Skin Conditions

Your skin's condition is the state of health your skin is in at any particular time and will change depending on your lifestyle, the weather, illness, your working conditions etc.If you are someone with an oily skin type but you have been living in a hot climate and sweating a lot without drinking enough water, your skin condition would more than likely be dehydrated and could appear at the time to be very similar to someone with a dry skin type. This is where it can be a little confusing for consumers to know which product to use.

Nine times out of 10, you will purchase your basic skin care (cleanser, basic face cream, face mists) to suit your skin type. You would then choose your mask, serum, polish, specialty night cream etc to suit your current skin condition. Sometimes there are circumstances when your basic range of skin care will also change and your beauty professional will be able to help you with this or you can contact us if you have any questions

Let’s have a look at the most common skin conditions;

Dehydrated Skin

This is the first one because it is also the most common, especially for Australians who live in a very hot, humid climate for a lot of the year. Remember ALL skin types can have this skin condition – even the oiliest of skins. The things to look for are;

• Lots of fine lines especially around the edge of the face and cheeks. When you push your skin up gently – you will really notice them.
• Skin can be flaky, itchy and sometimes red and blotchy.
• Skin around the nose especially can appear dry and peeling.
• Skin feels tight and looks tired.

Drink more water!! This is the very best start to healing dehydrated skin. Causes can be too much air conditioning, lack of water intake, dry humid climate, excessive sweating, etc – a good mosituriser that helps maintain your skin's natural hydration level as well as adding nourishment while drinking MORE WATER will help this condition.

Acne Skin

This is a skin condition that is more probable for oily skin types however adolescent and late onset adult acne can and does occur with any skin type. There are four levels of acne from very mild to severe and if you have acne it is good to find out what level yours is to ensure correct treatment. With acne – the most successful way to treat it is with professional help – either with a qualified beauty therapist, naturopath or your doctor. You can then use our products as your daily homecare for assist the results. Using a homeopath or naturopath is renowned for its success with acne so I have added website addresses of clinics that may be able to help you.

• www.lifeessence.com.au
• www.naturaltherapypages.com.au

Many of the known and prescribed ‘cures’ for acne include prescription medications which have A LOT of side effects you should thoroughly research before choosing this path. One of the most popular in Australia is Accutane and the side effects from this drug are well worth checking out before use. There are many natural remedies that can help and even cure acne as the causes are so varied that each case needs to be treated separately and differently to the next. A prescription drug looks only to heal the current acne breakout whereas the natural therapy solution looks for the cause and can stop future breakouts from occurring.

Skin care alone – especially with severe cases, may not be enough to help your skin heal so if you haven’t noticed a difference after using the products for 21 days, please consult a professional for some extra help and advice.

Now for the basics of the skin condition acne;

Blemishes, pustules and blackheads are present – these can be very mild and sporadic or they could be covering the face and upper torso in more severe cases.
These can sometimes be infected which would make them painful and red – this is called inflammatory acne and needs to be treated ASAP.
Skin is usually very shiny and oily – this gets worse as the day goes on.

In the most severe cases, known as cystic acne, there would also be large cysts under the skin which need to be extracted by a skin professional like a doctor or dermatologist. These feel like hard and are sitting directly under the skin – there is no ‘head’ like a pustule/pimple and they should NEVER be squeezed, This level of acne is very painful and will always require a professional’s advice.
Certain foods may increase inflammation – make a note if they do.

Things to remember:

• NEVER pop or squeeze a pimple as this increases the chances of scarring and spreads the bacteria to the rest of your face. When you pop a pimple you damage the hair follicle and spread the bacteria under the skin which is why more pimples appear out of nowhere.
• Consult a professional before polishing/exfoliating acne skin. It is OK in some of the milder cases but not all so check first.
• Try not to touch your face – again this spreads the infection to other places on the face and worsens the condition.

