Most people are affected by skin conditions and some point in their lives and finding effective, long term solutions can be difficult. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a system of medicine that treats the root cause of a condition. It can be an effective treatment for a range of skin conditions including, eczema, rashes, acne, psoriasis and dermatitis.
According to Chinese medicine principles balance in the body is essential to good health. This balance is related to the physical, mental and emotional health of an individual. Skin conditions are an indication that something is not functioning correctly within your body. Chinese medicine aims to ascertain the cause of why this is and provide treatment to help restore balance and facilitate the body's own systems of self healing TCM believes that skin disorders are generally caused by internal disharmonies such as diet or stress, hormonal imbalances, and environmental influences such as heat, wind, damp, dryness and cold.
An imbalance in the body may present itself as damp-heat toxins, blood or yin deficiency, stomach heat, liver heat, heat in the blood, qi (energy) stagnation and wind heat. A TCM practitioner will be able to ascertain where the imbalance is occurring and tailor treatment for each specific individual.
A Chinese Medicine diagnosis would take into account the type of skin eruption, skin colour, body temperature, diet, daily activities, climate and emotions that are associated with the problem. Details such as the onset, duration and frequency of the skin disorder as well as any other signs of imbalance in the digestive system, sleep patterns and the immune system are also examined.
There is no one size fits all in Chinese medicine. Each individual is diagnosed from a range of factors and treated accordingly. Treatments for these conditions include acupuncture, acupressure, and herbal medicine. These therapies can strengthen the immune system thereby decreasing skin sensitivity, releasing toxins, repairing and nourishing the skin, stopping infections and purifying the blood.
Herbs can be prescribed on an individual basis following diagnosis. They are derived from leaf, root and stem and are accepted by the body as a natural substance. They can be taken in pill form, as tea (from specifically tailored dried herbs) or external herbal lotions.
For more information on TCM for Skin Conditions
Care Cure are Ireland's leading Traditional Chinese Medicine specialists. We have clinics in Dublin and Dun Laoghaire.
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