This article will discuss what eczema is and how to properly treat it with holistic methods. In short, eczema is a dysfunctional immune response that manifests as a skin condition. Functional medicine practitioners often recommend a nutrient-dense diet to combat some of these symptoms experienced by people with eczema, although there are often more underlying causes affecting skin health.
What is eczema?
Eczema, an inflammatory skin condition, is also known as atopic dermatitis. This particular group of skin diseases is known to cause itchiness, irritation, inflammation, and can manifest as rashes. These diseases usually start in people at a young age and range from mild to severe symptoms.
These diseases are more common than people think. There has been an increase in inflammatory diseases in the last 50 years, and with functional medicine we can prevent many of them before they happen. Let’s discuss some of the symptoms that accompany eczema.
symptoms of eczema
As mentioned above, eczema is a rash-like condition that is itchy and can become inflamed. When eczema occurs, it affects the skin barrier keeping the skin connected. This makes your skin drier and more sensitive. Some of the most common symptoms are:
- Dry Skin
- Skin itch
- skin infections
- Bumps on the skin
- leathery skin patches
- scabbed skin
- Wrinkles on the skin of the elbows, knees, hands, and face
What causes atopic dermatitis?
The cause of eczema is not officially known, but studies have shown that the immune system is compromised when the disease occurs. Therefore, it is involved in some way. Eczema can be related to our food sensitivities, food allergies, and compromised digestive system. We will dive into each of these case scenarios and find out why they cause atopic dermatitis.
Studies have shown that young children and adults with eczema may have higher IgG-mediated reactions to food sensitivities. Some of the main foods that people can have food sensitivities to are dairy, gluten, and eggs, and these were also the foods that patients tended to be highly reactive to. However, the presence of these types of reactions points to an underlying intestinal barrier dysfunction that is more important to understand than the specific food sensitivities themselves. While elimination diets can be helpful in cases like these, functional doctors can offer other methods of evaluation and treatment of the root cause.
In one case study, food allergies trigger IgE responses in babies, contributing to 40% of babies developing eczema. In addition to eczema, they also developed allergic rhinitis and asthma. These IgE responses are typically something one lives with for life, and the treatment is to avoid the triggering food.
Another thing found in eczema patients can include constantly imbalanced gut bacteria. Also called “dysbiosis,” it affects the gut health of babies, and since they generally depend on their mothers for good gut health, disease results. Intestinal inflammation is a major factor in disease, but we don’t officially know if it’s what causes eczema.
It is important to maintain a good gut microbiome, which means changing some aspects of your current lifestyle. While there are conventional ways to treat eczema, why not try holistic methods first? They are natural things and that you can easily change in your routine or diet to achieve it. Let’s dive into more ways to treat atopic dermatitis beyond conventional medicine.
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Functional medicine approach to eczema
The treatment of eczema and atopic dermatitis consists of restoring the health of the skin. This inflammatory skin disease is very demanding and needs a little TLC to control, especially since we don’t know exactly how it occurs. We are going to discuss functional methods on how to treat atopic eczema and how to reduce its inflammatory immune response. First, let’s dive into the dietary changes you might need to make.
The elimination diet is probably the best way to determine which foods are causing the inflammation of your eczema. This is how functional medicine can eliminate the symptoms of eczema or inflammatory disease.
Eating anti-inflammatory foods is another way to reduce inflammation and relieve symptoms. It may take longer to see results against severe eczema, but if you stick with these changes, you will notice a difference. Be diligent in avoiding processed foods where appropriate.
An anti-inflammatory diet is a surefire way for eczema patients to notice a difference in skin inflammation. A food allergy is also another way to ensure you stay on track. Avoiding food allergies will help your immune system and help your skin cells not react badly.
When you are prescribed topical herbs for the skin barrier, in addition to attacking the root cause, it will help alleviate the symptoms you are experiencing. There are several different types of topical herbal treatments that can help in every case of eczema. The goal of topical herbs is to restore healthy skin.
Another thing that people do not usually associate with this disease are vitamins. It is important to keep your immune system strong, especially when the underlying cause of the disease attacks your immune system. Vitamin d is one of the best to take daily to strengthen your body and immune system.
While eating a well-balanced diet will help get your gut health on the right track, it’s very important that eczema patients don’t add more problems to their list. A leaky gut is not something you want to put up with on top of eczema treatment.
Another thing to try to prevent is inflammatory bowel disease, which can be something that occurs in people with a long history of eczema. You should see positive results if you continue to incorporate anti-inflammatory foods. Ensure your gut microbiome is healthy, by using fiber and fermented foods, and under the guidance of a physician trained in how to assess and customize this aspect of treatment for the gut-skin connection.
We have learned that the barrier function of the skin is what breaks down and spreads skin diseases. Atopic dermatitis patients find a functional medicine approach beneficial beyond conventional medicine methods. Skin health is very important, so if you can incorporate functional medicine into your routine and cut out processed foods, you’ll be well on your way to treating your eczema.
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Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
