Contents

Summary

Hypothesis 5

4

Methodology

References/Research Data

Results/Discussion

5

6

11

Literature Review 2

Abstract 1

12

General Discussion 10

Abstract

This study examined the level of awareness of correlation between facial acne and it’s three

triggers: consumed food, condition of internal organs and anxiety levels. A questionnaire has been

conducted on 25 participants that included key questions about whether or not the participants

believe that food or organ health effect their acne and how what steps they take in treating acne

vulgaris. It has been hypothesized that lack of knowledge/education of young teenagers about facial

acne leads for naturally preventable acne to become permanent adult acne.

After analysing the survey it has been revealed that 96% of acne sufferers strongly care about

the presence of this disease in their life, with 63% of them avoiding social situations because of their

condition. However, 41% of people believe that the state of their organs has no correlation to the state

of their skins with only 16% beliving that those two factors are related. At the same, time only 32% of

participants belived that their food consumption defenitely had an affect of their acne, while 16%

believe that the food had nothing to do with their condition. Along with the 100% foul prescribed

treatment, onyl 38% of participants took natural steps in treating their condition.

This data suggests that the lack of awareness about preventative ways of treatment leads to

high anxiety levels and manifests itself in a poorer quality of life as a whole.

Mapping Out Acne 1

1. Afr J Tradit Complement Altern Med. 2007; 4(3): 319–337. Published online 2007 Feb. 16 <ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P-MC2816487/>2. Shrankhla HolecekApril 29, 2015, Face Mapping: What Your Skin Says About Your Health <mindbodygreen.com/0-18257/-face-mapping-what-your-skin-says-about-your-health.html>3. <lifestyleher.com/face-mapping>4. Feb 2016, Face mapping:what your breakouts can revel about your health, the skin radar <theskinradar.blogspot.-ca/2016/02/face-mapping-what-your-breakouts-can.html>

Literature Review

Facial Acne is a common disease among people of all nations and ages, and surprisingly, it is still

extremely prevalent in the more medically advanced Westernized societies. During the 1900s, alterna-

tive medicine practices were widely popular; however, by 1960s, with the progression of science, such

practices fell out of favour yet the questions about causes and effects of acne has not significantly

decreased.

Due to the fact that the prevalence of acne has not been reduced many skin specialists often go

back to alternative medical treatments to find the root cause of its prevelence. But what about regular

people in their daily lives? Are they really aware of the cause and effects their life style has on their

condition? How does it manifest itself in their every day routine?

The main medical treatment that prompted research on how the lack of preventative treat-

ment effects facial acne was Acne Face Mapping practice. It is part of a alternative medicine practice,

which is greatly neglected today, first originated around 5,000 years ago in the Indian Subcontinent

under the name of Ayurveda(1). The ancient rishis and sages referred to it as the “science of life” ,

within which they built up an amazing structure that determined mental, physical and spiritual differ-

ences within each one of us and how they manifest themselves physically(2).

These same techniques, which are unfortunately only presently used by some preventative

medical practitioners, are essential to the person’s skin and overall health condition. The teaching are

based on the fact that your body is a whole, and that treating skin, or any other condition alone will

never solve the root cause of the problem and that any point of a person’s face connects to a particular

organ, which only after being treated properly wil solve the external skin problems (3). Although today’s technology far exceeds the precision of the practice, it’s fairly recent develop-ment and not a lot of people can a order MRI or X-Ray examinations(4). What can really make a differ-ence is using medical practitioner’s nuanced observational diagnoses to get to the real solution of the problem faster(4). By observing general facial condition, from dullness, di erent face colour, acne placement a person can figure out what organs should be addressed. Therefore, it is easy to spot the reccurring internal problem if you keep getting acne in the same spot.

