Detox for Skin Rashes

One of the buzzwords in the alternative health and medicine fields is "detox" (short for "detoxification"). Practitioners say detox cleanses a person's body of toxins and disease. Some people promote detox as beautification for the skin as well as treatment for dermatological problems such as rashes. However, different authorities have differing opinions about detox and its relationship with the skin.

Methods of Detox for Rashes and Other Skin Problems

• Practitioners of alternative and naturopathic medicine promote different ways to perform skin detox. One method advocated by Peter Bennett, N.D., is dry-brushing the skin. Bennett says that brushing the skin stimulates the lymphatic system to enhance the body's natural detoxification process.

  Another method involves diet modification. Believers in detox diets say overloading on certain foods or prescription drugs can cause skin problems such as rashes, pimples and pustules by overloading the immune system. Diet restrictions for those who want to do skin detox include sugar, refined carbohydrates, processed food, fried foods and foods with preservatives, artificial flavors and colors.

Perceived Benefits

• Proponents of skin detoxification believe that it improves the appearance of skin and can address specific conditions such as acne, itchiness and diseases associated with skin rashes such as dermatitis and psoriasis. Detox proponents say skin diseases are a manifestation of a "sluggish" liver, an organ largely responsible for the metabolic processing, filtering and breaking down of many substances that enter the human body.

Skin Rashes as a Result of Detox

• There are people who would be surprised that performing or undergoing detox can actually cause skin rashes to break out rather than solve them. Some proponents of detox would explain this as the result of the body's natural response to eliminate toxins. Some of the toxins that enter the body are eliminated through the skin when people sweat, and this would support the claim of some proponents that skin rashes are part of the natural process of detoxification.

Medical Opinion Regarding Detox

• Mayo Clinic dietitian Katherine Zeratsky states that detox diets are not scientifically proven. Despite claims by some people that they feel better after the process, that feeling or manifestation of relief can be attributed to a placebo effect. This placebo effect may be due to a belief that people who perform detox are doing something good for their bodies. People who want to follow a certain detox diet should get approval from a physician first before doing so. Scientists from the Sense About Science organization even have a harsher opinion on detox diets, saying that they are nothing more than a waste of time and money; they go on to say that the term detox is meaningless since the body is perfectly capable of eliminating toxic substances.