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[Painful Red Acne] Stop brushing it off and root it out!

Is your face in the mirror causing you daily pain because of red acne that stings and throbs at the slightest touch? You try to cover it up with makeup before an important appointment, but the prominent redness and heat cannot be hidden, and it often feels even more painful. Chronic, painful red acne like this may not be just a skin problem, but an abnormal signal from deep within your body. If you are exhausted by recurring inflammation and pain and feel like giving up, look for a clue to the solution by finding the root cause with Dalimchae Korean Medicine Clinic Incheon.

💡 [Key Answer] 3 most common causes of painful red acne: ① Excessive sebum secretion and clogged pores / ② Skin barrier damage and penetration of external harmful bacteria / ③ Accumulation of toxins in the body and increased inflammatory response Dalimchae Clinic resolves the root cause of inflammation within the skin through gut detox and creates a healthy skin environment without recurrence.

Red and painful acne is not simply a problem of the sebaceous glands. Acne accompanied by inflammation is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when acne bacteria (P. acnes) proliferate in the process of pores becoming clogged and excessive sebum being secreted. It is easy to think of it as a symptom visible only on the skin's surface, but Korean medicine looks for skin problems in internal factors related to body metabolism as well as external factors.

Especially in the case of adult acne, various acquired factors such as stress, irregular lifestyle, Westernized diet, and lack of sleep act in combination, and if inflammation is severe, it can leave scars or hyperpigmentation, so active treatment is important. Simply extracting visible acne or temporarily calming inflammation often fails to solve the problem and leads to repeated recurrence.

Recently, the medical community has been focusing on the 'Gut-Skin Axis' theory, which suggests that skin troubles may not be simply 'skin inflammation' but 'the result of immune imbalance starting from the gut.' Our gut is more than just an organ responsible for digestion; it is a huge immune organ where about 70% of the body's immune cells exist, and it acts as a protective barrier filtering out external substances.

However, when the balance of gut microorganisms is broken (Dysbiosis) due to stress, irregular meals, and excessive consumption of processed foods, the tight junctions of the gut mucosa weaken, allowing toxins and inflammatory substances that should not enter the body to flow into the bloodstream. This is commonly referred to as 'Leaky Gut Syndrome,' and our body's immune system recognizes these as external invaders and overreacts, leading to increased systemic inflammatory responses that appear on the skin in various forms. This inflammation exacerbates acne and becomes the primary cause of red and painful forms.

In Korean medicine, the question 'How comfortable is the patient's interior?' has long been considered very important in treating skin diseases. It is believed that if the function of digestive organs does not work properly due to stress or poor eating habits, waste products, or toxins, accumulate in the digestive tract, affecting the skin and causing inflammation.

Rather than looking only at problems on the skin's surface, the focus is on correcting the balance of the five organs and six viscera and facilitating their functions, conducting skin and internal body treatments simultaneously. Especially in the case of inflammatory acne, it is believed to occur when excessive heat and damp-heat accumulate in the body and are emitted to the skin. Focus is placed on treatment to resolve this and discharge toxins from the body to calm inflammation. At Dalimchae Korean Medicine Clinic Incheon, emphasis is placed on solving the root cause according to each patient's constitution and symptoms from this Korean medical perspective.

In a study by Professor Kim Kyu-seok's team at Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital published in the Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology & Dermatology in 2016, as a result of taking the herbal medicine Hyeonggaeyeongyo-tang along with acupuncture treatment for 44 patients with stage 2-4 acne for 4 weeks, inflammatory acne lesions decreased by 32.4% and non-inflammatory acne in the form of whiteheads also decreased by 23.1%, confirming a significant decrease in acne scores. On the other hand, in the control group that did not take herbal medicine, inflammatory acne decreased by only 15%, and no decrease in non-inflammatory acne was observed. This study shows that herbal medicine and acupuncture treatment can improve the pathological state of acne patients by improving inflammation around pores and excessive sebum secretion.

