PREMENSTRUAL AND MENSTRUAL ACNE

After overcoming the disaster of teenage acne, women trap within periodic pimples. Periodic pimples are short term pimples, like before or during menstruations, during pregnancy etc. In this perticular article we will see how to deal with premenstrual and menstrual acne.

Flare up of acne is very common during or previous to menstrual bleeding, like in any other harmon trigger. Generally the menstrual cycle is of  28-30 days. First half of this cycle is influenced by the harmon oestrogen and second half is by the harmon progesterone. It is said to be that, progesterone trigger causes skin swelling and pore tightening, which leads to build up of sebum beneath the skin layer. While testosterone harmon which reaches to the peak during menstruation causes excessive secretion of sebum through glands within skin. Actually this joint effect has different expression in different woman. It means increased sebum with tight pores can give a special glow in some ladies while in others it can give a sticky, oily skin with infected ,swollen break outs. The second group is unfortunate though!!

The fact here is allopathic medicines can't do a lot in such harmon influenced acnes because it is not a disease but a very natural, normal phenomenon. Use of antibacterial topicals and contraceptive pills might be helpful but could be risky in nulliparous woman. So instead of harmonal physiology or physiological pathology, we can think about these acne in ayurvedic perspective for a good outcome. While doing this we must know some facts about menstrual pimples and it's ayurvedic standpoint.

According to Ayurveda, body heat increases before and during menstruation.Increased heat can increase the oil secretion at skin as well. This oil blocks pores which on infection gives pimples.

Second important thing is , monthly bleeding is' SHUDDHIKRIYA ' ( purification procedure ) of woman body as per ayurveda. So this bleeding should be neither too less nor excessive. If this happens so ,then it can even create many other pathologies in women but here we concerned about acne,so will concentrate on that only. If bleeding during menses is not adequate , then it will be unable to purify all body toxins . Whenever blood gets outlet from body,it drains all impure blood and toxins first. Also the negative feedback of blood loss encourages fresh and fast new blood formation. Even some scientists believe that , women were not prone to diseases like diabetes , hypertension etc few decades before because of proper menstruation only. Now as menstrual troubles are increased in women (whatever might be the causes are! ),So women are now equal sufferers of such diseases to men. In this way ,if blood will not get purified monthly then it can give acne. While if excessive bleeding is there , then it can cause weakness , anaemia etc ,due to which skin becomes dull and acneprone . There is no fix criteria to determine the normal bleeding quantity per cycle as it differs women to women. But one  can compare her consequent cycles to decide the average normal blood flow.

Sometimes women face mild abdominal pain , bloating , mood swings etc during periods, which is normal and quiet common. But if it is severe to tolerate ,then need to be treated. Because these troubles hamper your diet , your routine hygienic care etc which provides a possible climate for acne growth. You can read about painful menstruation and it's ayurvedic management in my another article - NO MORE PAINFUL MENSTRUATIONS , at this same website.

TREATMENT OF MENSTRUAL OR PREMENSTRUAL ACNE-

Now coming to the treatment part, we will see how to overcome all above causes of acne.

1) As I said , body heat increases during menses,so diet is very important to compensate this heat. Good seasonal fruits, protein rich diet,milk, fresh buttermilk (not curd or yogurt) etc are foods which help keeping body heat under control. 

Internally sutshekhar wati, kamdudha wati, prawalyukta gulkand, shatawari churna with milk are advisable. For external application in  menstrual pimples I recommend Chandan powder (Santallum Album) . This is very effective herb on septic acne pustules ,as it has both antiseptic and cooling properties. Just you have to change the carrier with this powder to be applied as per different skin types. Apply Chandan powder with milk on dry to combination skin types and rose water or even coconut water can be added to make a paste for oily kind of skin. 

2) Many multipara women who had very occasional hystory of pimples at teenage ,also complain of sudden oncet of menstrual acne due to reduced bleeding per cycle. Cause of  reduction might be individually different like anaemia after pregnancies and labours, chronic illness, any gyn-obs issue etc. Thus it should be treated accordingly. Punarnawa mandoor, tapyadi loha, Aditya wati , Kumari asav , shatawari kalp are drugs of choice in such conditions.

Excessive blood loss gives dullness to skin. Skin looses it's elasticity, becomes thin and more succeptible to infection of pores. Ashokarishta, dashmularishta, bolbaddha Rasa are medicines for heavy blood flow but still any surgical need should also be ruled out. 

Here anaemia is common in both above conditions either as a causative factor or a sign. In anaemia ,red blood cells decline markedly , hence oxygen carrying capacity of blood also declines. This hampers the oxygen supply of skin as it is the outermost layer. That's why skin in anaemia looks pale , uneven and damaged. So diet and yoga are very important to keep body healthy along with skin. Add iron rich foods to diet and do yoga regularly to get flawless skin. 

3) If there is any issue like abdominal bloating ,pain,mood swings etc during menses then should be treated accordingly. Because as I said earlier,it restricts  skin's hygienic care, while extra care is essential in those days , when extra sebum is there. You must wash face 3-4times a day to avoid dust or dirt  coming in contact with skin. Also apply any gel based daily skin care cream on face to seal the skin externally and thus to avoid dust particles on skin. Avoid junk food , nonveg spicy food during periods to avoid digestive problems. 

Don't touch or scratch pimple again and again. Apply Chandan face pack daily or alternate day. 

Alright,this is all about premenstrual or menstrual acne . Next we will see about acne during pregnancy which is more vulnerable due to restrictions on medicines to be used!