I'm a woman, 56 years old. About 10 weeks ago (a couple of weeks after I had the flu -- something my acupuncturist thinks may be significant), I developed severe eczema on my hands. Within 4 or 5 weeks, it had spread to my arms and legs ... although it's worst on my hands (burning, itching, swelling, cracking, bleeding, "crunchy" skin).

I'm knowledgeable of wellness remedies, am on excellent vitamin-mineral-herbal supplements, and have tried everything (did an internal Gaia herbal detox, used pharmaceutical-quality probiotics kit from Whole Foods, have taken GLA supplements and fish oil, have been getting acupuncture and Chinese herbal treatments (along with all kinds of topical remedies). The eczema will begin clearing up, then suddenly come back with a vengeance.

Also, it's clear that I can no longer eat dairy products, eggs, wheat, tomatoes or potatoes without a severe eczema resurgence; but in the last several days since eliminating all these things, my eczema doesn't seem to be improving much. Other than that, however, I feel great (sleep, energy, general health).

If anyone can see a loophole here that I'm not seeing, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks! -- Carol

Hi Carol

The Bioptron individual colour blue is great for helping the symptoms immediately, and the full spectrum light for getting rid (www.bioptron.com). Don't know where you are, but try to find an agent near you.

Otherwise you could try BodyTalk (either distance session with a ParRama graduate - look at the bio - or a practitioner near you) to find out from your own Energy centre (innate intelligence) what the imbalance is all about. I don't know what country you're in but if it's England, NZ or America you're especially in luck (although you've got another 35 countries to choose from!). Go to www.bodytalksystem.com and read up about it. While you're there, click on Videos and go to the bottom one to learn how to do the Cortises (calming and balancing). Or maybe try EFT (www.emofree.com) for the emotional content.

Good luck. 

---

Bioptron, BodyTalk.

Sounds like the flu virus may have caused your gut to become too permeable, hence you are reacting to undigested proteins in certain foods. I would focus on improving gut health - glutamine is particularly helpful for leaky gut, and digestive enzymes should help with the food intolerances. Avoid aggressive cleanses, you need to treat your gut gently, eating easily digestible foods like brown rice and vegetables. Linseeds in the form of linseed tea can be very healing.

Thanks, KiwiGal! :)

Over the past several days, I've cut out all dairy, eggs, wheat, tomatoes and potatoes (all of which were exacerbating my eczema). It's clearing up. But I don't want to have to avoid those foods long-term (that eliminates a lot of things). I believe you're right about the leaky gut -- if I don't resolve that, I won't be able to get back on those foods that I currently can't tolerate. I haven't tried glutamine and linseed tea, but will. Thanks!!

Hi Carol.  Just wondered if you had tried anything like Supergreens as a way of decreasing acid?

Another thought (an extremely messy one though!) is using Manuka honey to help clear your skin.  Now, I don't know if it would work on eczema but it cleared a friend's ulcers up and it might just help.  I am open to being corrected on this if it's not a good idea, but thought I'd make the suggestion.  Other skin suggestions that have been made in the past are Aloe Vera gel and also collodial silver.  I don't have experience of them, but they seem to be highly thought of.

There is also the emotional angle as well which can be found in Louise Hay's book "You Can Heal Your Life*.

Wishing you well and hopefully you will soon see the end of it.

Sue 

It will take more than a few days to clear this up, be patient and be kind to yourself. You have my sympathy - I had very bad flu a couple of years ago which left me with arthritic symptoms and food intolerances for several weeks. I treated it as a gut problem and it did eventually clear up, but it can be scary. I'd recommend seeing a nutritional therapist who might be able to give you a bit of support through this. Good luck.

Are you ready for an alternative viewpoint!?!?  It's important to consider the context of flu and eczema, because if we define success by reduction of one symptom we may be heading for something bigger.

A couple of questions: did you have a flu jab?  This might be a reaction to the jab (which can also cause flu, incidentally).  Secondly, how did you treat the flu?  Suppression of fever by paracetemol is known to increase eczema and asthma.

