Acne and Pimples

ACNE AND PIMPLES

Acne manifests itself as annoying spots, sometimes only a few blackheads, but often skin patches covered with whiteheads, red papules and pustules. All these manifestations arise from blockage or inflammation of hair follicles. Irrespective of its severity, acne chews on one’s self-confidence. In fact, its psychological impact may be so significant that it may affect one’s quality of life and even one’s employment opportunities.

What causes acne? Acne is caused by hormonal stimulation of the oil glands, thickening of the skin and accumulation of dead cells inside the hair follicle. The excess oil and dead cells become nutrients for normal skin bacteria, raising their numbers abnormally high. These excess bacteria release enzymes that cause inflammation and puss. The latter become nutrients for other (normal) skin bacteria, also raising their numbers to unhealthy levels.

The vicious cycle has begun: more oil and dead cells, more enzymes, more puss, more bacteria… and the problem gets worse fast. Although acne is caused by hormonal imbalances, there are a number of external triggers that may lead to acne.

Types of acne Blackheads and whiteheads are non-inflamed acne, called comedones. Papules are red bumps, whereas pustules are small tender cysts. Papules and pustules are inflamed acne.

A blackhead or a whitehead is a plug of oil and sloughed-off cells inside the hair follicle. With whiteheads, the plug is covered with skin and it has a whitish color. With blackheads, the plug is not covered by skin and as a result of its contact with the air it oxidizes and hence becomes black. Inflammation and swelling associated with papules and pustules indicate the presence of bacterial infection(s).

How many people suffer from acne? The prevalence of acne under teenagers varies between 87% and 94%. A small number of people retain this undesirable problem after puberty and a few have it before puberty! Being such a common problem, it is surprising that there are still some myths about acne.


THE MOST COMMON MYTHS ABOUT ACNE

Myth: Acne is caused by environmental factors, dietary intake or personal hygiene.

Truth: Acne is caused by a genetic predisposition. If a poor exercise programme or facial routine and junk food were causes of acne, many grownups would suffer from severe acne after each winter. However, one cannot simply let go of all that self-discipline because if hormones are not in good balance, poor habits may exacerbate the acne problem!

Myth: The perfect facial cleanser will clear acne. Truth: Because poor personal care is
not the cause of acne, improved personal care is not the solution either. In fact,
excessive cleansing and scrubbing can compromise the skin's protective barrier.
Irritated skin is more prone to allergic reactions than healthy skin and some allergic reactions
cause papules. Very dry skin is easily sensitized by chemicals and environmental
factors. It is therefore important NOT to strip the skin from all its natural moisture.

EXTERNAL TRIGGERS OF ACNE
The most common external triggers include re-contamination, self-induced irritation, drugs and topical products.
Because acne often includes a bacterial infection, opportunities for re-contamination have to be minimized.
Therefore: wear a clean shirt daily, change pillow cases regularly and touch the skin only with clean hands.
Compulsive scratching or harsh treatment of the skin may also increase the severity of acne. Drugs and topical products can cause eruption of acne.
Common drugs include steroids and high doses of vitamin B. It is important to carefully read the insert for potential dermatitis side effects when using any medication. Some of the most common ingredients in cosmetic products that may cause acne eruption are natural oils such as olive oil and sweet almond oil. Take note that these are not problematic drugs or ingredients, but only for individuals affected by acne.

WRONG USAGE OF ANTI-ACNE PRODUCTS
Bodily processes take time. A fractured bone takes approximately 45 days to heal… see?... it takes time. Some are slightly faster and some are slow:

Try and go to the restroom directly after 3 cups of coffee (before church)…
nothing! Only after the body has followed its own pace, it will let you know
its time - usually half-way through the sermon!

Food tends to be slow - one excessive meal will luckily not fatten you up overnight, but consistent overeating will most definitely do that. Just try it for a month and see… The same is true for acne. With proper treatment, an acne-skin can become beautiful – in about 6 weeks.

It will not happen overnight irrespective of how much one squishes, scrubs, paid for the products or how much product one applies. The life-time of a single pimple is a few days. With proper care one can reduce the severity and possibly also the duration of the pimple. Both over-usage and under-usage of anti-acne products increase the problem.

