What does your skin say about you?

Homeopathy Awareness Week runs from June 14th – 21st this year and focuses on skin conditions. I thought I would write a few words on this subject and look at how homeopathy’s holistic approach can be used to help skin conditions.

When we think about our health we might think about the various organs in our body such as our liver, our lungs or our heart. It can be easy to forget that our skin is our body’s largest organ and it has some very important jobs: it protects us, it keeps us warm, cools us down, plays a part in eliminating toxins and allows us to interact with the world. When someone has a problem with their skin, they often see it as an isolated problem, as though the skin is just the packaging around what’s really important - so if the packaging is torn it doesn’t really matter as it’s not going to affect what is underneath. That’s just not true. Our skin gives us a clue as to how healthy we are on the inside. If something’s not quite right on the outside, there’s probably something not quite right on the inside either.

This way of understanding the skin as an integral part of the body rather than just as an independent outside layer reflects the holistic approach used by homeopathy. As a homeopath I want to know not only about your skin condition but about your general health and wellbeing. I will then find the best remedy for you to address the imbalance of your body as a whole, rather than just treating you for a skin condition. In this way homeopathy will addresses the underlying problem rather than just dealing with the skin itself by way of a localised treatment.

A skin problem can be an indication of something more serious. As a homeopath finds out about all of your symptoms they are well placed to spot potential problems and would advise you to get any concerning symptoms checked out with your GP. Liver problems commonly show themselves on your skin and other conditions can be indicated when there is a skin complaint accompanied by other symptoms. An example of this is polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) where excessively oily skin along with sometimes embarrassing facial hair growth and absent or infrequent periods could be the first indications of this condition in a teenage girl.

Remember to always look for a registered homeopath if you are thinking of trying homeopathy. A homeopath registered with the Society of Homeopath’s follows a strict code of conduct requiring them to practice safely by advising patients to go to their GP if there are concerning symptoms – for example if a patient seeking help for eczema was at risk of getting infected skin I would advise them to go to straight to their GP as if the infection did not clear up quickly it could lead to a serious infection of the blood.

I hope this article will prompt you to think in a different way about any skin problems you or someone in your family might be suffering with. It can be very difficult coping with skin problems that can be itchy, sore, and can make you feel self-conscious about your appearance. Try and think about it as your body trying to tell you something isn’t quite right and giving you the opportunity to do something about it. It could be caused by any number of things such as a food intolerance, stress, or a bad reaction to skin products or washing powder. Putting a cream on it so it goes away won’t actually get rid of the root cause, it just means that your body has to try harder to get your attention and let you know something isn’t quite right. In the meantime, I hope you all get the chance to let your skin safely soak up the vitamin D-rich sun rays this summer!

And if homeopathy just isn’t your thing I also sell a range of locally produced organic skincare products which can help you to cope day to day with your skin condition while naturally moisturising and protecting your skin. For more details check out my website.

If you are interested in discussing in more detail how you can get help with a skin condition feel free to contact me – all my contact details are on my website.