How to Ensure Truly Natural Skin Care

For years, I've recognized the importance of putting natural, healthy foods into my body. That's why I'm an avid label-reader: because I want to be sure I'm choosing clean, non-toxic foods that will nourish me physically and support my quest for natural health and wellness. However, until recently, I didn't give the same attention to the skin care products I purchased. I just assumed that if a product said "natural" on the label, it must be okay. Now I know better. And, because I believe that what I put ON my body is as important as what I put IN it, I've become an educated label detective. I scrutinize skin care product labels for potentially toxic ingredients like methylparaben, propylparaben, and triethanolamine. If the ingredients list reads like a document from a science lab, I put the product back on the shelf.

Homeopathic Support for Natural Skin Care

Since I'm not personally interested in filling my pores with potentially toxic substances, I began to research the use of homeopathics to promote natural skin health. Happily, I discovered that homeopathic remedies can be quite effective in helping restore the skin to its normal healthy state.

As the largest organ of the human body, the skin plays a vital role in overall human health. It protects us from unfriendly bacteria and viruses, shields us from environmental elements like hot sun and cold wind, and helps eliminate toxins and wastes that other organs can't process. Yet, when the body is out of balance, this organ becomes unbalanced as well. As a result, the skin might begin to manifest symptoms such as acne, eczema, dryness, or an itchy rash. Because homeopathic medicine works by stimulating the body's inherent healing response, the use of homeopathic remedies can provide temporary relief from a wide range of skin-based symptoms.

Dry skin conditions: From antiaging, eczema, and psoriasis to mens and womens natural skin care products, a range of homeopathic remedies are available to provide relief from irritating symptoms of dry, scaly, or prematurely wrinkled skin.

• Baby skin care: No one wants to put potentially toxic products on their baby's tender bottom. Look for gentle, remedy-enhanced diaper rash lotions that will relieve painful diaper rashes without dangerous side effects.
• Acne: While many over-the-counter acne treatments available today are effective in removing acne, they often contain ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide (identified as a "limited evidence carcinogen") or salicylic acid (identified as a "photosensitizer" that has the potential to increase risk of sunburn and skin cancer). Homeopathy provides safe, effective natural acne treatments that can help reduce acne flare ups without dangerous side effects.
• Herpes, shingles, and warts: These virus-based conditions respond quite well to the homeopathic use of natural health remedies. But, if they tend to recur, I encourage you to seek the support of a licensed homeopathic practitioner.
• Sensitive skin caused by chemotherapy or radiation therapy: While chemotherapy and radiation therapy are effective in helping kill cancerous tumors and preventing their return, they are serious medical treatments that often result in uncomfortable after-effects, including tender or dry skin conditions. Homeopathic remedies are extremely gentle and, because they are medically benign they will not interact with or antidote chemotherapy or radiation treatments. They can be quite useful in helping to restore balance to post-chemo bodily systems, and can provide temporary relief from some of the most common side effects of chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Become an Educated Label Detective

To learn more about potentially toxic ingredients in your current skin care products, go to www.ewg.org and click on the "Skin Deep" link on the right vertical menu.

Consult a Homeopath for Whole-Body Health

Always be sure to involve your healthcare practitioner in your natural skin care treatments. From a homeopathic perspective, chronic conditions, such as eczema or acne, are viewed as symptoms of a greater imbalance. While certain homeopathic remedies will bring temporary relief from symptoms of these chronic skin conditions, you will need to work with an experienced homeopath if you want to cure your condition for good. A homeopathic doctor will work with you to discover the constitutional remedy that will restore your whole body to optimum health.

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What is homeopathy?

An alternative treatment of disease involving the consumption of natural materials that simulate the symptoms of the disease. These materials are first diluted in pure water to such an extent that there are generally no molecules of the original material left. The efficacy of this treatment is rejected by most medical experts. It has the potential of causing harm, because individuals may seek a cure through homeopathy, and ignore the potential for a cure from a physician.
A natural pharmaceutical science that utilizes substances from the plant, mineral, and animal kingdoms and is based on the premise that these naturally occurring substances can cure disease symptoms similar to those they produce if taken in overdose. Each medicine is individually prescribed according to how it stimulates the immune and defence systems of the sick person. Sometimes it is called the “royal medicine.
A form of medicine that relies on minute amounts of herbs, minerals, and other substances to stimulate natural defences against disease. It is more widely used in Western Europe than the United States. Developed in the late 18th century by Samuel Hahnemann, MD, the therapy uses the "law of similars" to treat disease. That is, if large amounts of a substance such as quinine cause symptoms of an illness in a healthy person, then smaller amounts should be used for the cure.