Common mistakes when treating acne + pimples:
• Excessive cleansing and scrubbing.
• Squishing and popping pimples: increase the risk of re-contamination and scarring.
• Over-usage of anti-acne products: leads to increased sensitivity and dryness of the skin.
• Under-usage of anti-acne products causes individuals to move from one product to the next without much success.
• Impatience with treatment: causing individuals interchange between products or stop the treatment altogether.
Using too many different products creates side-effects that interfere with the products’ normal functioning.
• Stopping the use of anti-acne products once the skin seems clear. Don’t! Treatment should continue for several months to completely clear up underlying bacterial infection and probably until hormones have completely stabilized (18+ years).


TREATMENT OF ACNE
Products that promote proper shedding of the epidermis and reduce the excess oil are most beneficial to treating
blackheads and whiteheads. Inflamed acne is always an indication of bacterial infection and needs to be treated with
anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial products. See the relevant text boxes below for treatment. If acne becomes
worse, it is likely due to uncontrolled bacterial infection under the upper layers of the skin. In this case, it may be
necessary to use oral antibiotics or even stronger dermatological medicine. Avoid permanent psychological scarring
by seeing a doctor/dermatologist.
Important treatments that contribute to a beautiful skin -
• Drink plenty of water – flushing the system eliminates toxins that may worsen the problem.
• Steam regularly – this is a cheap and very effective way to control acne breakouts.
• Avoid dry and sensitive skin by using a moisturiser that does not promote acne.

Caring for blackheads and whiteheads:
• Cleanse dirt and reduce excess oil. (Foaming Cleanser of/or Facial Wash Regular / 2x daily)
• Steam twice a week after cleansing. Purify the pores. (Facial Mask /1x weekly)
• Remove dead cells. (Refining Scrub /1x weekly)
• Restore moisture balance. (Vanishing Cream of/or Whole-leaf Gel /after cleansing)
• Promote hormonal balance. (Radical Image /2x daily)

Caring for infected acne:
• Cleanse dirt and reduce excess oil and bacteria. (Facial Wash Bitter /2x daily)
• Steam every second day after cleansing.

• Purify the pores. (Facial Mask /1x weekly)
• Remove dead cells./ (Refining Scrub /1x every 10-14 days but not on irritated skin.
• Reduce bacterial infestation, inflammation and swelling. (Super Aloe Gel and/en Bitter Aloe Gel).
• Restore moisture balance. (Vanishing Cream or/of Whole-leaf Gel /after cleansing.)
• Promote hormonal balance and reduce infection.
(Radical Image /2x daily Val-u-Life /1x daily, Fabulous Fibre Bitter /½-1x daily)

Article from Aloe Ferox Newsletter 4/2012

Aloe Ferox Bitter Crystals and their uses

Aloe Ferox Bitter Crystals and their Beneficial effects

 Why Should you consider using Aloe Ferox Bitter Crystals or Aloe Ferox Fabulous Fibre Bitters?

In order to ensure detoxification it is essential to prevent constipation and assist the liver to
prevent the accumulation of toxins in the body that can result in diseases.

The Aloe Ferox bitter as detoxifier is effective to:
• prevent constipation
• assist the liver to eliminate toxins

Additionally bitter is:

• potent antibacterial and antiviral agent effective for:
• peptic ulcers,
• urinary infection and gastroenteritis,
• herpes and influenza virus
• liver protective and is used prevent cancers.

HOW DOES THE BODY ELIMINATE TOXINS?

Our bodies are continuously exposed to toxins. They are in food, water and the environment
and gets absorbed into the blood stream. These toxins are removed from the blood stream
by the liver and are eliminated via the gastro-intestinal tract.

Since the liver dumps wastes into the intestines it is essential to prevent constipation.

Keeping the bowels clean and moving is a major step in regaining our health since the
bowels are crucial in the elimination of toxins. When the bowels slow down, toxins are NOT
eliminated and are reabsorbed and carried back to the liver for recycling and elimination
thus toxin levels increase.

If these toxins persist in the liver and gastrointestinal tract they can cause irritation and
inflammation making you more susceptible to disease and infection. Common toxicity
symptoms are fatigue, headache, elevated cholesterol, lower back pains, allergies and
indigestion.

