In recent years, I have used a self-made Chinese herbal formula, Xiao Cong Fang, to treat acne in 117 patients with satisfactory results. Among them, 46 were male and 71 female; age ranged from 15 to 42 years; duration varied from two months to 13 years. All met the diagnostic criteria for acne established by the Ministry of Health's "Diagnostic and Therapeutic Standards for Traditional Chinese Medicine Dermatological Syndromes."
Xiao Cong Fang composition: Loquat leaf, Rehmannia, Mulberry bark each 12g, Peony root bark, White flower snake tongue grass each 10g, Sophora root, Scutellaria each 9g, Locust seed, Hawthorn, Poria each 15g. Additions: For oily skin, add Artemisia capillaris and Coix seed; for constipation, add Rhubarb and Citrus aurantium; for premenstrual breast distension, add Cyperus and Bupleurum; for nodules or cysts, add Prunella and Fritillaria. Decoct and take one dose daily, divided into two servings, 30 days per course.
Treatment outcomes: Efficacy assessed according to the Ministry of Health's "Diagnostic and Therapeutic Standards for Traditional Chinese Medicine Dermatological Syndromes." 63 cases cured (all rashes disappeared, only pigmentation remained), 30 cases markedly effective (over 70% rash reduction, no new rashes), 24 cases improved (over 50% rash reduction, some new rashes appeared). Overall effective rate was 79.49%.
Acne is a multifactorial disease. Modern medicine holds that increased androgen levels during puberty lead to elevated dihydrotestosterone in the skin, increased sebum production, excessive keratinization causing follicular obstruction, and proliferation of Propionibacterium acnes which produces enzymes breaking down sebum into fatty acids, triggering inflammatory reactions. Traditional Chinese medicine considers heat, toxin, dampness, and stagnation as primary etiologies and pathogenesis.
Young people have vigorous physiology and excess yang-heat. Over time, nutritive blood becomes heated, internal heat-toxin accumulates and ascends to the lungs, manifesting as skin eruptions; or gastrointestinal damp-heat arises from irregular diet, especially spicy, greasy, rich, and fatty foods, leading to impaired spleen-stomach function, long-term stagnation generating dampness and heat, which ascends along the meridians to the face. In Xiao Cong Fang, Loquat leaf, mulberry bark, and locust seed promote lung function and resolve lipid accumulation; Scutellaria, Sophora, Poria, and White flower snake tongue grass clear heat, detoxify, and remove dampness; Rehmannia and peony root bark cool the blood and disperse stasis; hawthorn clears intestinal heat accumulation. Together, they achieve clearing heat and toxins, removing dampness and resolving stasis.
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