First things first, flu jab does not reduce flu or its complications.  Despite this there's always a spokesperson willing to say something irrelevant like 'but old people are at risk so we have to vaccinate them', which is illogical if the jab doesn't work.

Secondly, flu is a healing process!  Especially fever - it's a physiological process that increases immune activity and purges the body of cancer cells.  I look forward to my twice-yearly flu!  If it is suppressed, the benefit is less likely, and chronic bedding down of some problems is more likely.  Fever is not dangerous (Febrile convulsions in infants is another story, but the risks are massively overstated, haven't got time to go into this here, but crucially, bringing down a high fever doesn't reduce convulsions).

Seasonal flu and colds are as regular and important as leaves falling off trees!  When they stop we should worry.  In fact colds and flu are sometimes provoked when treating problems such as - eczema!  So another bout of flu after christmas would be ideal!  If it happens, work with your practitioner to make the most of it, but do not suppress!

But the plot thickens: flu isn't contagious (epidemiological studies show this, look up Hoyle and Wickramasinghe) and it isn't caused by a virus - although virus may sometimes appear as a result, most flu doesn't even involve a virus, so they call it 'flu like illness'.  In the only ever attempt in lab conditions to infect people with flu not one subject caught it out of 62 subjects.  The only sufferer was the doctor in charge of the experimental facility, and he died! (look up Deer Island Swine Flu experiment)

So the big lesson is in the corect response to flu - call in sick, go to bed and drink plenty of water.  It is complications, bronchitis, pneumonia etc that are the real danger; again, another story, but loosely these are a result of exhaustion, which is why absolute rest is so important.

So much depends on how your flu was treated, but...

are the bowels moving?  And are you putting anything on the skin?  Please don't - but if you are suffering horribly then cold water on it at home, or aloe vera if you're out and about may help.  The main thing is get an individual constitutional diagnosis and take it from there.

Hi Carol

What a difficult time for you. Our son has eczema and we found that by him drinking Aloe Vera and using it topically it really helped soothe the skin and heal it from inside, boosting his immune system in the process. As a result of this I became a distributor for Forever Living Products - who use only the inner leaf of the plant and no "man made chemicals" -  since I can truly recommend their products. If you would like to know more you can check out www.mcbteam.co.uk or ring me 01234 817675.

Margaret 

Have you tries this web-site http://www.eczema.org/abouteczema.html . Hope you find some relief

There is a Japanese technology, used in hospitals in Japan for more than 30 years, that changes the pH levels and properties of tap water through electrolysis. There are certain pH levels good for drinking and cooking, and others good for external treatment of eczema, psoriasis and other skin conditions. These are only some of the kinds of water made by this machine, You can learn more about it at www.Watersofhealth.com. See the video on the second page of videos about the uses of the water in Japanese hospitals. They show how the strong acidic water (2.5 pH) is used externally to heal the skin, while the alkaline water is taken internally.

These machines can be ordered worldwide and have warranties that cover parts and labor. They last about 15 years if cared for properly, and will help alleviate many health problems as well as prevent many illnesses resulting from over acidity in the body and accumulation of waste, due to improper hydration and poor diet.

 Feel free to contact me at watersofhealth@gmail.com for more specific information.

All the best,

Hana Dolgin

Hydration Consultant 

 

I would highly recommend Ayurvedic Skin cream with MSM from bronzeagenutrition.com

Worked miracles on my acne and is used for ezema also

It is 100% natural 

 

We used to have a herd of milking goats, and many of our customers used to praise the benefits of goat milk for eczema.  You can either substitute goat milk products for cow milk products, or drink a glass once or twice a day.  I'm not sure whether the pasteurised version sold in many supermarkets is as effective as the raw milk we used to sell, but it's worth a try.

Best of luck, Cliff

Check your detergents soap an shampoos and wash using safe gloves........ they were the culprits with me!

Hi Carol

I suffered with mild eczema for many years and no one suggested it could be down to diet.   Eventually someone suggested I have an allegy test which found I was allergic to dairy and citrus.   Since cutting these out of my diet completely I have had no more problems.   It may be worth while you trying this.   I would suggest you do not go to Holland and Barrett to have this done - I did this first and it gave an incorrect result.

 

Sandra