Acne treatment: Don’t take this – Video

I have acne. What should I do?

Acne is a common condition in teenagers and adults alike. It can be very confusing asking different types of doctors what you should do to treat your acne. A dermatologist and Functional Medicine doctor will have highly contrary opinions!

Here’s what you may hear them say:

• Take a drug like Accutane, it’s very effective and safe.
• Never take Accutane, it has dangerous long-term effects on your health.

[Note: Accutane is known to create severe birth defects and must never be taken if a woman plans to become pregnant.]

• Take antibiotics, they work great.
• Never take antibiotics, they’re dangerous.

 

• Topical antibiotic crèmes are effective and very safe.
• Topical antibiotics can create damage similar to oral antibiotics – they’re less potent but NOT harmless.

 

• Take the birth control pill – it will clear your acne right up.
• Definitely do not take the birth control pill – it has potential life-changing side effects on your hormones.

[Note: It IS true that the birth control pill will typically clear up acne. But there are natural ways to do the same thing with none of the side effects associated with synthetic hormones.]

What should you do when your doctors disagree on treatment?

My goodness, it’s enough to drive you a little crazy when doctors disagree so completely. Believe me, I understand, but I’ve seen too much damage in patients who took Accutane or antibiotics when they were younger to not speak out about the dangers.

Long-term digestive damage, autoimmune disease, and hormonal imbalances were all a common result of taking drugs for acne.

Once you appreciate the skin is an organ, your largest organ, it makes sense that looking for the root cause of why you have acne is a better idea than a topical crème or drug “band-aid”.

A teenager may want clear skin immediately and not care about the long-term repercussions, but a parent or informed doctor should warn them of all the dangerous complications they could be facing in the future.

Did anyone warn you of the dangers?

Many of my patients, faced with long term immune, gut, and hormonal consequences from acne treatment, wish someone had cared enough about them, to tell the truth about the side effects they might endure.

This blog stemmed from an experience I recently had with a young patient. Her acne is really improving but she’s young and still looking for the instant miracle. A friend mentioned a particular product that he had been using successfully. When she looked it up the company had a strong Instagram site with many followers and great reviews. Added to that, they would send a free customized sample. It sounded great.

A quick perusal of ingredients saw vitamin C as the first ingredient followed by another vitamin. Therefore it was assumed the product was completely natural.

My patient got her free sample and had used it for 3 days when she mentioned it to me. Fortunately, it was only 3 days because one look at the complete ingredient list revealed the presence on an antibiotic, clindamycin. Of course, the patient didn’t know what the word meant and hadn’t even read the complete list of ingredients.

Side effects of the topical antibiotic Clindamycin:

• Stomach upset
• Abdominal pain
• Bloating
• Diarrhea, sometimes bloody
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Vaginal itching, burning or swelling
• Vaginal discharge

What do all the side effects have in common? Yes, they affect the gut (and vagina- very related to gut health).

Antibiotic overuse creating resistant bacteria

You may not have heard of this, but our abuse and overuse of antibiotics is creating superbugs that cannot be killed by antibiotics. This is not a “scare tactic” but very real science cited by the World Health Organization and the CDC. We already have a situation with antibiotic-resistant bacteria and it’s only becoming worse.

Avoiding antibiotics other than in a life-threatening situation is becoming more and more critical to our ongoing health.

Skin and gut health

The condition of your skin reflects the health of your gut and, unfortunately, many of the things traditionally put on the skin such as steroids and antibiotics, further weaken gut health, making the root cause of the problem that much worse.

You may temporarily notice improvement of your acne, but the long-term damage is not worth it, especially when we can resolve acne naturally.

Did you take Accutane or antibiotics for acne when you were younger? Did you notice negative side effects?

I’d love to hear from you.

I had just done a YouTube video about this topic yesterday when today I listened to the author of The Beauty of Dirty Skin, Dr. Bowe who was interviewed by Dr. Perlmutter, a functional medicine neurologist.

The author is an internationally renowned dermatologist who shies away from drugs and antibiotics except in the most extreme of cases. She reviews the important link between the gut and the skin, making her an unusual dermatologist, but a very usual functional medicine doctor.

The “dirty skin” title of her book alluded to the importance of allowing healthy bacteria to continue to live on your skin and NOT annihilating them with antibiotics or other chemicals.

At the end of the interview, Dr. Perlmutter commented on something I say so often – it’s so interesting that no matter what part of the body we look at, whether it’s the skin or the brain, gut health is the mainstay of overall balance and optimal function of the body. Without gut health, you won’t enjoy overall body health.

I couldn’t agree more, which leads us to the treatment of acne.

What should you do to treat your acne?

1. Evaluate the health of your gut – This involves a functional lab test (stool) that will measure good and bad organisms and provide specific data on what needs to be done to restore balance.
2. Test for food sensitivities – It’s pretty much always a part of any protocol but the bottom line is if you’re eating a food you’re reacting to, your skin can suffer.
3. Measure your hormones – Despite what traditional medicine says about hormonal levels being “impossible” to measure, this just isn’t the case. A simple blood test will reveal if an imbalance is present and natural therapies can be employed to address the problem.

It sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it? The good news is it doesn’t need to be complicated, but it DOES typically require some dietary and lifestyle changes.

Of course, I know it’s worth it, but I get to see it every day as my patients improve.

Is it worth it to you to make some changes in your diet to regain not just beautiful skin but a healthy gut, immune system, and balanced hormones?

Let me know what you think.

Additional resources

Study on the link between acne and gut microbiota

Does your health need to be improved?

Is your health not where you want it to be? Are you confused about what to do? We can help.

Contact our Clearwater medical clinic for a consultation – Call (727) 335-0400.

Even if you are not local, you can still receive help; Root Cause Medical Clinic treats patients from across the country and internationally.