Acne, Eczema, Psoriasis and their psychological effects

Managing Sensitive And Acneic Skin By Mari Bozozo Although having both sensitive and acneic skin is not necessarily a mutually exclusive occurrence, it is more common than not for a person to have both. Yes, some of you may have acneic skin, but are not necessarily sensitive. In your case, that is terrific! But for those of us who have bouts with both, it can be a particularly slippery slope in dealing with it. I have had very sensitive skin for as long as I can remember. The horrors that I have suffered were thankfully not repetitive once I pinpointed the culprits. From those episodes, I learned to take better care of my skin by the process of elimination going forward. One of the main perpetrators for me was the chemical preservative Oxybenzone, a common ingredient found in commercial sunscreens. Without having prior knowledge of my allergy to this ingredient, I recall slathering it on practically all of my body in preparation for a fun day at an amusement park many moon...

Skin Rash Skin Rash - Itchy, red, and inflamed skin can be pure torture. When an itchy skin rash strikes, a cool and soothing skin rash cream is a blissful choice. Even for conditions that require internal medication, a cream provides immediate relief for unhappy skin. Both mainstream and alternative medicines provide skin rash creams that can reduce redness and ease the discomfort. Eczema, or atopic dermatitis, is a type of a rash that primarily occurs in people with asthma or allergies. a rash is often reddish and itchy with a scaly texture. Psoriasis is a common skin condition that can cause a scaly, itchy, red rash to form along the scalp, elbows, and joints. Hydrocortisone is a popular skin rash cream that treats both the discomfort and the unattractiveness of skin rashes. It will also soothe an itchy skin rash while reducing redness, spots, and scaliness.  Hydrocortisone is used in treating a wide variety of rashes, from eczema to allergic irritations, to insect and plant...

Keeping Acne At Bay During the Summer By Mari Bozozo The Dog Days of Summer are undoubtedly here. Along with the long lazy days, beachcombing, sunbathing, and buying our fair share in stocks of bug repellent sprays and antihistamines, we must also tango with the soaring temperatures. And if you’re not blessed enough to reside in areas such as the west coast or the southwest, the heat becomes especially unbearable when coupled with oppressive humidity. Of course, the challenges become amplified for the acne sufferer. Sigh. Is Autumn here yet?! As you may tell, Summer is not my favorite season, and for the reasons mentioned above. However, as someone with a propensity toward challenged skin, I am determined to navigate my way through it, regardless of the darts that the sun rays and the relentless dew points throw at me. One way that I do this is by trying my hardest to keep my sweat to a minimum, particularly when exercising. This is why I avoid any vigorous activity that involves be...

Alternative Ways to Fight Acne By Mari Bozozo As someone who has suffered from acne for the better part of her years, I can tell you, without exaggeration, that I have tried countless products, methods, and treatments that yielded very little if any results in the long run. My acne prevailed, right along with the mounting stress, depression, and anxiety, to boot. From trying the latest and so-called greatest products marketed specifically toward acneic skin, to the expensive prescriptions and treatments. I tried it ALL. However, in the end, none of these “phenomenons” went the distance nor afforded the longevity that I desperately sought. Yet and still, I tirelessly continued in my pursuit. Recently, within the last year, I broke ground. I most certainly have to credit my knowledgeable and resourceful esthetician with steering me in the right direction, by introducing me to a new and innovative way to cleanse my face. Upon first telling me about it, I must admit that I thought she wa...

Camouflaging Acne Scars- Can It Really Be Done? By Mari Bozozo If you’ve suffered from acne for years on end as I have, you more than likely have a very up close and personal, albeit turbulent relationship with its successor- scars. Even if you have managed to win the battle against acne, you continue to wage the war against the scarring that it has indefinitely left behind. Thanks to having highly skilled estheticians in my corner, coupled with eating sensibly, taking the proper supplements, and drinking lots of water, the lot of my acne has been, for a lack of a better phrase, “in remission” for quite some time now. However, the scars that it’s left me with have posed more than my fair share of challenges. These challenges, in my estimation, supersedes its predecessor by leaps and bounds. Acne is cyclical, meaning that it comes and goes. But the scars that it leaves behind lasts forever. There is no taking a break from the permanence of scars, as they are always there. Always. Sim...

Word Association Test On Skin Disease Words Do Matter By Audrey “This test in which the organ of the skin played a vital role as psychic mediator was developed by Carl Jung when he worked as a psychiatrist at the Psychiatric Hospital in Zurich at the turn of the century. It was to mark the beginning of his understanding of the psychic material which presented itself to him, in the course of his work, and during his subsequent psychiatric investigations and studies. Between the years 1902 and 1907 Jung’s early work produced the extraordinary and exciting demonstration that the skin’s electrical activity changed remarkably when certain specific words, (charged with emotional overtones for the subject) were spoken in the course of the test. It became clear that mental activity particularly the process of recall evoked the simple verbal stimuli was consistently and continuously reflected by skin changes. Jung’s paper on his psychological investigations with the galvanometer was ...

