Acupuncture is another alternative treatment that is applied to the
skin. Developed thousands of years ago in China, acupuncture is
based on the concept that everyone has an energy known as chi
flowing through their bodies.
When this energy flow is blocked,
illness occurs. In order to unblock this energy flow, acupuncturists
insert small needles into specific points on the body. Acupuncturists
think that some of these points, especially those found in
the ear, control energy flow to the face, where acne is likely to occur.
Therefore, inserting needles into the ear stimulates the flow
of energy to the face. Once the flow is restored, blood circulation
to the face improves, bringing increased oxygen, collagen, nutrients,
and infection-fighting chemicals to acne-affected areas. In
addition, acupuncturists believe that acupuncture treatment balances
hormone production.
Despite the lack of evidence proving that chi exists, a number
of studies have shown acupuncture to be an effective treatment
for acne. For example, one 1989 Chinese study reported in the Journal
of Traditional Chinese Medicine treated eighty patients with moderate
to severe acne with ear acupuncture every other day for a
total of sixteen treatments. Seventy-seven percent of the patients
were reported completely cured, while the skin of 14 percent
showed a marked improvement. A 1990 Chinese study reported
similar results.
Another study conducted at the University of Heidelberg, Germany,
in 1992 investigated the effects of ear acupuncture on women
with hormonal acne. In this study, half the subjects were treated with conventional hormone therapy, and half were treated with
acupuncture. At the study’s conclusion, researchers reported that
the skin of subjects treated with acupuncture was more improved
than that of subjects treated with hormones. In addition, unlike the
subjects treated with hormones, the subjects treated with acupuncture
experienced no side effects.
Based on these and other studies, many medical doctors support
the use of acupuncture as an acne treatment. Dr. Palle Rosted,
a medical doctor and acupuncturist at Weston Park Hospital in
Sheffield, England, reports on the benefit of acupuncture as an acne
treatment: “The various studies generally testify to many cases of
total recovery, and for the remaining patients a considerable degree
of improvement.”38
