conflagration of symptoms begins when the immune system over-reacts to an irritant, allergen, or offending substance. This reaction, for some reason, turns on the skin. That’s what we know, for sure.
Eczema and Chinese medicine Similarly, Chinese medicine
doesn’t delineate one, singular, defini- tive cause for eczema. Illness—der- matological or otherwise—always arises as a result of some kind of imbalance in the body, an imbalance caused by the impact of the environ- ment, stress, improper diet, toxin buildup, and other lifestyle and emo- tional factors as they intermingle with your unique, individual constitution. As we mentioned in the treatment of acne, practitioners of Chinese medi- cine have the benefit of an altogether different approach to human physiol- ogy that allows us to look at disease processes from a perspective unavail- able to a Western physician. The ben- efit of that different perspective is that it gives us different treatment options. Where Western medicine has failed you, Chinese medicine may well have the answer. As was the case with acne, you’ll again hear us talking about your skin condition in seemingly “unscien- tific” ways. We use terms like “damp heat,” “Blood heat with wind,” or “fire toxin” when we’re differentiat- ing your particular version of atopic eczema. Again, what’s useful for us as clinicians is that these seemingly “unscientific” terms are actually very scientific! They’re part of a larger, complex, time-tested, and elegant sys- tem of understanding the inner-work- ings of the human body. These terms, based on your individual symptoms and presentation, then match up your personal eczema with an individual- ized treatment plan. You take your personal medicine, and your eczema
symptoms improve. Hoorah! Nota- bly, quite a few other symptoms are likely to improve, as well.
As is the case for all skin diseases,
your lesions tell us a lot. Where are they located? Are they in the crooks of your knees and elbows (the flex- ures) or in an opposite presentation (i.e. actually on your elbows and knees)? What color are they? Are your lesions more flat (macular) or are they raised as plaques? Do you have bumps (papules), tiny blisters (vesicles), or pustules? Does anything ooze? If it does, what color is it and where on your body is the oozing located? Are there scales? Do you sweat? Is your skin thickened? How itchy are you? Is the itch worse at night? Do you wake up scratching? Are the affected areas swollen? How clearly demarcated are the edges of the lesions—are the borders clear or kinda murky? We’ll also want to know the details of your sleep, your digestion, your mood, your tempera- ture, your bowel habits, your urina- tion, and your menstrual cycle. We’re not treating your skin; we’re treating a person who has skin. All of you mat- ters.
Case Studies How about a few examples?
We’ll start with an infant, a male, 8
months old. He developed eczema at 3 months, confined to his head and face. The lesions are clearly itchy and somewhat swollen. He’s prone to get very hot, especially in the evening and at night, but he doesn’t sweat much. His sleep is restless with frequent waking and crying, and the eczema is much more active each time he cuts a tooth. Otherwise, his general health is very good. Or how about the case of a
17-year-old male. His eczema began at around the age of the previous patient—9 months old. It was mild at first, but by 2 years old had spread to involve most of his body and face. He used the typical steroids and topical medicines prescribed by his derma- tologist, and by age 6 the eczema had settled down (this is not uncommon; 50% of children grow out of it). At age 12, however, his skin deteriorated again so that he had to use a very po- tent steroid regularly to keep his skin in check. Over the past 6 months, in an attempt to improve his health, he’s avoided the use of steroids and has changed his diet significantly—no dairy, wheat, refined carbohydrates or sugars. A valiant effort but one that unfortunately has produced limited benefit. (Diet can certainly make a big difference in eczematous conditions, but in most cases diet alone is not
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