Why is my skin breaking out? How do I cure persistent psoriasis? How can I get rid of adult acne? Why do I have hives? And how can I clear up hives?
These are common questions that I am often asked by clients. Skin problems hit close to home for me because it’s something that I struggled with personally. For many years, I battled severe acne. All throughout my teenage years and early twenties, I tried everything to clear it up without any results. I tried topical creams and antibiotics - anything that promised some relief. Nothing seemed to work. The antibiotics helped for a while, but the repercussions of long term use on my digestive system was devastating.
So if you’re dealing with a chronic skin condition, my heart goes out to you. Skin discomforts are uncomfortable, hard to ignore, and can even cause us to feel embarrassment and shame. Trust me, I dealt with it all. That’s why I often work with clients who are battling skin conditions such as chronic hives, acne, eczema, and psoriasis.
One of my clients dealt with chronic hives off and on for six years. Unpredictably, red welts would break out across her body, causing her skin to feel that awful itchy, creepy-crawly feeling. She went to all kinds of dermatologists and specialists and tried all the typical courses of treatment to find relief. She used topical creams and took steroids. But the hives kept persisting all over her arms, neck, face, and legs - year after torturous year. She came to me, and we started working together. Immediately, we made it our goal to get to the root of the problem. We ran some tests, strategically adjusted her diet, and began a specific supplement regimen tailored to her needs. Within a few months, the hives had diminished and after a year, she was free of them.
My own daughter battled psoriasis as a young three-year-old. Through the night she would toss and turn and uncontrollably scratch herself until she bled. It’s a miserable way to live. I put my detective hat on and began to thoroughly look over all possible lifestyle factors that could be creating the problem until I found it. We removed the most notorious trigger foods - gluten, dairy and processed sugary foods and her skin was 100% back to normal.
Pimples, rashes, dryness, and visible irritations are your body’s way of saying that everything is not okay. So, if your skin is throwing a temper tantrum, it’s just a sign that we have some much bigger problems beneath the surface that need to be strategically and effectively addressed.
What could be the culprit?
You may have already guessed where we’re going with this.
Yep, that’s right.
Your gut has a very important immunoregulatory role. Additionally, it is very influential on other organs in the body. And one of these happens to be your skin. That means that when there are imbalances in the gut, it releases what is called pro-inflammatory cytokines throughout the body. This may sound like a complicated and scientific word, but suffice it to say, it can cause skin reaction, among other things.
Recent studies and evidence has shown that gut microbiome plays a role in the development of diseases that go far beyond the bounds of just the gastrointestinal tract. Both the gut and skin are immensely immersed with microbiota.
This is often called the “gut-skin axis”, a term which refers to the bidirectional relationship between the gut microbiome and skin health. This relationship is regulated through several means such as inflammatory mediators and the immune system. When there are imbalances or a dysregulation of microbiota, it is common to see inflammatory skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis, rosacea, hives, acne, and psoriasis.
The unfortunate fact is that far too often, the solutions that traditional medicine applies to skin conditions are symptom driven. They target the management of the uncomfortable side effects of the condition, rather than putting on the detective hat to find underlying problems and actually fixing the problem.
But when you begin to understand how the gut microbiome is involved in regulating skin health, it changes everything. This opens a whole new perspective on treating skin conditions.
That’s why I continue to promote the “test, don’t guess” approach. There are specific tests available that can help you get conclusive answers as to what is at the root of your symptoms.
If you are battling a skin condition right now and want to see long term changes, I invite you to set up a free consultation with me. Let me share what my process looks like and let’s see if we are a good fit for working together.
Here is what my clients have to say about my approach in regards to skin:
“Dr. Jones has really helped me get my health back on track over the past few months. I had been experiencing a lot of fatigue, digestive discomfort, acne, and moodiness. However, after this program, my digestion is so much better, my acne is under control, and I am feeling so much more energized! - Natalie F.
“NO more HIVES! I had Chronic hives for over 6 years, on several meds for them, but still hives everyday! RESULTS...NO MORE HIVES for over a year now. I’ve lost weight, energy’s back, and off all meds! Thank You Dr. Jones!” - Libby J.
