Looking for clearer skin.

Hello I’m a 58 year old woman. I want to know if there is an herbal treatment that can help me with Sebaceous Hyperplasia either orally, topically or both. Thank you.

What is sebaceous hyperplasia? The following is a link for more information on sebaceous hyperplasia: https://www.verywellhealth.com/sebaceous-hyperplasia-causes-symptoms-and-treatments-4144250.

But to answer your question in general terms, let’s look at a couple of factors. Hormonal regulation and the breakdown of hormones play a key role in many skin conditions. Therefore, making sure your hormones are in the right ranges and in balance is very important. You can ask your physician to help you with this. Let’s look at some other factors:

Diet. First, take a look at your diet and make sure that you are eating foods to help support the detoxification process which helps to remove toxins, both endogenous and exogenous. Excess hormones in the body can lead to unwanted problems, including numerous skin issues. Eating foods in the brassica family such as the ones listed here is very important: https://paleoleap.com/eat-brassicas-just-ones-know/.

Avoid transfats. Avoiding the known transfats is important for overall good health including skin, but did you know that any oil that is heated too high will change from a cis to a trans fat? So make sure that you are using the correct temperature for whatever oil you are using. https://www.thespruceeats.com/smoking-points-of-fats-and-oils-1328753.

Fiber. Make sure that there is enough soluble and insoluble fiber in your diet. Experts recommend about 25 grams of fiber a day. This will help with proper elimination of unwanted toxins as well.

Supporting the GI. Many autoimmune and inflammatory skin conditions can be linked to problems in the gut or the GI (gastro-intestinal). Therefore it is important to avoid any inflammatory foods and use as many natural anti-inflammatory herbs/foods/spices as possible. I highly recommend keeping a food diary. Here is a link to a number of anti-inflammatory foods: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/foods-that-fight-inflammation.

Herbs to help skin. Herbs that support the skin by helping to clear toxins are known as ‘alteratives’. Herbs that help heal the skin are called ‘vulneraries’. I’ve also added herbs that are anti-microbial as they have been found to help the skin by removing/reducing pathogens. Here is a list of herbs and their actions that are often used to help with skin conditions that you may want to consider. Please note that it is up to each person to determine what herbs they can safely take and the amount as we do not give specific advice.

Clays both internally and externally.

In addition to taking herbs, you can try clays. One clay that you can take internally is bentonite clay. My external routine for good skin involves using a loofa daily to gently scrub my body of dirt and impurities. I follow up with a french clay for those areas on my skin that need extra attention to pull out excess impurities and then use witchhazel (I used Thayers) as a natural astringent.

For more answers on skin issues, please visit our website “ask-the-herbalists” at www.herbalistqa.com. Also, reputable places to buy herbs include Mountain Rose Herbs, Starwest and Frontier Herbs. Some of these can be also found on Vitacost.com.

Good luck! Jayne

Jayne Tamburello has a master’s degree in Herbal Medicine from Maryland University of Integrative Health (MUIH) and is the founder of Invibe Herbal, your one stop shop for healthy, organic herbal tea blends. Please visit our website at: www.invibeherbal.com. Jayne is also a licensed nutritionist (LDN), a certified nutritionist (CNS) and a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild, RH(AHG). She can be reached customercare@invibeherbal.com.