Best Way to Heal Eczema Naturally
Flaky, inflamed rashes that are red and itchy are the worst. They can impact our lives, leaving us feeling self-conscious and wanting to run into hiding. If you’ve dealt with these types of skin issues on any part of your body, you might have eczema.
Eczema is an autoimmune condition. Instead of attacking a foreign invader, your immune system accidentally attacks certain proteins in your skin, causing a rash. This can be incredibly frustrating because the rash can come and go, and it’s hard to pinpoint why it’s happening.
I suffered with this off and on for years, only I had no idea what it was. I thought my skin was freaking out due to my lotions or creams so I stopped using them and switched to non-toxic, organic homemade skincare products to try and nix it. It helped some, but the problems persisted.
I also went to a dermatologist, who at one point gave me creams and steroids, designed to shut down the immune system in the area of the rash. While this can help many people, it doesn’t get to the root cause of the rash and eliminate your symptoms for good. Oftentimes the rash will reappear, and mine certainly did and even got worse!
It wasn’t until my now ex husband made the joke that I was allergic to him. He laughed, but inside my body was saying “yes, yes, yes”! By god he was right… well sort of. My marriage was a toxic one and had been for a long time. I was in a chronic state of stress and depression. I have always been super sensitive to everything - food, my environment, emotions, other people’s energy, but I hadn’t made the connection until the moment he said that. Once I did, everything started to turn around.
I eventually removed myself from the toxic environment I was living in and the symptoms began to clear up. I was relieved!
However, several years later I moved across the country. The move was a big one that left me feeling unsettled and uprooted, even stirred up some past trauma. This sent my body into another state of stress, which brought back some of the symptoms so for me, I know it’s emotional and stress-related which is something I always need to keep in check. It’s good to make a regular practice of checking in with yourself and determining each day what your body, mind and soul needs because that is constantly changing.
This is what I recommend people with skin issues try first
1. Do an elimination diet
Food allergies or sensitivities can often bring about rashes and skin conditions. The most common offenders are gluten or wheat and dairy. Other potential allergens include corn, eggs, soy, and sometimes nightshade vegetables and even citrus.
Try an elimination diet where you remove these foods for at least 30 days and see if your eczema gets better. Then, you can reintroduce the foods one at a time and see if the eczema returns.
I discovered I had a gluten sensitivity by doing this and now that I’ve reduced the amount of gluten in my diet, I feel so much better and have even reduced some of the digestive issues I had been having. I had already dropped dairy from my diet over 10 years ago, which is another culprit for many digestive issues.
2. Add in the right supplements
It’s possible to affect the immune system through the gut, so I often use a combination of nutrition and supplements (such as vitamin D, which is really good for treating eczema) to heal the gut, which also heals the immune system. This helps to turn off or quiet eczema outbreaks. There’s no such thing as the perfect diet. Working with a health coach, you’ll be able to determine which foods work best to support you. You are unique after all!
3. Reduce stress
Everyone’s body handles stress differently, and for some people, stress can trigger skin issues. Stress can cause inflammation, which is a major contributor to diseases and conditions like eczema (1). You can help reduce stress by meditating, doing yoga, or breath work, and energy work like Reiki. I personally fell in love with all of them. I also started doing Qigong, which is incredible for reducing stress, and strengthens your energy field so that you no longer attract lower energies into your system.
Reference
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24608036