Wednesday 7 February 2018

ACNE AGONY HEALED BY HOMOEOPATHY

“Be patient. Your skin took a while to deteriorate. Give it some time to reflect a calmer inner state”.

Acne Vulgaris or acne as it is commonly known, is a common skin condition that usually affects teens and adults, and more so females than males. While for some people it is seen as one or two spots and that too once in a while, some people tend to get it more frequently with skin breakouts including a lot of pus-filled looking pimples. Acne vulgaris is what this is termed as and can be seen as blackheads, whiteheads, pimples pustules (a small blister or pimple containing pus), cysts, abscesses and greasy skin. It is caused due to the hair follicles getting clogged with oil from the skin as well as dead skin. Homeopathic treatment for acne has been very successful based on a holistic approach to treating the same.

Young people feel hassled by acne as the redness and scarring on the face does tend to do potential harm to their good looks. It often leads the younger generation to have low confidence levels with lessened self-esteem and eventually hampers their full growth potential, personally as well as professionally. The smallish looking eruptions of acne tend to be a kind of never ending cycle where no sooner than one crop subsides, does another cycle of the same come up, resulting in endless stress and frustration for the afflicted person.

To deal with the problem of acne, what follows is an endless speculation about its possible causes. Many attribute the cause to be adolescent hormones, while a few contribute it to genetics and the rest put it down to an oily skin with a predisposition to such eruptions.

There are multiple causes of acne, a few of which are:

Excessive production of sebum due to variations in hormonal levels, especially so during puberty
Genetic predispositions
Life style factors like faulty diet habits, obesity, certain disease conditions like Polycystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD), psychological factors like stress, anxiety, etc.
“Awareness is so important when it comes to healing. When you discover a thought pattern which needs to be changed and begin to shift it, the symptom (manifestation) within the body that the thought pattern is causing will begin to disappear because its function (which is to be the communicator and indicator of a lesson which needs to be learned) is no longer needed.”   – Teal Scott

While in most cases one is not fully to nail the exact cause of acne, why should we let the absence of a perfect diagnosis hamper our search for a cure? Is there a permanent treatment for this complaint, rather than just advising the individual to wait for the adolescent phase to pass or to administer steroids and antibiotics? Is there a gentler way out, one with no side-effects and one that is permanent?

Besides the various clinical causes of any disease including acne, there exist causes that are basically manifestations or external expressions of the inner state of an individual. Have you ever wondered why everyone on this earth having stress does not suffer from acne?  Why everyone having hormonal imbalances does not suffer from acne?  This is because every individual is different and unique in his/her own way. Each individual has his/her own set of reactions to various stimuli present in their surroundings. It is the reaction of each individual to various stimuli that pre-disposes him/her to suffer from ailments, one of them being acne. Every individual experiences and perceives various outer situations in a different manner based on their individual wiring, according to their susceptibility. This is what distinguishes the individual, and this is what we refer to as ‘the other song’. It is the experience, the common thread that runs through the mind and the body and connects the two together. At ‘the other song’, we look out keenly for the ‘other song in every individual. It is by bringing out the deepest experiences of the person, that we find the pattern that is unique to him or her. It is on this experience and the complaints of the patient that we base our prescriptions. When the patient is thus treated, it not only takes care of his/her complaints, but also relaxes the stress and strains he/she is experiencing. By addressing the individual and his/her complaints in totality, we aim to bring about a change in the quality of his/her life by bringing about an improvement in the ailments.

Acne Healing – Three Case Studies

A holistic homeopathy based approach to acne is worth taking a look at and here we share a few case studies of how homoeopathic consultants at The Other Song Clinic have addressed the same. Dr. Pratik Desai attended to a young woman in her early thirties who complained of multiple, painful, big, pinkish-red acne on both her cheeks. Despite her taking very good care of her skin, following a proper diet and hygiene regimen and having normal hormone levels (as per investigations) the acne had been recurring for years. The use of modern medicines for prolonged durations had not made much impact.

During the case-taking interview, various areas of her life were explored in an attempt to find out more about her as a person and the root cause of the stress within her. It was found that she had been highly stressed out after a break-up with her boyfriend and was also stressed about her parents’ ill health.  When asked to describe how she felt or experienced in the stressful circumstances, she described it as ‘being alone with no one to take care of her’. The patient said that she needed someone to share her feelings, to look after her and to take care for her.  Based on this experience and various other physical and mental peculiarities that were brought out during the detailed case-taking process, she was prescribed a suitable homoeopathic medicine which matched her overall state. Within a month of starting with the homoeopathic medications, there was significant improvement in her acne and gradually all her eruptions subsided and went away. It has been a year since her starting the treatment and there has been no relapse in the acne. Not only has her acne become better but her state of mind has also improved to a large extent. The extent of improvement in her acne can be noted quite well through the photographs provided below.



In another case seen by Dr. Sunirmal Sarkar and Dr. Manish Yadav at The Other Song Clinic, a 16-year-old boy came with chronic acne. He did not have any other complaints besides this.  By nature he was found to be very fastidious, always wanting things to be in their proper place. He was a perfectionist in whatever work he did and was extremely organized. He said, “I am always dominated and have lots of expectations to be fulfilled which builds a lot of stress in me”. On acquiring more information during case-taking it was learnt that he had had to take care of many responsibilities at the tender age of 16 years, which had caused a lot of turmoil within him. Based on the information acquired from him as well as his parents, he was prescribed a suitable remedy from the plant kingdom, which matched not only his main complaint of acne, but also his state of fastidiousness and turmoil due to excessive responsibility (images before and after the treatment are provided below). Within a few months of treatment, the skin cleared out completely without leaving any scars or marks behind. The eruptions never came back even after the medications were stopped. He has been completely off medications for a few months now.  The feelings of being dominated and the stress due to excessive expectations too have improved considerably. He is able to balance his work better as compared to earlier.



In a case addressed by Dr. Arshia Khan at The Other Song Clinic, of a 20-year-old college girl complained of acne on her face and back which had started a year ago when she joined college to pursue further studies. During the detailed case-taking it was found that she constantly felt that she was not appreciated by her friends at college as well as by parents at home. As a result, she started staying aloof and would occasionally cry alone. She said, “No matter what I do for my friends, they never appreciate me. When I cook a new dish at home I am never complimented on that. I get angry and feel like running away from everyone. I was not even allowed to pursue the field of my choice, which made me all the more angry and frustrated.” Talking further about her experience, she said, “I feel degraded, I want to just run away from everything and everyone”. She then added, “I want to become a famous and renowned person, whom people should look up to and appreciate”. On enquiring about her dreams she revealed that she had dreams of becoming the CEO of a company where people would look up to her and listen to her orders. On the basis of the above understanding she was given a suitable homoeopathic remedy. Within two months of starting the treatment, her eruptions decreased considerably (given below are the images before and after treatment). Her overall state of not being appreciated by others improved. She was much happier now and started mixing with people.

Useful Skin Care Tips for Acne

Use gentle soaps and face washes. Even washing the face three to four times a day with plain water can help fight the infective organisms

Avoid rubbing and touching the skin eruptions. Squeezing, pinching or picking too should be avoided since they can lead to scarring and marks.

Avoid frequent use of cosmetics and thick layers of make-up which can worsen the eruptions.

Exercise is known to be a part of the healing process. Try to exercise on a regular basis which can help alleviate this condition and relax you mentally as well as physically.

Avoid exposure to strong sun-light and harsh chemicals.
Consume plenty of fruits, green leafy vegetables, nuts and water.

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