, lentils, cabbage, radish, spinach, carrots, tomatoes, celery, amaranth, lettuce, bitter melon, loofah, cucumber, winter melon, tomatoes, lotus root, nori, mushrooms, peas.
2, fruits: apricots, pears, mulberries, grapefruit, hawthorn, apples, bananas, grapes.
3, meat and eggs and others: animal liver, eggs, yeast, chicken, beef, lean pork, duck meat, carp, silver fungus.