#238 - Acne and Chinese Medicine

Article #238
Acne and Chinese Medicine
Peggy Rollo, ND, Reg. Acup. | Medical Herbalism 2(2):1991

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Abstract

A TCM differential framework for herbal acne prescribing, written to be applicable by practitioners without a full TCM background. Pattern differentiation with clinical correlates: heat in the lungs (whiteheads, mild cysts), heat in the stomach (inflammatory papules with dietary trigger), heat in the blood (severe inflammatory acne with hormonal component), damp heat (cystic, infected lesions). Western herb matching to pattern: alteratives for blood heat, cooling digestives for stomach heat, antiseptics for damp heat. Topical versus internal treatment rationale. Dietary principles matched to TCM pattern. The pattern framework explains why different patients respond to different herbs with the same diagnosis, and provides the clinical language for matching treatment to presentation.

Learning Objectives
• Identify the four TCM patterns associated with acne and describe the Western herbal herbs indicated for each
• Explain how the TCM differential accounts for variation in patient response to acne treatment
• Apply the pattern differential to match Western botanical herbs to a specific acne presentation without requiring full TCM training
• Describe the dietary principles appropriate to each TCM acne pattern
Recommended CE Lectures
• Chinese Medicine Syndromes for the Western Herbalist — Purchase
• Bitter Herbs: Comparative Materia Medica — Purchase
Recommended Courses
• Materia Medica Differentials — With Faculty Support | Self-Study

Core Curriculum
Clinical skills that apply across every condition and system: pattern recognition, herb selection by differential, formula construction, and the vitalist therapeutic order.
CE Lectures
• Vitalist Strategies in Herbal Medicine — Purchase
• Case Studies in Vitalist Herbalism — Introduction — Purchase
• Medical Herbalism and the Therapeutic Order — Purchase
• Chinese Medicine Syndromes for the Western Herbalist — Purchase
Courses
• Nutrition in the Herbal Paradigm — With Faculty Support | Self-Study
• Materia Medica Differentials — With Faculty Support | Self-Study
• Herbal Pairing and Modular Formulation — With Faculty Support | Self-Study
• Case Analysis in the Vitalist Tradition — With Faculty Support | Self-Study
• Vitalist Treatment of Acute Symptoms — With Faculty Support | Self-Study