Detoxification will restore proper functioning of the organs, cell membrane integrity and
control inflammatory responses. Effective for autoimmune and skin diseases and help
resolve mental disorders and depression.

THE ALOE BITTER DETOX:

Aloe ferox is well known for its medicinal properties. The bitter leaf juice is best known for
its use as a laxative.

Digestive system;

The active constituent in the bitter is the anthrones. They are degraded in the colon by
bacteria to aloe-emodin, which function as a stimulant laxative (Blumenthal 1998). The
cathartic and laxative effect of aloe bitter is caused by its influence on the motility of the
colon.

Resulting in:
• accelerated intestinal passage of feaces and toxins
• increased water content in the faeces making the stool softer.
In addition to its purgative effect the bitter substance the scientific literature documents
various medical applications.
Anti-microbial

The aloe-emodin in bitter has been shown to inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori, which is responsible for peptic ulcers (Wang 1998). Similarly, the bitter is antibacterial thus preventing gastroenteritis and urinary tract infection (Reynolds 1999).

Aloe bitter was also found to be virucidal by disrupting the coating of the herpes and influenza virus (Sydiskis 1991).

Liver
The benefit of aloe-emodin on the liver has also been documented. In diabetics the liver
detoxification function is impaired resulting in liver damage. Can (2004) showed that the
bitter had a protective effect on liver injury preventing tissue damage. Additionally, it
lowered blood sugar levels by 34%, which is beneficial for insulin control.
Chung (1996) demonstrated the liver protection effect of aloe-emodin by increasing the
alcohol elimination and the disappearance of alcohol from the body by 45% and 50%,
respectively.

Anti-cancer activity
Kuo (2002) has demonstrated that aloe-emodin induced cancer cell disintegration and acted
as an effective anticancer effect in human liver cancer. Similarly, Pecere (2000) found that
aloe-emodin did not inhibit fibroblast proliferation while selectively inhibiting human
neuroectodermal tumour cells. Aloe-emodin has also been shown to inhibit leukemia by
inducing cell disintegration (Chen 2004).
It is clinically proven that the use of anthranoid laxatives, even in the long term, does not
cause cancer (Nusko 2000).

TOXICITY AND CONTRAINDICATIONS:
In large dosages the aloe bitters can cause severe diarrhea and intestinal cramping.
Chronic use can lead to potassium loss, may reduce absorption of drugs due to decreased
bowel transit time and may cause intestinal dependence on laxatives.
Aloe bitters is not recommended for people with intestinal obstruction, intestinal
inflammation, appendicitis and abdominal pain of unknown origin.



REFERENCES:
BLUMENTHAL, M., BUSSE, W.R., GOLDBERG, A., HALL, T. et al. 1998. German Commission
E Monographs. Austin:American Botanical Council and Integrative Medicine Communications.
CAN, A., AKEV, N., OZSOV, N., BOLKENT, S., ARDA, B.P., et al. 2004. Effect of Aloe vera leaf
gel and pulp extract on the liver in type II diabetic rat models. Biol. Pharm. Bull. vol.27. no.5. p
694-698.
CHUNG, J-H, CHEONG, J-C, LEE, J-Y, ROH, H-K & CHA, Y-N. 1996. Acceleration of the
alcohol oxidation with aloin, a quinine derivative of aloe. Biochemical Pharmacology. vol.52. p
1461-1468.
KUO, P-L, LIN, T-C. & LIN, C-C. 2002. The antiproliferative activity of aloe-emodin is through
p53-dependent and p21-dependent apoptotic pathways in human hepatome cell lines. Life
Sciences. vol.71. p 1879-1892.
NUSKO, G., SCHNEIDER, B., SCHNEIDER, I., WITTEKIND, C. & HAHN, E.G. 2000. Anthranoid
laxative use is not a risk factor for colorectal neoplasia: results of a prospective case control
study. Gut. vol.46. no.5. p 651-655.
PECERE, T., GAZZALO, V., MUCIGNAT, C., PAROLIN, C., et al. 2000. Aloe-emodin is a type of
anticancer agent with selective activity against neuroectodermal tumors. Cancer Research.
vol.60. p 2800-2804.
REYNOLDS, T. & DWECK, A.C. 1999. Aloe vera leaf gel: a review update. J. of
Ethnopharmacology. vol.68. p 3-37.
SYDISKIS, R.J., OWEN, D.G., LOHR, J.L., ROSLER, K-H. A. & BLOMSTER, R.N. 1991.
Inactivation of enveloped viruses by anthraquinones extracted from plants. Antimicrobial
Agents and Chemotherapy. vol.35. no.12. p 2463-2466.
WANG, H., CHUNG, J., HO, C., WU, L. & CHANG, S. 1998. Aloe-emodin effects arylamin Nacetyltransferase
activity in the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. Planta Medica

