Does Ayurveda work for acne?

Where Western medicine fails, traditional Eastern medical practices come into play. The traditional medical approach to Ayurveda comes from India, one of the world’s largest subcontinents. With a long and rich cultural history, India is also home to the earliest forms of medicine, science, and mathematics.

How does Ayurveda work?

In Ayurveda, there are three energetic forces known as doshas: vata, pitta, and kapha. For the maintenance of excellent health and well-being, it is important that the three doshas are in perfect harmony and balance.

According to Ayurveda, an individual should go through life maintaining the original dosha composition with which they arrived as much as possible. Good or bad choices in his lifestyle or the food he eats, for example, can cause the doshas in his prakriti to rise or fall from their predetermined level and throw his system out of balance. If this imbalance is left untreated, good health fails and disease takes over. That is why the restoration of balance is the main foundation of the Ayurvedic health system.

In Ayurvedic medicine, the severe imbalance of the three doshas is the cause of acne. However, the dosha that is most aggravated is pitta, which means fire or heat in the body. Bad eating habits such as consumption of refined sugar and flour products, fatty and spicy foods, living in stress and chemically polluted environments all wreak havoc on pitta dosha. This stressed dosha returns in the form of severe acne breakouts.

Ayurvedic Home Remedies

Below are some Ayurvedic home remedies to treat, control and prevent acne breakouts.

o The popular hot and cold towel packs are best for localized acne. The heat will open the blood vessels and pores to release dirt and oil, while the cold towel will close them.

o The human body has a built-in self-purification detoxification system. Keeping this system in top shape is the best way to remove harmful waste and toxins from your body. Depending on your size, drink 7 to 10 glasses of water a day to keep your body properly hydrated. Keep in mind that the skin is the largest organ in your body and is prone to losing a lot of moisture in just a few minutes.

o Drink simple herbal water made from a mixture of boiled corn flakes and a couple of fenugreek seeds.

o Consider applying fresh apricot juice to your face to treat cystic acne.

o Cucumber juice alone or combined with lettuce, alfalfa or carrot juice makes a great homemade facial application for acne and blackheads. You can also try grated cucumber.

o Drink half a cup of aloe vera juice twice a day.

o Make a thick paste of nutmeg and a small amount of water and apply to inflamed acne papules and other infected areas.

o Try a refreshing orange peel mask. Pound the orange peel into a thick paste, add some water and apply it on the acne-infected areas.

o Try Sunder Vati, an herbal tonic drink made from Holarrhena antidysenterica, Embelia ribes, Kampo and ginger.

Ayurvedic Side Effects

Some herbal ingredients in Ayurveda often contain dangerous levels of heavy metals that can be toxic when consumed. The efficacy of Ayurvedic home remedies and treatments has yet to be clinically proven.