8 Things You Should Never Do After A Facial By: Audrey I consider facials to be regular complexion maintenance—kind of like car tune-ups for our face or regular dental cleaning for your teeth. Regular facials can help fight the stress, the environment, and some of our lifestyle habits that take a toll on our skin. And there is plenty to be said for that fresh, shiny glow and soft skin post-facial (not to mention the relaxation of an hour or two of all about me time). But after more than 25 years as an esthetician, I’m always surprised how some people spend $400-$500 on hair and nail on a regular basis and yet, their skin is last on their list! Skin is the largest organ of our body and one of its main functions is to protect our internal organs from harmful things and yet it’s neglected by people of all ages. For those of you that facial is part of your lifestyle, here is the list of 8 things NOT to do on the day of your treatment. For the first day after getting a facial, you...

What About Men With Acne? By Mari Bozozo As a woman, I know all too well that the lot of us are subjected to acne for a plethora of reasons, with hormonal imbalances heading at the top of the list. This would not only explain our cyclical skin eruptions but why we appear to be the sex that appears to struggle with it at a higher rate, thus making us far more vocal about this issue. But what about men with acne? While I believe that they are just as susceptible to it as women, it appears that they adopt a stance of silence and inaction toward it. Thus, resulting in more challenges dealing with it. Certainly, I am not undermining a woman’s insufferable experiences with acne. If that were the case, I’d be undermining my very own. However, if I’m to do a “comparative analysis” in regards to which sex is at a more disadvantage in having acne, I’d be compelled to admit that it very well may be men. Ponder over this for a moment: As women, what is the #1 go-to weapon in our arsenal to eithe...

Acne Scars & Beyond the Physical Damage that it Causes -Part 2 By Mari Bozozo Fast forward to my getting out into the real world after graduation, in pursuit of the career and life that I had been preparing so long for. It was at this time that I had noticed what all of that acne in college had done to my skin. My eyes were not ready for this horrid sight: On my left cheek, approximately the size of a fifty cent piece were only what I could describe as moonlike craters. Later, I learned the proper name for it, ice-pick scars. In my mind, I’d become disfigured. To compensate for my disfigurement, I began to strategically position the left side of my face away from others, by turning subtly to the right. It didn’t matter what setting I’d been in. At work, at social gatherings, even at home amongst family, I was not going to bare my skin to the world suffering further humiliation. I kept up this charade for an indefinite amount of time. Then one day it happen...

Acne Scars & Beyond the Physical Damage that it Causes -Part 1 By Mari Bozozo Over the course of my lifetime, I’ve applied many invaluable lessons to my life by way of the following sayings: “It’s better to have loved and lost, rather than not to have loved at all.” “Look both ways before crossing the street.” “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” And last but certainly not least, “If you are insufferable with acne scars, then avoid mirrors at all costs, especially of the magnifying persuasion, as if your life depended on it. As someone who has grappled with acneic skin for practically half of her life, it is not a far stretch of the imagination to believe that I’ve incurred scarring from it, as well. In my estimation, this is where the struggle really begins. My hate and more hate relationship with acne scars took place very shortly after I graduated from college. While I was still a student, especially during my first year, there was a huge margin for adjustment. Shortly...

By Audrey Being remarkable is to be and act in a way that it’s worth people to talk about, to make a remark about. Being the same as everyone else, copying others, might get some people’s attention for a while but just for a while, it won’t last. Being authentic is misunderstood. Being authentic doesn’t mean a magical truth about who you are deep down, because deep down if we strip away our culture, we would spend all day naked, hunting and pooping in the jungle, that is who we are authentically. Everything else is just a story that we put on, a show to get people to like us and trust us. You probably wore clothes today even though you didn’t necessarily want to or you went to work and took your kids to school even if you didn’t feel like it. So for me, after a bit of research came to realize that, what authentic means is being consistent, what it means is even if you are not in the room am I acting the way I say I act, even if I don’t think you are listening, I am talking...

By: Audrey You can’t be on top of everything. None of us are. So, what will you do about it? What will you do about the areas where you don’t make the commitment and take the time or practice patience to reach your goals and be exceptional? One approach is to never talk about it and ignore it.  Do the work poorly, but pretend you don’t. Another approach is to talk about it and deal with it. Make the effort to find resources you can use to solve your issues. Find a source that will challenge you to do better. Find new and better ways to improve… It’s hard to imagine that avoidance of the issue is going to make things better.

Skin disease: A message from the soul by Dr. Anne Maguire Dr. Anne Maguire a dermatologist and a trained analytical psychologist at Jung Institute has done a great job explaining how our psyche affects everything in our lives including skin disease. A must read for people who suffer from all sorts of skin diseases. She says: “The last fifty years has encompassed unparalleled development in the world of scientific medical research. Yet, still, the causation of many diseases eludes consciousness. Nowhere is this more apparent, than in the sometimes neglected, discipline of dermatology. In which, a scientific basis for causation and treatment is offered to very few diseases of the skin. In fact, the etiology, the cause, is unknown in the vast majority. This work is an exploration of the unconscious psychic background of acute, but mainly chronic skin disease. It is a study, which includes both the personal unconscious of each individual and the vast archetypal world with its comm...