Last week I had a very bad outbreak of acne on my face. It may have been a rash, but it looked like acne and acted like acne. Instead of doing nothing, I went full force with some herbs and supplements that have now brought my face back to normal or even better than it was before. This is also in the midst of my time of the month, when my acne is usually worse. I read a lot of posts on here that helped, so if my post helps someone else make a connection that's great too.

I have included some pictures to show the improvement on both sides of my face. It's pretty drastic if you ask me. I posted about this in another forum, but didn't get many replies. It all started when I started adding maca powder (gelatinized kind, not raw) to my smoothies. After a few days I had a really bad reaction. I hadn't changed much else during that time, so I still attribute it to the maca root and have since discontinued it. Even a few days after ditching the maca root my face was still the same.

Here is what I did. I continued with a liver support tincture by Botanica with milk thistle, dandelion, watercress and turmeric in it. I also added a Burdock tincture, a reishi mushroom and echinacea tincture, a probiotic by Udo and some Vitamin D/K2 drops. Also some borage seed oil, topically and internally. I made herbal infusions of nettle daily. I also bought zinc and vitamin E, but didn't get around to taking them yet. I was also hoping to add cod liver oil but it hasn't arrived in the mail yet. I have ordered Rosita EVCO which I hear is one of the best. I plan to add in gelatin and re-order broth that I buy fro ma local farmer (the gelled kind).

I already have a good diet, although many of you would disagree with my intake of dairy, I try to eat as many nourishing foods as possible and keep my carb intake pretty low. I eat a lot of fish (especially bone and skin on canned salmon) and get a mix of beef/lamb, chicken, pork and some organ meat for varied nutrition. I only eat fermented and organic dairy from grass fed cows, usually some kefir, butter, some cream, buttermilk and some cheese. I wish I could get it raw but it's not possible where I live. I only eat truly fermented sourdough bread and not much. Usually my carbs are fruit, dairy, white rice and potato/sweet potato. I always eat a good fat and protein and some acid in every meal to keep blood sugar stable. Basically I follow Paul Jaminet's "Perfect Health Diet", and also enjoy Christ Kresser's dietary advice. The only sugar I take in is from dark chocolate, maple syrup occasionally and honey. 

In healing this particular outbreak/rash, I wanted to focus on supplements and herbs that would be cooling and anti-inflammatory, anti-androgen and anti-histamine producing. Nettle infusions (dried herb with boiling water steeped over night) really started making a difference right away. It is a very cooling drying herb, so redness started to dissipate and then my face was really dry for a few days. To counter this I had to exfoliate with my usual honey masks, and I put borage oil and raw shea butter on my face. The topical borage oil has also made a huge difference. Reishi and nettle both help to lower histamine response and androgens, and echinacea boosts the immune response and is anti-inflammatory. It has been studied to be useful in healing acne. The liver support herbs and burdock are also cooling and drying and so I added slippery elm to counter that. 

Almost all the bumps have dissipated now and redness and hyperpigmentation is started to go away. My face was like a volcano. I am still going to continue researching and experimenting with different herbs and dietary supplements long term to see what effect they may have on my usual hormonal acne.