Mapping Out Acne 2

Our body if fully connected, complete treatment of any health problem is never fully isolated. If there is, is a problem with one part of the body it usually shows up some other place entirely. When it comes to different foods that are more likely to cause acne, it is of course very individu-al, however certain foods have the most negative effect on organs, which in turn causes break outs in particular facial regions. For example, the foods that cause acne between the eyebrows suggest prob-lems with liver. It includes foods that are high on the food chain like meats and dairy, as well as any cuisine a person might be allergic to will have a similar effect. Pimples in eyebrows points to total dehydration, and anything that causes it: alcohol, smoking, salt consumption and water substitutes filled with sugar. Sometimes it is not the food directly that causes breakouts; for example, nose pimples are most likely telling a person that they spend too much time indoors, and therefore have bad circula-tion and higher than normal blood pressure. One of the most common things that causes acne are fat and sweet foods, which are directly linked to the chin and mouth area. Moving downwards, we get to an area that is the most difficult to control- jawline and neck, because it is mostly triggered by hormonal changes. However, a person can worsen it by consuming fast foods and eating a lot of hormone-inject-

5. <davidwolfe.com/chinese-face-map/>6. <davidwolfe.com/chinese-face-map/>7. What is your acne telling you? <thebeautygypsy.com/what-is-your-acne-telling-you/>8. Acne Face Map <skinacea.com/acne/acne-face-map.html>

According to the Ayurveda, face mapping issues in certain organs tend to appear on specific facial regions, especially in people who are prompt to developing acne. For instance, acne between the eyebrows means that a person ‘s liver is having trouble removing toxins from the pollution or the foods. Eyebrow arch acne points to difficulties in kidneys, while the nose region is responsible for the heart. One of the most easily recognizable facial areas for detecting stomach malfunction are pimples in the mouth and chin area. Moving towards the middle of the face the upper cheek acne can tell a person that they might want to check their lung condition, whereas general cheek area is responsible for both liver and lungs. And finally, perhaps the place where a lot of teenagers and woman still get acne regard-less of their age is jaw and neckline, because it displays a person’s hormonal state(6,7). The acne causes listed for each facial region are general guidelines and may not apply to everyone. For instance, just because you break out on your forehead, doesn't automatically mean there's something wrong with your liver. While Chinese medical practitioners and reflexologists believe that certain zones of your face represent certain internal areas of your body, face mapping for acne is not an exact science. While internal problems can be one of the main reasons for acne, especially if you get cystic pimples, there are several other factors that can be responsible for breakouts. These range from skin care products, hygiene, hormones, allergies, genetics, etc. However, understanding what it means when you get pimples on certain facial zones is a good place to get ideas about how to clear your skin(8).

Mapping Out Acne 3

When the acne affects a person’s self-esteem on daily basis and adds constant stress to any daily activity it makes for a catch twenty- two. One of the main causes for acne is stress, which creates an internal hormonal disbalance, which in turn causes more acne. The main concern with and the main affect of acne is not a physical one. Although it most likely does point out to several health issues, it is the psychological and social impact that makes it so diffi- cult to both live with a battle. Due to the change in hormonal balance of the growing organism, teenag-ers get affected by it the most. Because it is the crucial time when an individual is developing his/her personal and character it is essential that its not all flooded by body image and self-esteem concerns(9).One of the key good communication factors is eye contact. It is found that most of the acne sufferers avoid looking at the person they are communicating with by either looking away, growing hair to cover their face, wear heavier make up and glasses. All of that in turn leads to avoidance of any not only social places, but mandatory places such as school, change rooms and sport activities. One of the great concerns which affects all ages is trouble building any relationships at all with the opposite sex, which from temporary embarrassment can quickly turn into depression. Together with all of the above, if the acne prevails, it later greatly reduces possible career choices, ruling out many visually exposed occupations such as modeling. Unfortunately a lot of teenagers do not recognize the signs of acne early on, perhaps not being aware of their food allergies or other health complications which can all lead to irreversible or hardly fixable damage(9). Looking into the future of acne treatment, although it is looking better, there is a still a long way to go. Just like any health issue, acne disease is purely individual; therefore the treatment has to be entirely selective based on the handling physician or a dermatologist. Much of the evidence-based research must be documented and processed such, as population based study with detailed profiling of the demographic affcted by acne. The point in all these studies is to derive key coherent outcomes so that the specialists can compare the trials and assess clinical results. Unfortunately, currently there is no systematic review of the rising acne conditions or the most prevalent ones, thus there is no one to keep track f it. One of the most prominent issues is inability to acquire general statistical knowledge from English-speaking population that has not and/or will not visit a clinic and from any non-English speaking countries/individuals (10). These sparse researches have left much room for more investigation. There is definitely a way to study general population to see the relationship between the quality of life effected by acne and knowledge about preventative medical measures taken by those people. According to the data from the British journal of dermatology, largest segment of 85 percent of people effcted by acne are between of 15 to 30 years old(11). Therefore, it is more effective to primarily target this age group within this study.