Acne can be a very embarrassing and distressing condition to have and the emotional scarring can be just as detrimental as the physical. The reason acne is so difficult to heal is that there is an endless list of causes and every individual case needs to be treated differently.

Causes can be anything from hormone changes, diet, lifestyle, emotional blockages, stress, etc. This is another area where a naturopath or homeopath can really help because they will look at your own personal history and background to find out what is causing your acne condition and treat the cause not just the symptoms. You can continue to use our products to keep the skin clean and to soothe the inflammation while your chosen prescribed treatment takes effect.

Please contact us if you would like help finding someone in your area. If you would like more information on acne, please see the following;

• http://acne.about.com/od/acnebasics/p/acnevulgaris.htm

Sundamaged/Mature skin

It is important to mention that this skin condition could be two separate conditions however the symptoms of each are almost identical so we can list them together. In some cases the chronological age of your skin has nothing to do with whether it would be considered as mature or not. You could be very young and have what would be considered ‘mature’ skin due to your lifestyle – mainly sun damage, illness or other circumstances.

The signs or symptoms of mature/sun damaged skin are;

• Pores are normally medium to large in size.
• Hyper/Hypo pigmentation may be present (dark or white patches on the skin eg. age spots and freckles).
• Red patches and broken capillaries may be evident.
• Skin may be dry, flaky, dehydrated and sometimes itchy.
• Lines and wrinkles will be forming or will have formed as collagen and elastin breakdown.
• Skin may be sallow and drawn looking.

One symptom that may differ between mature and sun damaged skins is the thickness of the skin itself – if sun damaged only it will be thickened and course in texture while in ageing skin it will be fine and crepey in texture. This skin condition needs nourishment and lots of TLC. Remember it is never too late to start looking after your skin – start reversing the cycle today!

Eczema & Dermatitis

Firstly what is the difference between the two?

Eczema is a general term encompassing various inflamed skin conditions. One of the most common forms of eczema being atopic dermatitis. This is the definition of eczema from the website www.skincarephysicians.com/eczemanet/whatis.html#look

When working in the world of natural therapies, everything is looked at a little differently as we believe any form of disease is your body's way of telling you that something just aint right! Let's firstly look at some of the symptoms of Eczema and Dermatitis;

• Can be mild or highly inflamed and aggravated.
• Red dry patches of skin appear pretty much anywhere but elbows, stomach, cheeks, knees, scalp and ankles are common places.
• It is itchy and when itched can become infected and blister.
• It is sometimes raised and sore to touch or can be flat, flaky and dry.
• An eczema/dermatitis breakout will look different from person to person making it another condition that is commonly misdiagnosed and left untreated to worsen.

Some of the documented causes are;

• Reactions to skin care products, soaps, detergents etc – dermatitis is common with hairdressing professionals as they can use a lot of chemicals and their hands are wet most of the day.
• Scratchy materials in clothing like wool.
• Sudden changes in temperature and humidity.
• Certain food groups, diet and lifestyle.
• Environmental factors like pollen and dust.

This is a list that could go on and on. More importantly - the solution.

Again skin care alone will not solve the problem for people with this skin condition and consulting with a professional is highly recommended. This is another area where your Naturopath or Homeopath can help – you will wonder where they have been your life once you go.

To help you decide – here is a story about Kate’s (the founder of Bubbles) husband Troy.

Late one afternoon about six years ago Troy complained to Kate about constant itching on his stomach and back that day. When Kate looked she noticed he had a red, angry looking rash that looked like inflamed dry skin. This was prior to any of Kate’s formal training and so when the rash worsened over the next few days they consulted Troy’s GP.

They were told he had scabies and that EVERYTHING he may have worn, touched, slept in or even used had to be disinfected with hot water and harsh chemicals. He was given a steroid cream that was to be used by every member of the household who also had to disinfect EVERYTHING. At the time, they were living in a share house with three other friends so they ended up spending four hours in the local dry cleaners doing the entire household's laundry!

