★★★★★
In addition to steroid creams prescribed by her dermatologist, we have tried every product (and combination of products) known to man for over a decade - special soaps, lotions, creams - you name it, we've tried it. None of it worked. At best, it offered a bit of calming, but the large patches of skin eruptions remained.
In my determination to rid her, or even just ease her of this troublesome and embarrassing affliction, I continued to research and continued to try different methods.
I am beyond excited to report that I found a combination that actually works! It has been over a month and her skin has never looked better! She is blissfully happy, and I am so happy for her.
Deep down, I always felt that treatment from the inside-out would be most effective. In my research travels, I came across an article suggesting exactly that - that "good health begins in the gut" and cited eczema as one of the ailments that could be "cured" with probiotics.
I bought some quality probiotics but after a month, we didn't see any improvement. For the heck of it, I had her eat a small container of vanilla yogurt every day and I had her take a fish oil capsule with her breakfast and again before bed. The combination worked! :) I can't believe it. After all these years, all of the remedies tried, not to mention, the thousands of dollars spent - yogurt and fish oil every day did the trick and she is finally free of it!
She joked that I should win the Nobel Prize for curing eczema (hahaha). :) I'm not sure it would be a cure for everyone, but given my daughters amazing results, it is absolutely something you should try. I hope your results are equally amazing.
The fish oil capsules I used were nothing fancy. I, personally, have tried the pricier fish oils that come in glass bottles, but it's been my experience that they don't work any better than the inexpensive ones.
I use Nature Made 1,000mg fish oil capsules--two capsules per day. You can find that brand at any of the large chains. The vanilla yogurt was Activia brand--also available pretty much anywhere.
(I've been around EC long enough that I think I can mention brand names without anyone thinking I'm trying to 'pimp' products. ;-)
Hope this combination works as well for you as it did for my daughter!
Dietary Changes
★★★★★
What REALLY helped was changing my diet to traditional foods, namely raw dairy (milk, butter, cream, etc. ) & fermented foods & drink, in particular homemade yogurt. The idea is to get ALL of the beneficial bacteria from real live food items. Helpful traditional fermented foods: pickled veggies, certain raw cheeses, kombucha, natto, miso, raw soy sauce & of course ACV. Many "pickled" items in grocery stores are pasteurized & therefore don't contain beneficial bacteria. Anyway, it's no wonder ACV is the top remedy on this site. It's a raw fermented drink!!! These items, taken regularly, help us digest our food & maintain a healthy balance of good bacteria in our bodies. Bacteria are not baddies! I'm now convinced that we need to be mindful of beneficial bacteria in all aspects of life. In gardening & farming, we depend on good bacteria to break down, to compost & make nutrient-dense soil. Earth can't survive without them.
The concept is the same within our bodies. Similarly, anti-bacterial soaps & products and chlorine destroy the "good" as well as the "bad", making our bodies weaker in the end. It all makes sense to me now. You don't have to be vegetarian or a raw foodist (though I like many of those recipes) for clear skin. By sticking to whole, unprocessed foods & adding fermented items at each meal, we noticed a difference in our family's skin (child had severe eczema too, now much more beautiful skin! ) & in overall health. Best to avoid non-raw dairy whenever possible. That's when we begin to see little flare-ups.
Very helpful resources were "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Katz and "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. Fascinating info on this site!
Diatomaceous Earth
★★★★☆
Eventually the rash would turn from red to brown and begin to dry up leaving a very dark brown large area of discoloration. This would take months to clear up with the help of retin-a creams.
After searthing Earth Clinic's site for more natural cures, I found several entries noting 100% pure diatomaceousearth to cure fungal infections. I had about 2.5 pound of this stuff on hand and decided to try it. Well, the reviews suggested ingesting it. I'd done that in the past when dealing with other issues. This time I was trying Borax and baking soda as suggested by Ted and didn't want to mix it up too much. So, I tried applying the earth topically, straight from the bag. It's a fine powder just like talc. It immediately soothed the itch, and after a few hours the redness had decres by 50%. The eczema rash on my face has dissappeared!! My facial acne is history. The eczema is still on my neck but it is undercontrol and when I am diligent and apply it several times daily, it will go away. The dark blotches remain, and this is where I got into trouble last week, I began applying the retin-a much too soon and irritated my skin and the redness itch and rash returned. I'm back on the mend using the earth and will wait about one month after healed again before using the retin-a.
