Red, blotchy skin – it’s not exactly acne… but can it be healed with the same, natural, holistic methods?

This is a question I’ve been getting a fair bit, and the answer is yes! Definitely!

Red blotchy skin – whether it’s pigmentation scars from healed acne, unexplained uneven red patches, dry rashes, eczema, rosacea – always has an underlying imbalance that is the cause of the blotchiness. Which means that you can treat it with the same baseline things that I suggest for acne – diet improvements, stress reduction, better sleep, exercise, a little bit ‘o’ sunshine, and a very gentle, natural skin care routine!

Of course, each of these skin issues are slightly different, and therefore each has different triggers and factors that aggravate them. But by treating them holistically with lifestyle changes, you are removing the underlying cause.

Let’s take a look at some of these different conditions: 

Post Acne Pigmentation Scars

For most of us with acne, the most common reason for red blotchy skin is simply because that is what gets left over when a pimple heals. No matter who you are, if you get acne, you’re going to be left with a little mark after the inflamed acne departs. While these marks always go away eventually, for some people these spots will disappear quickly, and for others, it takes AGES! What’s up with that?

Essentially, these red marks are residual inflammation that is lingering after the majority of the local inflammation has cleared. If they stick around for ages, then you know you need to do a little more work on your health in order to get your immune system working the way it should – which means it will heal your spots, and your pigmentation quickly and efficiently (well, mostly likely it’ll prevent you from getting spots in the first place, too!)

If you want to speed up the disappearance of these marks if you already have them, probably the simplest thing you can do is gently exfoliate your skin once or twice a week (a wet cotton cloth, or a yogurt mask works great for this, or this mask). Your skin is always naturally exfoliating itself, but if you are trying to get rid of these marks, giving it a hand will speed it up. Don’t exfoliate too much though or with anything abrasive, or you may cause irritation and leave your skin unprotected and prone to more acne.

Uneven Skin Tone

Okay, so it’s not hyperpigmentation… your skin tone is just uneven… not really rashy, but just… kind of vaguely red and uneven, for no obvious reason.

My advice is the same for hyperpigmentation, although I am not sure if exfoliation will make much of a difference here. It’s just a bit of mild inflammation of the skin. Work on your lifestyle changes, the same as you would for acne. The healthier you are and the more in balance your internal landscape is, the more even your skin tone will be.

Red, Rashy Skin

If your red marks are more like a scaly, red rash (with or without acne-like bumps), there could be numerous causes. The following are some examples of common rash-like conditions:

Eczema:

Eczema is characterized by anything from scaly, dry patches to gooey blisters and dry, leathery areas. Often it can be itchy. Like acne, eczema can have many far reaching causes and triggers. Stress seems to be a big one here. Also, many have found (including me in my own experiences with eczema) is that these rashes can be caused by a candida overgrowth. If you are suffering with eczema, check out my candida cleanse program for help.

Contact Dermatitis:

Contact dermatitis is what happens when a substance touching your skin causes irritation or an allergic reaction. It can result in all sort of welts, blisters, and itchy rashes. For example, the painful sores that come about after you touch poison ivy is an example of contact dermatitis.

If you are getting a rash on your face or body and don’t know what it’s about but suspect it’s contact dermatitis, the first thing you want to think about is what is coming into contact with your skin. There are hundreds of chemicals in our face washes, moisturizers, shampoos, makeup, toothpaste, perfumes, laundry detergents, hand and dish soaps, and cleaning products that could cause this type of reaction. It could even be something irritating in your water supply, or from your cell phone rubbing up against your face.

This is why I highly recommend switching to all natural products, and particularly one or two ingredient solutions – like using raw or manuka honey to wash your face, for example. As is the case with poison ivy, natural things can also cause reactions. So if you get a reaction while you are using a natural organic cleanser or moisturizer but it’s still got an ingredient list a mile long, then you are still lost on what is causing the problem. If you use one ingredient for the intended purpose, you automatically know what’s causing it. (PS – all this stuff pretty much applies to acne too, since acne can also be majorly aggravated by external substances coming in contact with your skin)

Rosacea:

Rosacea is a condition in which your face looks and feels like you’re furiously blushing all the time. It’s characterized by rosy flush across your cheeks and nose and sometimes forehead. The redness tends to be quite sensitive, burny, itchy, and hot feeling. Sometimes rosacea is accompanied by acne-like papules within the red areas (if this is the case, it’s called acne rosacea, and is often confused for regular acne).

Rosacea is most common in women, and usually has an onset between the ages of 30 and 50. You’re more prone to it if you have a lot of sun damage from your youth, blush easily, and are pale skinned.

Again, with this, you want to work on your underlying imbalances through diet and other holistic interventions. You also want to make sure you get limited sun on your face (15 minutes unprotected per day is fine), and prevent flushing as much as possible as this worsens the condition. This might mean avoiding spicy food, hot drinks, or anything else that you have noticed can trigger this. Stress is notably a major cause of flushing, so make sure to work on dealing with stress productively.

Externally, you want to be as gentle as absolutely possible because rosacea skin is so sensitive. Throw out your chemical cleansers and moisturizers! Go for the most gentle skin care you can, or just forego external skin care altogether. Using aloe vera on your face might help significantly since it has such a nice cooling effect. Others have also had a great deal of success using essential oils for treating rosacea.

Watch Me Talk About Red Blotchy Skin in Video

What can you tell us about red, blotchy, or rashy skin? Have you experienced a form of this yourself and found something that works to ease it? Please share with us in the comments below!!