Don’t Pop that Zit! ~ Best Natural Acne Cure

Don’t Pop that Zit!

If you’re looking for the best natural acne cure, consider this: a lot of you probably go right after the first pimple that comes up and make sure you get rid of it, so that the area is a little bit flatter and it shows less.

Probably, you get away with that some of the time, but I see many people who have various crust and scars all over their face where they pop their zits. The bigger problem is that if you squeeze a lesion which has a good part of itself under the skin, you may break that lesion under the skin. The material coming out is as much as a foreign body that can put a splinter under your skin.

That can lead to an even bigger cyst. A cyst that grows so much, that when it finally goes away, there is scaring and a depression that’s left. It takes fairly serious treatment to get back under control.   I think it’s much better to use a treatment that draws acne out, rather than popping and exploding lesions under the skin because once they go bad, they are going to leave marks that are almost permanent. This is part of my natural acne cure.


Could Environmental Toxins Aggravate Acne? ~ Best Natural Skincare

Could Environmental Toxins Aggravate Acne? ~ Best Natural Skincare

We know that acne can be aggravated by chlorinated oils that are used as cutting oils, and that can be a real aggravator for people who are in a profession, like plumbing where they are cutting pipes on a regular basis.  

Another toxin that can aggravate the skin is from soot and way back in the 1700’s, it was identified as a cause of cancers in chimney sweeps.  Another type of toxin that’s much more common would be the various types of pesticides that sometimes are absorbed through the skin and can cause problems in the skin and of course, elsewhere.

Other types of more common exposures are to detergents which irritate by stripping the oils off the skin and causing dryness by breaking the barriers so that other problems develop on top of that, like secondary infection.  We’ve got to be careful about the use of various things that are on the skin and observe whether they’re  aggravating and avoid carefully if they are.


What Really Causes Acne? ~ Holistic Acne Treatment

WHAT REALLY CAUSE ACNE? ~ Holistic Acne Treatment

A long time ago, we used to think everything had one cause. Now we know there’s a whole network of different causes and those come together push the body so it begins to mis-fire. We know that hormones cause acne in many different people because it develops at the time of puberty and gets worse with, say, a menstrual cycle in women.

We also know that some people break out from various foods and there are many different mechanisms by which this happens. It’s not just one thing. One of those reasons is hypersensitivity reaction which is going on in the follicles.  Another reason is that it disturbs sugar metabolism and insulin metabolism.

There are also various kinds of oils and improper oils that come in through the diet and those seem to be contributors to acne in some people as well. So there are many different factors there, different in different people, and as we look at somebody’s story, we begin to understand which ones are most involved.


Fish: Great Food for Your Skin ~ Best Natural Skincare Mediterranean Diet

Let’s talk about some great foods for your skin! One of the best foods for your skin, if you are not a vegetarian, is northern fish. Fish that comes from cold water and grows in cold water and basically is living off the food chain that starts with the krill in the cold water. These fish contain a number of beneficial things, one of which is Omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids, and they will help the membranes of your body both be healthy and be less inflammatory.


What’s the Difference Between a Regular/Holistic Dermatologist?

“I would imagine you get patients who come to you with all kinds of different skin conditions and I would imagine if they went to a traditional dermatologists they would have one kind of treatment and yet you have different kinds of treatment difference between what a regular dermatologist would do and what you do?”


“Well there’s a whole series have different treatments the dermatologists have developed and I learned though they work very well yeah, but they have a certain cost to them because many of them are treating symptoms. For instance the cortisone steroids to calm down the information, but they don’t always get at the cause of the information. If the cause of the information is a dietary habits were is contribute too a heavily dietary habits putting the cortisone on will give you a 1-4 relief so when you stop putting it the problem comes back and unless you correct the underlying cause you still have a problem. I treat a lot of conditions they have inflammation by working my way back towards the underlying causes getting the digestive system working better. Figuring out which things are are causing getting the liver to help detoxify better using anti-inflammatory herbs. I’m able to avoid a lot of the drugs my colleagues need to use on a daily basis in acne people use a lot of antibiotics dermatologists for treating and acne treatment with antibiotics has its cost because people then sometimes get overgrowth used in the intestinal tract. Then they can get even in the worst cases chronic fatigue and they can function. I work with the processes information calming that information through changes in the digestive tract and working on the hormonal basis that the acne using a variety of supplements gently shift how the hormones working in a safer way, because some other side effects and the the supplements amusing or reducing the the the statistical chances breast cancer so I like positive side-effect.

I like it when the patient is treated for their skin and their energy is better and they have more verve during the day and get more done and enjoy life more that’s the kinda side-effect I like to see. I really enjoy working with people who have improvements in their overall health while we’re improving their skin. That’s very different than what many of my colleagues do.”


Acne “trigger” discovered, offering possible new natural acne treatment.

6a00e55255b462883401a73d70d75a970d-250wiImagine a hot button that sets off acne when it is pushed. There is such a “button” that has been recognized in cells that sets off an inflammatory response. It is call the “inflammasome”.

A recent study published in the latest issue of the “Journal of Investigative Dermatology” showed that the acne bacteria, Propionibacterium acnes, activates the “inflammasome” in cells, and may be an important part in the mechanism that sets off acne.

