Do you or someone you love suffer from acne? It can be embarrassing, uncomfortable and even painful. The majority of people develop acne in their teen or pre-teen years, and for most people it disappears with age. However, there are a number of adults that continue to suffer from acne.
The symptoms of skin irritation, bumps, swelling, and redness that accompany acne make treatment very difficult. These symptoms occur when pores in the skin become blocked and infected, which creates inflammation and pimples in the skin. Many factors cause acne, such as excessive stress, pharmaceuticals, some skin and hair products, and a diet that contains excessive refined sugars.
Common Treatment
In January of the year 2000, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that despite numerous warnings (issued over a decade), dermatologists are still prescribing the drug Accutane to women of childbearing age. This pharmaceutical practice has lead to severe birth defects in the babies of women using the drug.
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) did approve Accutane for use, for patients with severe cystic (disfiguring) acne that do not respond to other treatment methodologies. In 1988, the manufacturer of Accutane, Roche, began informing doctors that the drug should not be prescribed to women of child-bearing age because of the high likelihood of severe birth defects in their children. Inserts that accompany the drug also prominently warn women of the dangers.
The report found doctors at fault for not only continuing to use the drug in women of child-bearing age but also in women who do not suffer from the severe, disfiguring acne for which the drug is approved. One woman in the study, who ended a pregnancy due to her fears about the drug, was given the drug to prevent monthly, menstruation-related (i.e. temporary) acne. The CDC recommends that doctors fully inform female patients of the risks and precautions associated with Accutane use.
Many people who suffer from chronic acne, especially women, are turning to natural alternatives like acupuncture, diet changes, and chiropractic care, to help reduce the number of acne breakouts. Acne is an indicator that your body is out of balance. Dangerous pharmaceuticals like Accutane, and sometimes even some over-the-counter medications can push the body even further into imbalance.
Chiropractic Care Can Help
Most people would never connect chiropractic and acne together, thinking of chiropractic as helping with neck and back pain. More and more people are learning that optimizing the body’s nervous system through chiropractic adjustments, can have numerous positive effects on your health.
Your nervous system regulates your adrenal glands, which produce a stress hormone called cortisol. When your spine is misaligned, your nervous system function is disrupted, and it is difficult for your body to manage its cortisol production. Your skin can thus become inflamed from the excessive cortisol hormones in your blood, which can lead to irritation, redness, and an acne breakout.
Your chiropractor starts at the beginning by addressing any neurospinal imbalances so that your nervous system can function to the best of its ability. Chiropractic care is a natural, drug-free approach. Chiropractic adjustments also remove pressure from the nervous system and help your body bring itself back into balance.
