Kitchen Medicine: Treat acne with simple ingredients from your kitchen
Noticing any ‘maskne’ or acne associated with wearing a face mask?
Does stress always show up on your skin?
How about pimples before your period?
Are you not a teenager, but are starting to feel like one because you are breaking out all the time? Acne, while common, can negatively affect our self-esteem in significant ways. There are simple, but effective things you can do at home to help.
An easy at-home topical treatment for acne or sores of the skin is to make an herbal compress with a few ingredients that you’re likely to have around the house. The compress is appropriate for any areas of concern, your face, chest or back, that are red and ‘hot’ looking: acne, sores, and even hemorrhoids. One can also drink a tea made of several of the ingredients to help skin clear and heal from the inside out.
- Magnesium and dandelion help detoxify the skin and clear redness.
- Magnesium and chamomile help reduce inflammation and have been shown to reach the deeper levels of the skin.
- Chamomile has been shown to encourage wound healing.
- Raw honey has been used for a millennium in skin care and is hydrating, anti fungal, and antibacterial.
Lotus root is a popular vegetarian ingredient used in Chinese cuisine. Considered a food, it is also used as an herb medicinally in Traditional Chinese medicine. It contains powerful antioxidants, and may reduce inflammation. Although named a “root”, it is actually a rhizome. It is a continuously growing horizontal underwater stem of the lotus plant that grows in connected, cylinder-shaped segments (like giant linked sausages). When cut crosswise, you will see a “rotary dial phone” pattern which makes this ingredient extra interesting. 