How Much Aloe is there in Aloe Ferox Skin Care products?

How much aloe is there in the Aloe Ferox skin care products?

Sometimes one sees a skin product that claims to “contain 80% aloe”. It surely sounds
amazing, don’t you think? But is it possible? Advertisements that make these kinds of
assertions are phrased in such a manner to allow for different interpretations, hoping
that the prospective buyer will make the “best” assumption from the clever words.

Take note of the different meanings of the phrase “contains 80% aloe”:

1. 80% of the total composition of the particular skin product consists of raw aloe
while other ingredients accumulate to only 20% of the total composition (this is usually what the advertisement would want one to believe).

But it may also mean:

2. The skin product contains some aloe extracts, and the composition of the extract is 80% raw aloe and 20% other ingredients like solvents (this is usually the correct interpretation!).

Two technical problems exist for topical application of skin products containing plant materials, namely
(1) by their very nature, plant materials degrade (rot) to reunite with their natural environment;

(2) plant materials are ordinarily not skin-friendly – their natural moisture is either sticky, oily, has a strong fragrance, makes the skin itch, or simply irritates the skin. Using a high concentration of these materials in a cosmetic product requires strong preservation to preclude rotting.

Furthermore, skin unsuitability/incompatibility of the final product is commonly directly related to the concentration (%) of plant materials in the product.

However, the phrase “contains 80% aloe” creates the impression that a product of which the final composition contains 80% plant material is more effective than a product of which the final concentration contains 10% aloe. 

This is pure nonsense and preys on the ignorance of consumers.

Scientists working on bio-active materials always specify TWO limits for effectiveness. The first is the lowest concentration required to impart skin benefits. In some cases, this lowest concentration is as low as 0.1%. The upper limit indicates the maximum concentration of the material that will have maximum benefits. Beyond this maximum, there is no additional skin improvement irrespective of the excess. In fact, above the upper limit, the plant may potentially become a skin irritant or be toxic.

Aloe Ferox has done many tests to estimate the maximum aloe concentration in a skin product. The minimum beneficial concentration is approximately 1.5% for water-soluble and 0.5% for oil-soluble aloe extracts. Above 10% water-soluble aloe extract, the final product becomes sticky and will probably create a coating on the skin that looks like dandruff as it peels off during the day. Above 2% oil-based aloe extracts, the final product becomes very oily. The aloe concentrations of Aloe Ferox cosmetic creams, as well as the concentration of Super Aloe Gel are within the limits discussed above. Whole-leaf Gel contains 10-20% aloe extracts, which is still perfectly safe, but which explains why the product is stickier than the other products. The aloe extracts used at Aloe Ferox contain 95 - 100%
aloe.

What does it mean if a product is pH balanced?

The pH of a substance is a scale to measure the acidity or alkalinity of the substance. The scale is like
a short ruler. It has only 14 units with 7 being the middle, hence being neutral. Below pH 7, a
substance is considered acidic and above 7, a substance is considered alkaline (soapy). The farther
the measurement from 7, the stronger the acidity or alkalinity. The pH value of human skin is
between 4.5 and 6.5. All manufacturers of personal care products should measure the pH of the final
product and adjust (balance) the pH if it falls outside skin pH levels, otherwise the product is likely to irritate the skin.

Usually, the pH of a product falls very slightly for some time after it has been manufactured. Therefore, a pH balanced cream is one where the pH has been adjusted to 5.5 - 6.5 during manufacturing to allow for a slight decline and also to prevent the product from irritating the skin.

All Aloe Ferox creams are designed, manufactured and tested to fall within these guidelines. All Aloe Ferox products are pH balanced.