9. Psychological e ects of acne. Dr Amanda Oakley MBChB FRACP, Hamilton, New Zealand. Dr John Collier MBChB MRCPsych FRANZCP, Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist, Hamilton. Reviewed by Dr Oakley and Vanessa Ngan, Sta Writer, February 2014 <dermnetnz.org/topics/psychological-e ects-of-acne>10. Evidence Report/Technology Assessment: Number 17. Management of Acne<archive.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/acnesum.htm>11. Bhate K, Williams HC. Epidemiology of acne vulgaris. The British journal of dermatology 2013;168:474-85

Mapping Out Acne 4

In this study I’ve hypothesized lack of knowledge/education of young teenagers about facial acne leads for naturally preventable acne to become permanent adult acne. The main goal of this research is to discover human level of awareness and correlation between facial acne and consump-tion of certain foods, organ malfunction and anxiety levels.

Method

The pool participants consisted of some of Daria Lapteva’s 1032 Facebook friends as well as three groups of York/Sheridan Design students. The total participans included 34 males and/or females ages 16-45, who have indentified to have experienced acne problems in their life.

This research utilized quantitative data collection, which consisted of a questionnaire. Correla-tional research will allow to recognize patterns and trends in the gathered statistical data. The particpants chose partake in the survey consisting of 10 acne-related quesions made using surveymon-key.com.The survey was set up with first mandatory question to identify relevance of the singular person on the subject of having experienced acne. The rest of the questions were optional.

Design

Hypothesis

Participants

Mapping Out Acne 5

Results/Discussion

Mapping Out Acne 6

very certain

uncertain

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

41.67%

16.67%

What is causing the acne?

39%

22%17%

17%5%

23 participants

22% claim to be completely aware of what is causing their acne

Within the study I’ve predicted that acne had largely effected the participants life in a negative way and that the participants were unaware of the cause-effect of food and internal organ related factors. One of the most important questions presented at the beginning of the survey was whether or not the participants knew what was causing their acne. Objectively, an answer to this question can reveal one of two things. People who are uncertain about causes of their acne are are likely to be open to learning more about the subject. On the other hand, those who claim to be certain about what causes their acne are either on a sure path of eliminat-ing it or they are wrong in their conviction. It turned out that out of 23 participants 78% had varying level of conviction with 22% being absolutely certain (fig 1). Here, it can be speculated that the participants who have cured their acne were the ones who were certain, while the majority of suffers could not be sure because otherwise they would’ve already cured it. Regardless, it demonstrated potential willingness to learn more about the issue.

(Fig. 1)

Always

Never

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

41.67%

16.67%

Avoiding social life due to acne

16%

5%10%

32%37%

19 participants

63% of participants avoid social situations

because of acne

5% ALWAYS avoid all social gatherings

While dealing with any issue it is important to understand the extent to which it affects people in their daily life. Derived from personal experience, the second question addressed the presence of acne related anxiety. It turns out that out of 23 participants only one person reported to not care when they spot a pimple on their face, with 96% saying that their mood was badly affected by it (fig 3).Within the related question, 63% of participants avoid social situations, while 5% do not expose themselves to the outside world depending on the state of their acne at the time (fig 2). On the bright, side 37% reported acne not having an effect on their social life in any way (fig 2). Here, the number of strongly effected individuals is significantly higher, pointing to both of these findings being self-fulfill-ing prophesies of more stress causing more acne, in turn causing even more stress.

(Fig. 2)

panic

dont care

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

41.67%

16.67%

Stress level because of acne (Fig. 3)

43%

13%30%

8%4%

23 participants

Mapping Out Acne 7

not relatedsomewhat related

very related

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Food quality and acne state(fig. 4)

16%

32%

20

52%

not relatedsomewhat related

very related

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

State of internal organ and acne (fig. 5)

41.67%41.67%

16.67%

25 participants

25 participants

The key question of this research was about the participant’s ability to see correlation between the food and their acne vulgaris. The prediction and the grounds for further exploration were contin-gent upon the lack of awareness amongst the participants. As anticipated, out of 25 participants only 32% of them drew a clear line between those two key things. Unfortunately, 16% of people saw no correlation between the effects of internal on external (fig 4). Drawing from the previous findings (fig 1), where 78% reported to not having the answer as to why they have acne and with 96% suffering from anxiety (fig 3), it is worrisome that those same people draw no connection between their diet and pimples.

