Eczema Management

People frequently ask me what my current condition is ... whether or not I still suffer. I tell them it's like this: if we have a car, we still have to put gas in it, change the oil and make sure we don't crash into concrete walls. If the car gets smashed, it's not because it was a defective car, it's just what happens to a car if you crash it. In the same way, I can do a lot of things to give myself eczema: why do you think 1 out of every 5 children have it and 10-30% of the world's population? You think God made that many defective bodies? I don't think so. I do think that drugs, chemicals and the cosmetic industry cause most problems; and, getting a rash from gluten or dairy is normal for a lot of people, because it takes 20,000 years for our bodies to tolerate a new food and it has only been 10,000 for dairy and gluten. Remember that sensitivities develop with time: like to foods and cosmetics.

So, in answer to the question, people always compliment me on how beautiful my skin is. That's the truth.

Things that Give me Eczema

Fish and fish oil and nuts (high on the list for adults), gluten, cough syrup, anti-stress meds, internal antibiotics, neomycin, lanolin, vaseline, Eucerin, Aquaphor and most all other lotions and creams and even natural oils applied topically.

I used to have a shopping mall on my site with the reasoning that topical products help different people (some and not others) because we are biochemically different; but, notice I don't promote products, because I think products are giving people eczema. Remember the more you put on your skin, the less oil it will produce and the more sensitizers you are exposing yourself to.

How I Avoid Outbreaks, but What I Do if I Get One

When I get out of the shower, I put on my thermal suit instead of lotions. After just a short time, my skin won't feel tight anymore and I just put my regular clothing on. Sometimes, though, I leave my thermal suit on all day and even go shopping in it. When my skin is looking dull or feeling dry, I gently dry brush it in a circular motion with bath exfoliation gloves you can find at the dollar store. Internally, I increase my essential fatty acids, zinc, probiotics (whatever is refrigerated and on sale at the health food store), B-vitamins, lecithin and water. I make sure my shampoo is pH balanced and avoid letting the suds run over my skin when I rinse it out of my hair, and I avoid soap like the plague.

I use a humidifier a lot during the winter and use food service handling gloves that are thin and see-through like plastic baggies ... whatever I can do to avoid using lotions and oils.

If I get an outbreak from eating fish, for example, I soak in the bath for 10 minutes, don't towel off, pour mineral oil in my palm and then a dab of betamethasone valerate 0.1%, mix it up in my hands and put it on the outbreak. It clears me up.

What I eat? At night I fill my blender half way with frozen greens like spinach, kale or collards and fill it the rest of the way up with blueberries and strawberries (i'm going for mostly dark greens which are the best way to detoxify and antioxidants in dark red and dark blue foods). In the morning after it has thawed, I blend it up with water and apple cider and drink it all day after I wake up and drink 2 glasses of water to cleanse my system. I also take a bag of frozen mixed vegetables (any variety) and mix it with a bag of frozen greens and eat that all day adding to each individual bowl essential fatty acids so that I don't heat the oils. I like coconut oil with hot sauce, hemp oil with lemon pepper seasoning ... and I'll dip heated tortillas in flax oil with salt. Remember that "bad" fats increase inflammation and good fats are anti-inflammatory. I do eat meats but I try to cut down on gluten, fish and nuts.

Whatever I do, though, I don't stress about it, because I'm thankful I know what causes eczema in people and how to clear it up.

Cortisol in Stress and Hydrocortisone

Note: Ever wonder why if you have too much cortisol (the stress hormone) in your system it aggravates eczema but at the same time putting hydrocortisone (cortisol) on the skin while you are stressed still helps eczema? When you research how cortisone works on eczema, they say the mechanism is unknown. When I asked a pharmacist why stressed people with too much cortisol get relief from eczema by putting cortisone on the skin, he said that he believes that applying it to the skin is more of a regulator by way of negative biofeedback. Your input please ...