Monthly Archives: December 2015

This is not just a temporary treatment for eczema.

I suffered from moderate to severe eczema, pompholyx, pruritus, psoriasis, rosacea, seborrheic dermatitis,... for almost forty years. That was until seven years ago when I came across a cure for my eczema. Not a treatment for eczema, but for me, a cure for eczema.

If you are reading this, I am going to assume that you also have some form of skin rash. Whether you have dry skin, eczema, psoriasis or any of the several types of eczema skin symptoms, my heart goes out to you.

I know how frustrating and debilitating this skin disease can be and I want to help you with a cure for eczema, psoriasis, dermatitis, or whatever skin disorder you are struggling with through "My Story, Your Cure".

"My Story, Your Cure" chronicles my experiences and struggles with eczema, and then describes in detail how I cured myself of this awful affliction.

February 16, 2010Until very recently I have lived with severe eczema and for those of you who share this condition I have a very good idea of what you may be going through. I also have been free from eczema for six years, a fact I attribute to a significant change in my eating habits.

I started showing symptoms of eczema, according to my mother, when I was two years old. My earliest recollection of having eczema is when I was four. For many years I had almost permanent scabs in the folds of my forearms, behind my knees, my groin and the front of my neck. I was especially self-conscious about the neck rash. It looked like a very nasty rope burn. At night it would get so itchy that I would scratch each spot clean. My mom suffered from eczema also and certainly understood what I was going through. She did everything to try to figure out what was causing the rash. We went for allergy tests which were completely useless. I learned at a very young age that I was allergic to almost everything, including cats, dogs (& all furry or hairy critters), dairy, chocolate, oranges and house dust. House dust? Seriously, where do we go from here? Well, we got rid of the cat. I settled for a turtle, instead of the kindergarten chick. I drank goats milk and ate goats cheese (for a six year old this was a real treat) and for added humility, no more chocolate. None of these remedies made much, if any, difference. We abandoned future efforts to find the root cause of my eczema and focused more on treating the symptoms. I continued my daily regimen of cortisone cream and at times would go for weekly cortisone shots. Every once in a while my skin would clear up for a few days or weeks and I would be the happiest kid on the block. (Summertime was the best). But it always came back as ugly as ever.

When I was thirteen I got a lot better. I used very little cortisone cream and became almost symptom free for five or six beautiful years.

As magical as it disappeared at age thirteen, at nineteen it reappeared without warning and with different symptoms. The eczema was no longer in my joints, but more on the outsides of my arms, chest, legs and face. Yes, face. Why not on the bottoms of my feet or something? Not the face. This left my face raw, red, itchy and stinging, all the time. Oh and my hands would break out with a million of these tiny little blisters (fronts and backs of my hands completely covered). The next few years were a real struggle with my skin and my confidence. The cortisone cream wasnt nearly as effective as it was when I was younger. The only thing that would clear my skin up, even temporarily, was a wonderful little steroid called prednisone. But this was a short term fix and doctors were careful not to prescribe this very often. At one visit to my dermatologist in Edmonton, I asked him if there was anything I could do to improve my eczema, could it be brought on by diet or smoking? (Yes, I was a smoker, started when I was thirteen). I will never forget his reply, You have Atopic Dermatitis and there is nothing you can do except put on more cream. And as I questioned him further he softly replied again, more cream. Of all the dermatologists I saw over the years, this physician was my favorite dermatologist but the only advice that I got from him, from a cure standpoint, was more cream. Though, at the time, I would not have survived without it. I knew there had to be someone out there with the answer.

I listened to any advice that people had to offer and put it to the test. I tried every type of lotion, mineral oil, baby oil, and natural oil that I could possibly find. I even tried a tar-like ointment, and synthetic amniotic fluid cream. Nothing worked, some of it even made it worse. One doctor prescribed a stand up tanning bed treatment, which actually helped a little. I tried acupuncture from a Chinese gentleman who also prescribed a mixture of several roots and herbs, which I had to cook in water to form this highly noxious potion that he called tea. Oh my goodness, it stunk up the house something fierce. After eight or so visits it didnt make even a little bit of difference.

So for many years I stuck with the cream and this little green pill (APO-HYDROXYZINE) at nighttime. The little green pill was great. If I took it a couple of hours before I went to bed it kept me from scratching and I would fall asleep right away. The only problem was that it made me very sleepy the next day. Every few years I would go on prednisone for a week or two to clear things up. I would often coincide this with any holidays that I would take.

I know that my favorite Dermatologist said that smoking was not the cause of my eczema, but I had to rule it out anyway so I quit smoking for a year and a half. I was really hoping this would end my battle with eczema (and apparently psoriasis as well, according to another doctor). Although I felt much healthier, it had no effect on my skin. I tried to stay positive. I told myself that there are people who suffer from far worse conditions than I. As long as I dont let my prescription for the cream and the little green pills run out, I would be okay. Hey, I have dealt with this my whole life and I was going to be okay. I took solace in the fact that it couldnt get any worse. My favorite Dermatologist said to an intern during one of my visits that I was one of the worst cases of eczema (Atopic Dermatitis) that he had ever seen. So how can it get any worse? Well, it can get worse, much worse.

I was in my late thirties and felt as though I was being tested by some higher beings and I am sure they were saying How much pain and discomfort can we put this poor guy through?