Similarly to the previous survey question analysis, but going further, I wanted to know, Consis-tent with the prognosis only 4 out of 25 participants expressed opinion that there is a strong correla-tion between well-being of their internal organs and their acne, while 41.67% of participants thought that those two things aren’t connected(fig 5)Since the majority of participants saw vague or not at all connection between those factors it is fair to conclude that more extensive measures should be taken to spread necessary knowledge that would help prevent development of acne.

Mapping Out Acne 8

Do’s

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

16.67%

What do YOU do when spotting a pimple (Fig.7)

22%29%

24%5%

21 participants

diet adjustment/life style

leave itorganic treatment

benzoyl peroxidewash more

pop itpills

33%

19%14%

5%

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

16.67%37%

5%19%

14%

benzoyl peroxide

antibioticsbirth control

Treatment recomended by dermatologist (Fig. 6)8 participants

50%1%

Dos 38%Donts 62%

Operating under the objective assumption that the skin specialists are regular people too, who have, in their time, attended dermatology school and were not always drawn to alternative solutions to acne problem for various reasons. It was important to know where the certified ‘knowledge’ was coming from to have prompted the results above and compare it to the knowledge of the general population. With least expectations from the last two survey questions it was surprising to see the results. When the participants were asked to list the prescribed acne care routine, they listed three main treatments: benzoyl peroxide, which is an active ingredient in most acne care products, that causes irritation and damage to the surface of the skin. Next runner-up were the antibiotics, with 50% of the participants responding with prescribed drugs such as Accutane, which is linked to severe side effects, including bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease, liver damage, depression, and miscarriage if taken during pregnancy (12). Lastly, 1 out of 8 people (fig 6) have listed birth control pill as a prescribed solution, known side effects of which include missed periods and decreased libido (13).

12. <drugwatch.com/accutane/side-effects.php>13. <medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290196.php>

Mapping Out Acne 9

Judging by the fact that within the this research 100% of dermatologists have recommended unnatural ‘cures’ with high risk side effects, it is safe to say that education on alternative methods should rather be taken more to public. Although, the specialists appear to not be advising on more natural ways of treatment, acne sufferers seems to be instinctively choosing that path with 38% treating the disease naturally; out of those 8 participant 3 said that they try to correct their daily habits in favor of their health. Perhaps, I can speculate that if this behavior was more encouraged by the professionals, the numbers would much higher. However when it comes to more personal issues it would prove to be more effective to approach people without an intermediary. The main problem with this and any other disease is that while the issue might get solved after the visit to a doctor, more often than not a patient collects array of symptoms derived from the treat-ment side effects. While many serious diseases do require an extreme intervention, acne alone, objec-tively is not one of them, unless it is manifestation of something else more severe. Here, an important point must be made. With 78% of people being unsure of what is causing their acne and overlooking factors such as food and internal organs condition, the participants still found that they must try alternative treatments, even with non of the specialists recommending it. Therefore, we can note that people are not ready to have to put their bodies through additional stress for a vague hope that their face will have -fewer pimples on it. Moreover if, as I’ve mentioned acne only play a secondary role here, then they must evaluate the rest of their health, and solving acne problem, in this case, would only work temporarily. As it was interesting to find that 37% of people reported to not have had acne affect their social life. However for the majority it is that prevent problem that needs addressing, but only by the right way of going about it.

General Discussion

Mapping Out Acne 10

Mapping Out Acne 11

Across all the research analysis I can highlight certain data patters. The analyzed data has shown that there is correlation between the knowledge about the three causes of acne: consumed food, condition of internal organs and anxiety levels and the use of preventative treatment.Further contribution on this subject should be strongly encouraged to shine the light on how people will feel after being exposed to different from dermatologically recommended methods of treatment. The number of people who believe that there is correlation between food/organ state and participants who use resort to natural healing is adjacent. It’s safe to assume that those are the same people. It tells us that perhaps the first number would be greater the application of that knowledge would follow. There is some evidence that there is correlation between people who have cited that they are not emotionally affected by acne. It could be that possibly that the emotional state is also affected by the prescribed medical treatment such as birth control or Accutane pills. In conclusion, it is fair to say that the stated hypothesis has been strongly highlighted and that all of the research questions have been addressed.