I hope this helps.
Six
Zinc
I have recently read that Eczema is mainly caused by deficiency of zinc in the body. Taking zinc supplements or foods rich in zinc will help in restoring the healing property of the body and treating eczema. Zinc promotes the synthesis of collagen, which is a necessary element of proper wound healing also.
Foods high in zinc are beef, lamb, pork, crab, lettuce, avocado, banana, cauliflower, cheese, egg, milk, yogurt, wheatgerm, seeds such as pumpkin, squash and watermelon, and oysters top the list. So if you are an oyster lover like me, dig in! :)
Apple Fast
★★★★☆
I developed dyshidrotic eczema on the palm of my right hand and in between my fingers in Sept/ 09. At first I developed a rash that weeped directly where I had a ring on my finger.. I thought maybe the nickel in the ring triggered it. Hydrocortizone cream did not cure it, although it provided immediate relief from the itching. The rash than spread to in between my fingers and on the palm of my hand. It was awfully painful.
I tried massage therapy for stress and repressed emotions and found that it started to heal directly after that. I also had three or four sessions of acupuncture and realized it was healing after that too. But it wasn't gone completely.
So I began a THREE DAY Apple Fast for persistant Acne problems. Hoping to clear up my face and in the process it COMPLETELY healed my eczema. You see it all starts on the inside, in the organs, in this case, the large intestine or colon.
Here's what you do:
For three days eat nothing but peeled Red Delicious apples or Golden apples. They must be peeled. And you can eat as much as you want all day long. (I ate about 6-10 a day)And drink a ton of water ! at least 60 oz. a day.
At the end of each day, you have to do an enema to remove all the apple you ate that day. The Pectin in the apple absorbs the heavy metals and toxins from inside the colon and then each day it needs to get passed or the results won't be as good.
You can buy a Fleet Enema from most drugstores, and just follow the directions. However, you have to use it 3 times. You do the first flush lying on your right side, then on the left, and then again in the knee-to-chest bowing position. For a total of three flushes. Remain in the positions while you're holding it in. (Since a Fleet enema only has solution in it for one flush, on the 2nd and 3rd flush you just have to refill it with warm tap water) After squeezing all the fluid in, you hold it inside you (for 2-5min) until the urge to expel it is very strong...then get on the toilet and let it go.
It is very important to remove the apples each day, but only do the enema flush once in a 24 hour period. On the first day you may not see a lot come out, but the 2nd and 3rd days you will. If you have really severe cramps you can do it earlier in the day.
On the third and last day, you may have two tablespoons of olive oil and a couple glasses of Welch's grape juice in the evening to prepare your digestive system to be eating again the next day. You will want to start out with easy food, like soup and crackers, don't run to McDonald's or something. And do an enema on the fourth day as well, just to make sure you got everything.
This apple-fast is done primarily to treat acne, and the results should last for months. My skin is cleared and softer than ever! And my eczema is gone for good too! You will notice things changing by the 2nd day. Sometimes your acne can get worse for a bit, but that just means your body is detoxying. Stay with it. And NO CHEATING whatsoever. You may have a few cups of green tea throughout the day.
Be easy on yourself. Don't exercise a bunch, or stay up late, or what's really great is if you can get work off. Take a hot shower if you get a headache (normal) and just be good to your self. When you're hungry, distract yourself, go for a nice walk, watch a movie, play music. LOTS OF WATER AND LOTS OF APPLES and say goodbye to eczema!