In addition, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials on herbal treatment for acne published in the Journal of the Society of Korean Medicine in 2022 analyzed 34 RCT studies and found that the number of inflammatory and non-inflammatory lesions significantly decreased in the herbal treatment group (p<0.01), and the effective rate of herbal treatment was significantly higher than that of the control group (p<0.01). This serves as strong evidence that herbal treatment is effective in improving acne. Based on these research results, Dalimchae Korean Medicine Clinic Incheon finds and treats the root cause of inflammatory acne in gut health, reducing skin inflammatory responses through improvement of the gut environment and helping recovery to healthy skin.

Dalimchae Clinic does not view skin problems simply as external but approaches them as a result of internal imbalance. Especially under the treatment philosophy that "toxins accumulated on the gut wall enter the blood and create systemic inflammation," focus is placed on gut detox treatment, which removes toxins that cause skin inflammation and strengthens gut function.

Gut detox is not simply about emptying the gut, but a process of increasing beneficial bacteria and restoring the function of the gut mucosa to block the influx of toxins. Through this, systemic inflammatory responses are lowered, and an environment is created where the skin can recover and regenerate on its own. In addition, at Dalimchae Korean Medicine Clinic Incheon, heat and damp-heat are removed from the body through herbal medicine prescriptions tailored to the patient's constitution and symptoms, and skin regeneration is increased by facilitating blood circulation. This is an effective approach for other chronic inflammatory skin diseases such as atopy and seborrheic dermatitis.

Check which of the following items apply to you.

• The acne area stings and hurts just by washing or touching it.
• Acne often comes up red and large, frequently developing pus.
• Heat is felt in the skin and the face often turns red.
• Digestion is poor, the stomach feels bloated, and constipation or diarrhea occurs frequently.
• Acne tends to get worse when under stress.
• Acne worsens according to the menstrual cycle or is concentrated in specific areas.
• I have received dermatology treatments multiple times for acne, but it keeps recurring.
• Acne becomes more prominent when tired or when not sleeping well.
• I suffer from other skin diseases such as atopy or hives in addition to acne.

Judgment Criteria:

• 3 or more items apply: Inflammatory acne and gut problems suspected. It is recommended to consider complex Korean medical treatment.
• 5 or more items apply: Immediate visit and precise diagnosis are necessary. Start root cause treatment at Dalimchae Korean Medicine Clinic Incheon.

Q. How long does it take for painful acne? A. The treatment period for painful acne varies depending on the severity of individual symptoms, the duration of acne, constitution, and lifestyle. Generally, reduction of inflammation and skin improvement can be expected through 2-3 months of steady treatment.

Q. Can acne scars also be treated with Korean medicine? A. Yes, acne scars can also be improved through Korean medical treatment. In Korean medicine, acupuncture treatment (such as Saesal acupuncture) is used to induce collagen regeneration in the dermal layer of the skin, and herbal medicine treatment strengthens skin regeneration and alleviates hyperpigmentation to help fade scars.

Q. Can red acne heal naturally? A. Mild whiteheads may heal naturally through lifestyle improvements, but red and painful inflammatory acne can worsen or leave deep scars if neglected. If internal causes are not resolved, it is easy to recur, so active treatment is necessary.

Q. I have chronic indigestion and acne together; can they be treated at the same time? A. Yes, chronic indigestion and acne are closely linked through the gut-skin axis, so treating them together is effective. Gut detox treatment for improving gut health helps improve both digestive function and skin inflammation simultaneously.

Painful red acne is not a problem to be solved by enduring. You no longer have to ignore the signals your body has been sending for a long time. If you approach in the right direction, the body responds faster than you think. Bring your symptoms exactly as they are. At Dalimchae Korean Medicine Clinic Incheon, we will find the cause together.

Where life blooms. For herbal medicine, it's Dalimchae Korean Medicine Clinic. Check your symptoms similar to mine through the AI consultation on the Dalimchae Clinic website first!

This article is health information compiled by Dalimchae medical staff based on questions frequently received in the treatment room. Medical Supervision | Skin Disease Treatment Standards Dalimchae Clinic Incheon Branch Korean Medicine Doctor Min Jihong (Acne Column)