While they suggest finding ways to block this activation, I suggest we look for ways to avoid it and keep our fingers off the button.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine


A Pioneer in Natural Acne Treatment: Dr. Alan Shalita

6a00e55255b462883401a3fcb5d456970b-320wiFor the past few decades, the role of diet in acne treatment was considered to be a red herring. But thinking is changing in recent years. In part, thanks to a great dermatologist and world expert on acne who just passed away last Sunday.

Dr. Alan Shalita was an expert in both clinical treatment and research in the field. And most impressively, his perspective changed as new evidence cam in.

Years ago, he rebuffed my suggestion that diet might have some role in affecting the sebum in a way that caused acne. But in 2010, he was senior author on a scientific article that re-examined the evidence on the association of diet and acne and he concluded that “Dermatologists can no longer dismiss the association between diet and acne.”

He called for others to explore this relationship between diet and acne, something I have been doing successfully for the past few decades. It is of note that such an expert revised not only his thinking, but that his speaking out helped to change the thinking of the majority of dermatologists.

For the past half a century, dermatologists believed that diet had no effect on acne. It’s time for us to wake up to what we are putting in our bodies, if we truly want clear skin.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine


The Secret to Natural Acne Treatment

6a00e55255b462883401a511657216970c-200wiFor years I have been writing and lecturing that acne is caused by inflammation that comes from within.

It’s not just a “local” process caused by plugged follicles. It’s not just caused by the bacteria Propionibacterium acnes that lives in the follicle. Over the years, more data has accumulated to support this thinking.

The big news is that just this month, an article came out in the most scholarly of all the dermatology professional journals, showing that acne is not only related to inflammation, but also has characteristics of an autoimmune disease.

An article in the February issue of the Journal of Investigative Dermatology showed that extracts from the acne bacteria cause formation of “TH 17 Lymphocytes,” a type of white cell characteristic of autoimmune disorders. This same type of lymphocyte was also found in acne lesions themselves.

The other factors, such as diet, have yet to be connected to the findings in this study, but the evidence is growing stronger that something is lighting the fire to cause the inflammation in acne.

Since most people have this Propionibacterium (acne-related) organism in their skin, the flame that sets it off the fire of acne may well be coming from what you eat.

If you break out in acne, pay very close attention to what you put in your body the few days before the acne explosion. Studying your breakout cycle is the start of natural acne treatment.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine


Gray Hair and Stress

6a00e55255b4628834017eea94cb01970d-200wi“You’re giving me gray hair!” a cry that I’m sure I was not the only one who heard this from their mother when their difficult behavior caused her stress. True or not, it all sounded a little like a folk tale, until now. New studies from the laboratory of Dr. Robert Lefkowitz at Duke University show that chronically elevated levels of the stress hormone adrenaline damage the DNA in specific ways that could lead to a spectrum of conditions from gray hair to tumor formation.

The damage was shown to break down p53 protein, the protein that protects the genome against cancer by helping potential cancer cells either repair their cancerous nature, or self-destruct.

In this report in the August 21 issue of the journal Nature, they also showed more detail of the pathway by which adrenaline cause this damage. This included the role of a molecule called beta–arrestin-1 in the process of causing the damage.Two major conferences were held at the New York Academy of Science in the late 1960’s on the effects of psychological factors in causing cancer. An impression of this effect was present for a long time, and supported by numerous studies.

This recent paper by Lefkowitz brings a new level of proof and understanding to the relationship between chronic, excessive stress and the onset of gray hair and cancer. While other factors certainly contribute to onset of these conditions, we can now pinpoint one factor over which we may have some control.
Exercise, meditation, breathing exercises and other stress-management techniques may contribute to longer, healthier, and less gray lives.
To your health,Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.


Saving Money and Saving your Skin in Winter

6a00e55255b4628834017eea952afa970d-200wiIn my holistic dermatology practice, I often help patients whose skin suffers in winter.  It is possible to both help your skin and save money doing it.  I emphasize this because it requires doing something very simple and at the same time very challenging: changing your habits.

Even more, it requires changing the beliefs behind those habits, so I will try to give some additional information beyond what was in my last blog, to help you make these changes.

If you have ever done dishes or wet work, with your hands in and out of water repeatedly for a while, you know how your skin becomes dry and chapped.  This is because you are washing away the oils and the salts which hold water in our skin.  In the winter when the air is dry (low humidity), bathing washes out the oils from the skin. The belief that we need a shower, especially a long, hot one, to be clean, to wake up, or to feel alive in the morning, needs a second look if your skin becomes dry and scaly in winter.  A washcloth under the arm and in the folds does a very nice job between showers, and does not dry out parts of your skin which do not need washing.
The result is that you:
  • save hot water,
  • save on lotion
  • save oils in your skin,
  • save money on heat,
  • save fresh water,
  • safe electricity

Once you have the routine down, you will save time as well.Of course there will be times and situations where you need a shower or bath. Bathing less often, faster, and soaping less areas which do not need heavy cleansing, will keep the moisture in your skin and save you money as well. I repeat the essence of my last message because I have found,
in my 30 yeasr of practice, that people often have to hear it more than once in order to reduce their bathing. Did you?

To your health,

-Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.