Why Your Skin Keeps Flaring, No Matter What You Put On It

A Herb Hour session on eczema, psoriasis, and acne treated through plant medicine.

Most treatments for skin conditions work on the surface. Creams, coal tar, steroids, UV light — they reduce an outbreak for a while. Then it returns, sometimes worse than before.

Conventional dermatology treats these conditions as local problems to be suppressed. That works, up to a point. But it doesn't ask why the inflammation is there, or what's driving it.

For the people whose skin keeps flaring no matter what they apply, that question matters.

There is another way to approach it: skin trouble as a signal. Something inside is out of balance, and the skin is where it shows.

That shifts the whole question...from how do I calm this outbreak, to what is this outbreak telling me?

What's covered in this session

• The internal sources of inflammation most likely to drive chronic skin conditions, including gut disruption, poor liver function, hormonal imbalance, and microbiome dysbiosis
• How previous infections, hypersensitivities, and metabolic stress can show up as skin trouble — and how to work out which may apply to you
• Traditional herbal depuratives and blood cleansers: what they are, how they may work, and which to consider starting with at home
• What other medical traditions have understood about skin conditions as patterns of constitutional imbalance, and how individual approaches follow from that
• Simple herbal salves you can make yourself to ease outbreaks while you work on the deeper picture
• The role of stress: why it worsens skin conditions without being the cause of them

What makes this different

Standard dermatology has a limited toolkit for chronic skin conditions. Corticosteroids for a flare. Topical anti-inflammatories for ongoing management. In severe cases, biologics or immunosuppressants with their own risks.

All of these target the symptom. The question of origin — why this person, why this pattern, why now — rarely gets asked in a ten-minute consultation.

Master medical herbalist Simon Mills approaches it differently. Drawing on medical herbalism, traditional medicine from several cultures, and a thorough grounding in physiology, he looks at the body as a whole system.

Skin conditions, on that view, are often expressions of imbalance elsewhere: digestive trouble, liver strain, hormonal shifts, immune sensitivity.

Identifying which is involved for a particular person is the starting point for treatment that actually addresses the cause.

Simon trained at Cambridge and has spent over forty years in clinical practice and teaching. This session reflects that depth of experience: specific, practical, and honest about what's known and what isn't.

Who this is for

This IS for you if:

• You have eczema, psoriasis, or acne that keeps returning despite treatment
• You've worked through the standard medical options and want to understand what else might be contributing
• You're willing to consider internal causes and make some changes from the inside
• You want safe, practical plant remedies you can begin exploring at home
• You're interested in an approach tailored to your particular pattern, not a generic protocol

This is NOT for you if:

• You're looking for a single product or quick fix
• You want a session focused only on topical treatments

What you'll get

• 60-minute recorded session with Simon Mills (including Q&A from the live webinar)
• Downloadable PDF with notes, key herbs, and practical advice
• Access is two years. That's plenty of time to come back when you need a refresher.
• How it works. You stream the video through your browser. Works on your phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. No downloads for the video. Just press play when you're ready.
  

About Simon Mills

Simon Mills is a medical herbalist, author, and educator. He studied at Cambridge and has practised, researched, and taught for over forty years. He is a co-founder of the College of Medicine and has written widely on herbal medicine and its scientific basis.

Simon presents Herb Hour in collaboration with Robin Harford of Eatweeds — a series of live and recorded webinars bringing herbal medicine knowledge to a wider audience.

Pre-order the recording - £14.95

Available Thursday, 14th May 2026.