Whenever we hear a term like 'home remedy' or 'herbal' or 'kitchen cure', we gravitate towards it with the assumption that it's a safe and inexpensive treatment without the side effects attributed to prescription medication. Though home remedies are good for certain small problems (like treating mild acne with besan and turmeric packs, or using glycerin and rose water for dry chapped lips), there are certain conditions which are best tackled by your dermatologist and one should not attempt to treat these with grandma's cures. I have mentioned a few such conditions, but honesty speaking, any skin or hair problem which is severe and unresponsive for a few weeks to home remedies or is steadily worsening, must be checked out by a doctor.

This is a condition where pimples become red, swollen and filled with pus as they are badly infected. Fiddling with your skin, trying to drain out the pus or applying acidic substances like lemon juice or mud packs in such a condition can only spell disaster and spread the infection. I can never forget an 18-year-old girl who came to my clinic with severe chemical burns on her face as she had applied garlic paste for such a problem. After 6 months of intensive treatment, we could control the acne but the burns caused by the garlic left a few permanent marks on her face. Severe acne needs proper treatment under a dermatologist's supervision.