Ming Dynasty era acupuncture chart.
It seems like some alternative health detractors view acupuncture as if it were snake oil with needles: a false panacea that can cure everything from pain to sniffles. But in reality, acupuncture is a form of Eastern medicine that has been practiced for thousands of years. And while acupuncture alone will not cure acne, it is one component of a medical program that has given some acne sufferers relief from breakouts.
Eastern View of Acne
According to Chinese medicine, acne is the result of heat or damp heat in the body. This heat is the product of stress, overall emotional health, poor diet or an energy imbalance that often occurs in teens. The way this heat interacts with different energies in the body--through acupuncture points known as meridians as well as organs known as Zang Fu and fundamental substances such as the blood and bodily fluids--determines the severity and location of the acne in the body. While many eastern medical practitioners say that Western allopathic medicine will provide a faster result in treatment, it also includes side effects. Eastern medicine is a practical approach when allopathic medicine fails.
Acne Classifications
The basic way that traditional Chinese Medical physicians treat acne is to clear the heat away from the appropriate meridian organ and body fluid. Although this is primarily accomplished with herbs, the treatment also may incorporate acupuncture. Needles are often placed on meridians in certain patterns depending on the classification of the acne. These classification categories include lung heat (lesions on forehead and nose), stomach heat (lesions on mouth and chest), toxic heat (severe, inflamed acne), damp heat (deep, pus filled nodules) or blood heat (acne accompanied by a flushed face).
Treatment
Treatment with acupuncture may involve treating the body as a whole by placing needles over meridians in patterns, or treating specific nodules by using a technique known as "surrounding the dragon," which involves surrounding the nodule with needles at 1-inch intervals and leaving them for 20 minutes. "Ear acupuncture" may be used to stimulate organs by placing needles in the ear at points that correspond to particular organs.
Tags: allopathic medicine, damp heat, Eastern medicine, heat lesions, placing needles