“I feel like I’ve tried everything but I know there’s something else to it, I just can’t work out what it is??”
This is one of the most common things I hear from new clients. They’ve tried so many different, creams, diets, seen Dr’s and dermatologists and even other natural health practitioners, but just aren’t getting the results that they want.
Every single eczema client and their contributing factors will differ, therefore everyone’s treatment for their eczema should be different as well.
There are commonalities of course and you might even be on the right track and tried fish oils, probiotics, zinc, but it still doesn’t get to the cause of the problem. It can help to get some symptomatic relief, but for many eczema sufferers, there are underlying causes that also need to be addressed to get really good, long-term results. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies are certainly one of the many underlying drivers, but if there are deficiencies, we still need to uncover why?? Dietary factors, poor absorption, high turnover and increased requirement by the body, and so on.
Eczema is a very complex condition and it’s not just a skin condition. If you’ve had eczema or have a child with eczema, you’ll know that it can affect every single area of your life. Sleep, mood, self-esteem, social life, relationships, what activities you can take part in, what you can do for work, absolutely everything!
As a practitioner I’m not allowed to share before and after images on social media but I can share them on my website so I wanted to start sharing some more cases with you (with permission from my clients of course)
This lovely lady has a very long history of eczema over decades. She already had a very healthy diet when she took this before pic, has allergies and a lot of food intolerances but has found a way of eating that works for her most of the time and reduces flares and she’s tried dozens of different interventions over the years, both natural eczema treatments and pharmaceutical.
I also wanted to point out that she was also already on a bunch of different supplements prescribed by another practitioner that I wanted to fine tune. When it comes to supplements, I always prefer a less is more approach. A body that is already under a lot of stress from everything that comes with having eczema, doesn’t need the extra stress of metabolising a pile of different supplements every day. Supplementation should be very specific and targeted and can change over time. This is not an acute condition; it needs to be dealt with properly over weeks and months to get a long-lasting result. Not to mention the costs of good quality supplements!!
In this case, the priority was dealing with the infections and improving the skin barrier. With eczema and even more so after years of treatment, scratching and there will be genetic factors involved too, the skin barrier becomes very damaged and this allows for external pathogens and triggers like dust, pollens, grasses etc. to enter through the damaged skin and cause more flares. It also allows for any staph bacteria to be able to wreak havoc and create a lot more inflammation, immune system activation and potential infections.
Vitamin D levels also weren’t optimal. They would be considered normal by a GP but when you have chronic skin issues and immune dysfunction, optimal Vitamin D levels are absolutely essential (100-150 nmol/L). Although she was already supplementing with Vitamin D, the dose wasn't high enough for the results we wanted.
Our first step was working on improving the pH of the skin, dealing with the staph. aureus bacteria, strengthening the skin barrier and improving levels of a couple of key nutrients.
The after pic is one month later.
The latest message I received from her said,
“I haven’t seen my legs look like this for years. I keep looking at my legs I can't believe it!”
We aren’t done with treatment yet and there is more to do on the skin barrier, reducing reactivity to food and environmental triggers and so on, but this is such an awesome result after only 1 month. Healing is not a linear journey but it's possible when each person is treated as an individual, it isn’t a one size fits all approach.
While I completely understand that steroid creams feel like the only option sometimes and they certainly have their place, they come with side effects and don’t address any of the underlying causes at all. This can mean that the eczema returns once you stop and it also means that those underlying causes are left to develop into other conditions in the future, even if/when the eczema clears.
If you’d like to have a chat about how I may be able to help you or your child on their eczema journey, you can book a Free 15-minute zoom call below.
Belinda x
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