They were given a referral to see a skin specialist as a precaution which turned out to be an interesting consult. They were told that Troy in fact simply had eczema – an acute case but definitely not scabies as first thought (all that washing for no reason!!). They were given more steroid creams and told that Troy would need to moisturise using Sorbolene twice a day in Summer and three times a day in Winter. Yeah right! How many guys do you know that would actually do that and why should they have to.

Kate had been seeing a Kinesiologist in local Natural therapies clinic for a few years and mentioned this to her in her next appointment and so began Kate’s natural therapies journey. They were referred to a Naturopath who used both Iridology and diet to work out that Troy was in fact Gluten intolerant and as soon as they removed wheat from his diet – the eczema stopped and only ever comes back if Troy decides to let his diet slip which the eczema soon sorts out yet again. While healing the condition they used a natural lotion to soothe the inflamed skin and Troy sticks to chemical-free products from now on (like he has a choice!).

Troy is now working with a Naturopath on his digestive system to work out why he has the gluten intolerance to see if that too can be healed. Stay tuned!

This is just one example of your body being able to not only warn you that something is going on but its ability to heal itself when given the chance to. Imagine the ongoing costs of the creams, let alone the fact that it was Sorbolene that was suggested – a cream that is based on cheap mineral oils and other nasty synthetic ingredients!! ARGHHH!!

Another skin condition that is commonly misdiagnosed and ‘apparently’ has no cure is

Rosacea

This is becoming such a common condition and yet so many people have either not heard of it or have heard it mentioned but have no idea what it is. At this stage there is no medical cure however as we have mentioned many times before – this is not always the case.

Rosacea is a condition that affects mainly fair-skinned people and starts at an age between 30 and 40. It is commonly misdiagnosed as adult acne however the symptoms can vary quite dramatically. People who have Rosacea have the following symptoms;

• Typically red skin and like acne there are different stages from mild to severe. In mild cases – the redness/blushing may only occur after certain foods, time in the sun, after alcohol consumption, physical activity or times of stress or nervousness. This redness can worsen and if left untreated will become in most cases the consistent colour of the skin, especially on the nose and cheeks.
• In more severe cases it also includes papules and acne like pimples (hence the misdiagnosis). Unlike acne – rosacea sufferers rarely have blackheads or pustules.
• The skin can feel hot and itchy – sometimes uncomfortably so. Summer months or hot climates, alcohol and spicy foods, hot drinks and sports are just some of the things sufferers are advised to avoid.
• Visible capillaries can be evident on the skin surface especially on the nose and cheeks.

Like we have mentioned before, Rosacea is simply your body’s way of telling you that something is not quite right. Refraining from things like coffee, alcohol and spicy foods on a permanent basis is just plain unfair especially when a Naturopath or Homeopath may just have the answer.

With the correct diagnosis and treatment they could have you living Rosacea free. Cooling, calming and soothing skincare will help ease the symptoms and reduce the inflammation while the healing process takes place and you may find you need to continue to use these same ‘sensitive’ skin products to avoid future flare ups and to keep your delicate skin calm.

When pregnant with baby no. 2, Kate had her first Rosacea flare up. Her skin has always been sensitive but at the same time clear from blemishes and when using the correct products it was also free from redness. When her skin became consistently red and hot and small papules appeared on both her cheeks, it came as quite a shock.

Kate has always known Rosacea was a possibility in the future as spicy foods and alcohol have always reacted with her, so she immediately sort out her homeopath for some advice and although the pregnancy makes treatment a little more difficult – a homeopathic remedy and a calming skincare routine has almost completely healed the condition.

For more information on Rosacea please see the following website;

• www.dermcoll.asn.au/public/a-z_of_skin-rosacea.asp

So they are the most common skin conditions. Hopefully it gives a bit more knowledge on the subject and if you have any further questions relating to this please seek the advice of a professional or contact us and we will do what we can to help.

If you would like to see which products suit your skin type and condition, please see our Skincare Chart for more information.