Summary

User

3 77 24

Q3 How certain are you that you know whatis causing your acne? * 1 being not certain

at all, and 5 being very certainAnswered: 24 Skipped: 10

Total Respondents: 24

# Date

1 4 11/25/2016 1:55 PM

2 5 11/25/2016 11:51 AM

3 3 11/24/2016 11:48 PM

4 3 11/24/2016 5:53 PM

5 3 11/24/2016 10:05 AM

6 4 11/24/2016 9:31 AM

7 5 11/24/2016 8:18 AM

8 4 11/23/2016 11:23 PM

9 5 11/23/2016 11:05 PM

10 3 11/23/2016 11:05 PM

11 2 11/23/2016 10:21 PM

12 3 11/23/2016 8:36 PM

13 3 11/23/2016 8:16 PM

14 2 11/23/2016 8:03 PM

15 3 11/23/2016 8:00 PM

16 5 11/23/2016 7:58 PM

17 4 11/23/2016 7:49 PM

18 3 11/23/2016 7:48 PM

19 5 11/23/2016 7:47 PM

20 1 11/23/2016 7:46 PM

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Answer Choices Average Number Total Number Responses

1 / 2

Acne Survey SurveyMonkey

Acne Survey SurveyMonkey21 3 11/23/2016 7:46 PM

22 2 11/23/2016 7:45 PM

23 2 11/23/2016 7:45 PM

24 0 11/23/2016 7:45 PM

Collected Research Data

Mapping Out Acne 12

2 41 20

Q8 On the scale from 1-5 how often do youavoid any social situation because of acne?

*1 being that you never avoid and 5 beingthat you try to avoid it most of the time

Answered: 20 Skipped: 14

Total Respondents: 20

# Date

1 2 11/25/2016 1:55 PM

2 1 11/24/2016 11:48 PM

3 2 11/24/2016 5:53 PM

4 4 11/24/2016 10:05 AM

5 3 11/24/2016 8:18 AM

6 1 11/23/2016 11:23 PM

7 1 11/23/2016 11:05 PM

8 4 11/23/2016 11:05 PM

9 2 11/23/2016 8:36 PM

10 1 11/23/2016 8:16 PM

11 2 11/23/2016 8:03 PM

12 1 11/23/2016 8:00 PM

13 3 11/23/2016 7:58 PM

14 2 11/23/2016 7:49 PM

15 5 11/23/2016 7:48 PM

16 1 11/23/2016 7:47 PM

17 2 11/23/2016 7:46 PM

18 3 11/23/2016 7:46 PM

19 1 11/23/2016 7:45 PM

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Answer Choices Average Number Total Number Responses

1 / 2

Acne Survey SurveyMonkey

2 / 2

Mapping Out Acne 13

3 78 23

Q7 How distressed on the scale of 1 to 5 doyou feel when you spot a pimple?*1 beingnot distressed at all, and 5 being extremely

distressedAnswered: 23 Skipped: 11

Total Respondents: 23

# Date

1 3 11/25/2016 1:55 PM

2 3 11/25/2016 11:51 AM

3 2 11/24/2016 11:48 PM

4 3 11/24/2016 5:53 PM

5 4 11/24/2016 10:05 AM

6 3 11/24/2016 9:31 AM

7 1 11/24/2016 8:18 AM

8 2 11/23/2016 11:23 PM

9 3 11/23/2016 11:05 PM

10 4 11/23/2016 11:05 PM

11 3 11/23/2016 10:19 PM

12 5 11/23/2016 8:36 PM

13 4 11/23/2016 8:16 PM

14 5 11/23/2016 8:03 PM

15 3 11/23/2016 8:00 PM

16 4 11/23/2016 7:58 PM

17 4 11/23/2016 7:49 PM

18 5 11/23/2016 7:48 PM

19 3 11/23/2016 7:47 PM

20 4 11/23/2016 7:46 PM

21 4 11/23/2016 7:46 PM

22 3 11/23/2016 7:45 PM

23 3 11/23/2016 7:45 PM

Mapping Out Acne 14

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21 participantspop it: 6 peopleleave it: 3 benzoyl peroxide/ salicylic acid: 5

organic treatment: 4diet adjustment/life style: 3wash more:7pills:1

benzoyl peroxide/ salicylic acid

pills, antibiotics (accutane)birth control

Mapping Out Acne 15