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Eczema – that annoying itch!

allergies inflammation skin health Dec 10, 2014

Eczema is chronic inflammation of the skin which is caused by inflammation. The inflammation can be due to irritants or allergens topically/environmentally or internally through the digestive system. Often I find that if I can heal the GI tract and the digestive system, and eliminate food and environmental allergens, I can have a concurrent positive effect upon the skin.

So what causes inflammation? Well, from my training and decades of clinical experience, mainly stress and food intolerances/allergies and poor digestion due to the microbiome of the GI tract being affected. This same mechanism of action is often also the culprit in asthma, arthritis, IBD, etc.   Actually it has been shown that people who had a lot of eczema which was treated with topical corticosteroids are more susceptible to later in their life developing asthma , arthritis or other inflammatory condition.

Naturopathic medicine is adept at dealing with inflammatory conditions using diet changes, supplements that are naturally anti-inflammatory and stress management. Which particular diet depends upon the condition presented as well as the results of Functional Medicine Tests.

While eczema may seem fairly benign to a non-sufferer, if you have ever seen someone whose skin has been scratched to bleeding, and who is losing sleep due to the itching, you would understand that this causes suffering and relieving the suffering through natural means will benefit many aspects of a person’s life.