Healing the Skin with Licorice Root

I came across licorice root in a Coursera course on Herbal Medicine. From the perspective of an Emergency Medicine physician and graduate of Dr. Andrew Weil's Integrative Medicine Fellowship, the course covered various perspectives and procedures for health practitioners to understand botanicals, their potential, risks, and how to safely prescribe treatments.

For my final project, I studied the use of Licorice Root in healing Eczema, a stress-related skin condition. Eczema (Atopic dermatitis) is the inflammation of the skin and some factors are due to an overproduction of cortisol, the stress hormone. Studies have shown that compounds from Licorice Root inhibit this overproduction.

I extracted from two studies on the use of Glycyrrhetinic Acid derived from Licorice Root which showed to have anti-inflammatory properties for the skin by researching its use on Eczema.

One study in 2008 tested Licorice Root gel on 142 infants and children from 6 months to 12 years old and found that the gel was safe and more effective than the placebo. 

The other study was done in 2003 on 60 adults and after two weeks, they concluded that a 1% - 2% Licorice Root cream significantly reduced itching and soreness from eczema and also increased hydration in the skin which could increase the integrity of the skin barrier. 

Understanding how the skin heals, helps visualize its process, what it needs, and what might be creating more problems. Licorice Root increases cellular permeability which creates a more efficient transfer of nutrients and provides a higher concentration of red blood cell oxygenation. If botanicals are helping this process, they can replace the use of steroids which reduce the production of hyaluronic acid (skin hydration), deplete keratinocytes (skin repair), and downgrade collagen (skin elasticity), cutting a vicious cycle at its source. 

It should be noted that Licorice Root is not suitable for all health conditions or mixed with certain medications and should be thoroughly cross-referenced with the patient’s medical history, lifestyle, and willingness to participate in their own healing process.

With caution in place, I believe that Licorice Root can be a safe complementary therapy, allowing the skin the heal faster, decrease inflammation, and assist in reducing stress-related illnesses.

April 4, 2023