There is a body-mind connection with all things. The Colon is the organ that allows us to literally "let go of crap" so sometimes when we are emotionally plugged up we experience problems with our colon, that end up showing up on our skin. It is our body's way of talking to us. Let me know if you have any questions.. and good luck...you can do it! God Bless
★★★★★
Iodine
★★★★☆
Turmeric
★★★★★
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Do Nothing
★★★★★
This almost threw me off track, until I thought to ask him what he used instead of soap. He replied that he didn't remember the name of it but it was some kind of medicated cream. I then suggested that he try leaving off soap again and not using any thing instead. He was surprised when told to just use a thick, wash cloth and water when bathing, nothing else, but agreed to give it a try. Several days later when he was next on call, he came in with the smoothest complexion and very happy with it.
People who forgo the use of soap also find that they have less body odor and attract fewer insect bites.
Again, on headaches, remove the cause, instead of looking for a cure. Aspartame (Nutrisweet) is well known for causing headaches. So is Monosodiumglutamate. If you want to find some other things they can cause, type in Excitotoxins, and hit search. For those who think MSG is only found in stir-fried (Chinese foods), make a list of the names MSG is hidden under in the ingredients list, then go into your kitchen and see how many of your foods have one or more of them listed in the ingredients.
Classic example is the 15% chicken broth that may be contained in a well-known brand of raw chicken that you must take home and cook...The MSG isn't mentioned because they didn't add MSG - they added chicken broth which contained the MSG.....Learn to protect yourself and your loved ones by learning these legal loop-holes. Oh, yes, you will also learn that that they are named excitotoxins because they excite the neural cells (Brain & Central nervous system) to death.
If you also research meta-bolic syndrome X (now called insulin resistance) by orthodox medicine) you will also find that excitotoxins are the same things that cause insulin resistance which ends up as full fledged Diabetes Mellitus,Type 2 which used to be called DM, adult onset, but was renamed to DM type 1 for juvenile onset and type 2 for adult onset, because children (even toddlers, are now developing type 2. So be your own health defender by learning all the names the excitotoxins are hidden under, stop buying these products, and write the supplier telling them why you aren't buying their product. You will only have to make one list because the excitotoxins are the same ones that makes us kick out excess insulin, proceed through insulin resistance, then to full fledged DM, type 2 and all of its complications.
Honey
Dietary Changes
★★★★★
"according to research, high histamine levels can potentially contribute to eczema flare-ups in a subset of individuals with atopic dermatitis, meaning that consuming foods high in histamine may aggravate existing eczema symptoms in some people; however, histamine is not considered the primary cause of eczema itself"
I am just starting on the Low Histamine diet, and I feel a lot better today, only the 2nd day, but I suspect my Eczema could take a while to clear up. I theorize this could help Psoraisis and cancer patients also as histamines may be contributors to these illnesses as well:
"Histamine can protect tumors from the immune system by inducing the activation of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs suppress the immune system and promote tumor growth. "
I don't know if it is safe to reduce histamine levels 100% as you may need some to function, but here are some supplements you can take in addition to low histamine diet:
- Serrapeptase
- Lumbrokinase
- ginger
- Vitamin C
- Quercetin
- Milkthistle
- freeze dried bovine kidney (always buy organic grassfed)
- Vitamin B complex
★★★★★
The procedure is to soak and wring out bandages in pure cold water. Then cover with a dry layer and clingfilm. Leave at least 2 hours up to 5 hours then be prepared for tremendous improvement as you gently unwrap.
★★★★★
Baby Eczema Cream
★★★★★
Aloe Vera
★★★★★
Multiple Remedies
P.S. and FYI.... in the Kiwi vernacular the term "gummy" refers to an article of footwear more properly known as a "gumboot" (or "wellington" if you happen to be British). Invented by the Duke of Wellington when he was presented with the problem of keeping his feet dry at the Battle of (wait for it) Water loo... and the rest is history as they say. Megan and Harry have just to-day participated in our Gumboot Throwing Competition. Being a Royal can be such fun at times. So, if you have taken to eating your gummy, I would be tempted to earnestly beseech you to immediately cease and desist this unhealthy practice as contraindications may ensue.
Cheers from Down Under and get better ASAP. Michael
Cod Liver and Evening Primrose Oils
★★★★★
★★★★★