Powerful skin advice you’ll never hear from a dermatologist
Takeaways from ten years of healing my skin from the inside out
Introduction
For the majority of my life, I’ve had a complicated relationship with my skin.
As soon as puberty struck in my early teens, my face broke out in a mass of pimples, blotches, and bumps. Already self-conscious to begin with, I covered my skin with makeup and waited until that time when, as my parents promised, my hormones would calm and my skin would clear up on its own.
Except that time never really came.
Long after my friends’ faces returned to their former smoothness, mine was still plagued by bumps, dark circles, and recurrent staph infections. Occasional trips to doctors and dermatologists led to the usual suggestions- salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide- before ramping up to more aggressive recommendations for topical steroids, antibiotics, and birth control- none of which I opted to take out of concern for their side effects.
Despite the fact everyone could see I had acne, no one could tell me why.
It turns out, the answers were in places I never would have thought to look. In the midst of healing chronic Lyme disease, I focused on detoxifying and healing organs deep within my body and to my surprise, my skin reaped the benefits.
Now at age 29, I no longer use- or even own- makeup and my skin is finally clear. Not only that, but it has a healthy glow and hydration that it lacked for most of the last decade.
For anyone struggling with skin issues and unable to find a fix, here are the top three things I discovered:
#1. Skin Health Starts in Your Liver
A few weeks back, I embarked on the Medical Medium 3–6–9 cleanse, which focuses mainly on liver detox. Though I wrote about the cleanse in more detail here, the reason for it is that because our modern lifestyles and environments expose us to unprecedented levels of toxins and heavy metals, it’s sometimes necessary to help our bodies release them by cleansing.
By the end of the cleanse, I not only experienced better joint elasticity and gut health, but my skin dramatically improved. Not only was it clearer and better hydrated but the dark circles I had under my eyes since college disappeared.
According to Anthony Williams, the author of the 3–6–9 Cleanse:
“If not from a lack of sleep, [dark under-eye circles are] a sign of a liver struggling with an abundance of toxins…this can lead to the blood getting thick because it can’t properly detoxify…Thick blood suspends toxins in the bloodstream, which can create this shadow under the thin layer of skin beneath the eyes.”
As I discovered after the cleanse, the connection between liver and skin health runs very deep. Healing systems as diverse as Traditional Chinese Medicine and European Biological Medicine consider many skin issues to be direct manifestations of a sluggish or overburdened liver. Since the liver is responsible for removing toxins and waste from the blood, there are major consequences when it is not working properly.
Edible Beauty Australia shares:
“A congested and sluggish liver means that:
Toxins are not being efficiently excreted from the body, leading to an excessive build-up of toxins, inflammation and eventually skin eruptions, spots, breakouts or accelerated ageing.
Sex hormones are not being adequately deactivated and cleared from the body, often leading to excessive circulating testosterone which means a higher rate of sebum production, a trigger for oily and acne-prone skin and breakouts.
Fat is not being adequately broken down, leading to undigested fat entering the digestive system, causing a build-up of waste widespread inflammation in the body and the skin.
Blood sugar levels are not being kept in check, increasing insulin levels, androgen hormones which is often linked to hormonal acne.”
Unfortunately, the important link between liver and skin health has been largely forgotten in conventional Western Medicine and dermatology. If you are curious to see how changes in your liver show up in your skin, consider trying the 3–6–9 cleanse to see for yourself.
Before:
A batch of passport photos taken a few days before starting the cleanse.
After:
A photo taken at home on day 7 of the cleanse | Credited: Katie Critelli
Though I didn’t have the foresight to take identical photos before and after the cleanse to document changes, above are photos taken before and towards the end of the cleanse, both without makeup.
#2. Test for Food Sensitivities and Shift Your Diet
The first breakthrough I made in improving my skin actually came as a side effect of treating joint and GI issues associated with Lyme disease.
I consulted a nutritionist who tested me for food sensitivities because I was struggling with severe digestive issues. He explained that unlike the food allergies so many people are familiar with, food sensitivities are much harder to detect and can lead to a variety of issues associated with systemic inflammation, including acne and rashes.
After learning I had food sensitivities to dairy, soy, and corn, I removed them from my diet and immediately noticed a major improvement in my quality of life. My arthritis symptoms and GI issues not only disappeared within a couple weeks but the small bumps that had been plaguing my skin for years went away.
As Sam Wood, author of “Unmasking Acne,” explains:
“Research also shows that a lack of diversity in the gut microbiome (oftentimes due to antibiotics) can be to blame for food intolerances that trigger inflammation-causing allergic reactions. It’s important to note that these allergic reactions oftentimes aren’t full-blow life-or-death ordeals- they can express themselves in various ways, including inflammation and acne.”
From personal experience, though changing my diet wasn’t easy initially, my health benefitted in every way: better joints, better digestion, better mood, and certainly better skin.
#3. Expose Your Skin to the Cold
A little over a year ago, I decided to give the Wim Hof Method (WHM) a try. I was intrigued by claims that it could offer major improvements for Lyme disease and arthritis and wanted to find out for myself.
The WHM relies on three simple pillars: cold therapy, breathing, and commitment. According to Hof, cold therapy conditions the vascular system and improves blood flow, breathwork changes the body’s biochemistry from acidic to alkaline, and commitment creates the patience and dedication necessary for long-term change.
While the promises are major, getting started with the WHM is surprisingly simple: I began by switching the end of my showers from hot to cold and gradually increasing time in the cold.
Shortly after my first week of cold showers, I noticed an increased sense of alertness and better sleep along with something unexpected: my skin and hair looked better!
As it turns out, the benefits of cold exposure impact the skin dramatically. Cold exposure improves overall circulation and vascular health, allowing nutrients and oxygen to reach the skin and toxins to be removed from it. It also tends to also help your skin and scalp lock in moisture, leading to shinier hair and better skin.
On a broad level, cold showers help reduce overall stress and inflammation, a fundamental cause of most forms of acne.
After an initial period of discomfort and adjustment, cold showers quickly become routine but the benefits to skin and overall health continue to grow over time.
Conclusion
Discovering how to heal my skin in tandem with my overall health was a huge confidence boost. Though it happened over a period of years, my only frustration is that so much of the information I received from my doctors and dermatologists was not only misleading- it was wrong or harmful.
I was told by multiple dermatologists that there was no evidence diet impacts skin health, despite learning and experiencing the opposite. I was told antibiotics would resolve my skin issues, though they contributed to gut damage that later did just the opposite. And I was told that I “had acne,” as if I happened to just be unlucky.
Though each person’s skin is as unique as each person’s body, I believe factors like liver health, gut health, and circulation are vastly overlooked contributing factors to skin health. And the good news is, a lot can be done to improve them.
