Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine for Eczema

By: Dr.Zhang (MD China) Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Specialist

Eczema is a general term for many types of persistent skin disorders. It can affect people of any age, and is most common in infants. Eczema is usually inherited through family history and or other allergic conditions such as abnormal functioning of the immune system or allergic reactions to medications.

Symptoms include rash, skin swelling, itchiness, dryness, flaking, and blisters, cracking, or bleeding. Currently, there is no cure for eczema in western medicine. Therefore, treatments aim to control the symptoms by reducing inflammation and relieving itchiness. Some of the most common treatment includes emollients and topical or oral steroids. These treatments can only provide temporary symptom relief to the appearance, but cannot treat the internal source of the problem. Once medication is stopped, the symptoms and eczema will recur. Long term use of medical creams can lead to drug addiction, dependence, and or dermatitis. Long-term or short-term high-dose steroid injections or oral medication can lead to damage of the kidneys, bones and heart, and can eventually lead to cancer.

How Chinese Medicine Helps

Eczema is a very complex disorder. Although it only appears as a skin disorder, Chinese Medicine states that it extends deeper than the skin and is an internal problem. Eczema will occur when the body has a hot and damp sensation. This damp-heat disrupts the body’s energy flow and causes imbalanced. Eczema will originate in this hot and damp area and will spread to the skin surface. This is often the case for people with high allergen levels.

Treatment will not only clear of the skin of rash, but will also eliminate the body of damp-heat and fungus in order to lower allergen levels. Acupuncture and herbal tea specialize in enhancing the immune system. It strengthens the body and helps it fight against eczema. This shows why Chinese Medicine is extremely effective in treating eczema.

Chinese medicine has established a method for treating eczema from thousands of years of medical practice and experimentation. Each patient must have a treatment plan specifically built for them. Chinese Medicine must have a detailed understanding of the patient’s situation. Many different factors affect how eczema is treated. to determine whether the problem lies within yin deficiency or yang deficiency, low circulatory system functioning, constant fatigue, or even deficiency in the lung, liver, spleen and stomach systems. Although treatment plans will vary among patients, the basis remains the same, and that is to help eliminate damp-heat in the patient’s body.

Chinese medicine has over 3 000 years of history. Acupuncture frees up chi (energy) by inserting needles at particular points on the body to balance the opposing forces of yin and yang. A scientific explanation is that acupuncture releases the body’s natural healing opioids, sends signals that calm the sympathetic nervous system, and releases neuro-chemicals and hormones.
There are hundreds of herbs that can be used to treat skin disorders such as eczema. The most effective method of using Chinese herbs is to combine around 20 herbs into a specifically prescribed herbal brew. A portion of the herbs will work to treat the external symptoms and the other portion will work to eliminate the root source of the problem.

Dietary therapy is an important part of eczema treatment. Patients should avoid or limit foods/drinks that can contribute heat and/or dampness to the body such as spicy/greasy deep fried foods. Limiting the consumption on items that are easily caught by allergens such as alcohol, lamb, seafood and shellfish is important. Fresh fruits and vegetables are extremely beneficial for eczema sufferers. You can prevent some types of eczema by avoiding anything that triggers allergies.

Clinical Cases
 
After thoroughly examining these patients’s condition including their tongue and pulse, a treatment plan was made specifically for them.

Case 1: I helped a man who suffered from eczema for half a year. A rash consumed most of his body. ?This was most severe around his neck, ear, elbow, knees, and leg area. He came to see me quickly after the rash appeared, seizing the best treatment period. After about 2 months of acupuncture and herbal therapy, his eczema disappeared.

Case 2: There’s another case, in which a lady had suffered from eczema for 15 years. It covered her entire body. She tried everything that she could think of with no lasting results. Her Allergen levels were extremely high. They rose to about 3900, while the normal level is around 100. After 1 year of treatment, her eczema disappeared. Through this rocky period, she always believed that I could help her no matter what her condition was at the time. I’m very happy for her.
 
Practioner’s Notes:

Case 1: This patient had the disorder for a relatively short amount of time before seeking treatment. This is within the best treatment period since the problem has not yet become severe. Fungus was not yet spread throughout the body. Therefore, it was easier to treat this patient.

Case 2: As time progresses, the eczema will get stronger and more severe. This was the case for this woman who has suffered for fifteen years. She tried a variety of treatment methods with no avail. Her condition kept getting worse. The large amounts of medication she consumed had extremely adverse side effects and made her case significantly worse. She came to me for treatment. After one year of extensive treatment, her rash completely disappeared. Years after her treatment was stopped, her skin continues to be in perfect condition. It is hard to imagine her skin prior to treatment.

Later, when she tried to dye her hair, the product gave her an allergic reaction. Her entire face and eyes became swollen and was covered with a severe rash. When her doctors told her to use steroids, she refused and sought my help immediately. After seven days of treatment, her condition dissipated. This time, she was very intelligent in seeking out my help quickly after the condition arose. This is within the prime treatment time and provided her with a total relieve for her problem.  

Many people are allergic to the ingredients used to make hair products. Even after steroids are used, the condition continues to return, and worsens each time. This can eventually develop into dermatitis, which is very painful. She wants to tell everyone how acupuncture and Chinese medicine has helped her overcome this hurdle in her life. 

The human body is extremely complex. All the different parts of the body must remain in balance with one another in order to keep the body healthy. Chinese medicine treats the body as a whole, and regulates and or enhances the internal systems. Chinese medicine specializes in targeting and treating both in root source of the problem, but also the external symptoms.

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