I developed eczema all over my entire body. It was so incredibly itchy all of the time, even during the day now. And when I say my entire body, I really mean just that. The worst was on my back. It was one large open wound which covered every square inch of my back. Even by upping the little green pill dosage to two at bedtime, I was often up until three or four in the morning scratching and tearing at my body. With only three or four hours left to sleep, I would get up and shower in the hottest water I could stand. Really, you might think cold would be better, but the hot water was the only thing that lessened the itch. It probably didnt help to heal my skin though. At this time of the night I would often sob with frustration. After showering I put the cream on all over and I would wake my wife to put some on my back. She was not fond of being woken up in the middle of the night. (Much like a bear or similar wild animal) but she got up without hesitation to do this for me. Peggy helped me keep my sanity through this trying time and for that I am truly grateful. By the time the weekend came, I was exhausted. At times turning offers down to go golfing. Okay, now I have to really get this figured out.

I went on steroids (prednisone) twice over the next six months, this offered only temporary relief and then I would break out again.

When I was forty one, a friend of ours introduced me to some material on pH balancing (or alkalizing) diets. I thought, okay, this will probably be very helpful, thank you. What I didnt realize at the time was that I had finally found the answer. As I read through the information, it began to make perfect sense to me. I got on the computer and searched Alkalizing Diets. What I found was amazing. There was so much information on this topic. How could I have missed this?

The following is how I have become to understand pH balance within our body and the effect that our diet has on that critical balance. PH is quite simply (okay, maybe not quite so simply) parts hydrogen. The blood has a pH balance of 7.365 (slightly alkaline). Any significant variance to this pH balance in our blood would mean that we are very ill and likely would not survive. Fortunately our body does everything it can to maintain the pH in our blood. For example, if we become too acidic, our body creates extra fat which is a means of storage for the extra acidity. This in turn leaves our skin too acidic and prone to many challenging diseases (eczema and psoriasis for example) In fact, when our bodies become too acidic, there is a myriad of resulting diseases. The cells that make up our bodies must have a healthy pH balanced environment in order to function without disease. These cells are constantly dying and being recreated. So after a few years our bodies completely renew themselves. So if our bodies are completely made from these little things we call cells, and these cells require a certain pH balance to function properly, then we had better make sure we give the cells what they need.

I really got hooked on this and started learning more and more about the Alkalizing Diet. I quit smoking (this time for good). I started running everyday for twenty minutes, drank lots of water (avoid tap water with chlorine) and followed the Alkalizing Diet to the letter for three months. After one month my eczema cleared right up. And after three months I didnt need any cortisone cream, prednisone or the little green pill. I had so much energy and felt so good, but above all I had normal skin for the first time in my life. As you could imagine, I was so grateful for this. Over the next three months I slowly veered away from the diet and stopped running due to a badly sprained ankle while golfing.

I am still very much amazed by this cure. I was on this diet and exercise regimen for only three months. That was seven years ago and my eczema is gone.

This event has absolutely proven to me that this is the cure for eczema and psoriasis. The pH balanced (acid/alkaline) diet works on the principle of consuming 20 30% healthy acidic foods. These have a pH value of <7 and typically include meats, fish, & most fruits, (except grapefruit, lemons and limes) and 70 80% healthy alkalizing foods. These have a pH value of >7 and typically include all green leafy vegetables, cucumber, celery, tomatoes, onion, garlic, almost all raw vegetables, raw almonds, seeds, sprouts, avocado. It is extremely difficult to determine the exact percentage of acidic versus alkaline foods you are eating, so, dont sweat it too much. However, if you are eating pizza with a slice of tomato on it, you arent quite there yet.

When I was on the diet a typical breakfast would be tomatoes with avocado cut up with ground pepper and sea salt, and a handful of raw almonds. I learned later that it is well worth your while to soak the almonds in water for a couple of minutes and to limit the amount you eat to avoid an upset stomach. Other meals would typically include raw vegetables, raw almonds, chicken breast, or fish and at least one big mixing bowl size salad with raw vegetables and sprouts every day. I know I could have improved my diet a lot with maybe some more beans, lentils or maybe some more research but I never put anything that was not completely healthy into my body for three months. Only eat pure foods. Eliminate all processed foods e.g. sandwich meats, bread, cereal, sugar, table salt. Do not cook your vegetables. They are designed to eat raw. From my reading I learned that If you cook vegetables, this can create an acidic effect in your body and that would defeat the whole purpose of this exercise. Yes, that includes potatoes. Try a few thin slices of raw potato with sea salt if you really insist on potatoes. Do not eat red meat. Lets look at a typical bad meal to understand why to avoid it. A typical bad meal includes meat, potatoes and maybe a cooked vegetable. Okay, to start with, all three items are acidic. If it is red meat then its even more acidic. Red meat can take up to 3-4 hours to digest. If you mix red meat with a carbohydrate or a starch, it can take up to 10 hours to digest that meal. This creates an unhealthy state in your body. If you have to have a steak (only after three months) a bit of fruit 20 minutes before will aid in digestion and then just add a steak and salad for the meal. If you can continue on the alkalizing diet for the rest of your life, I hope you will find that you will be incredibly healthy. Some researchers with PhDs have professed that no known virus can survive in a body that is ph balanced. I am not asking you to believe that though. The only research that I know for certain to be accurate is my own experience with eczema and the effect the alkalizing diet had on me. The effect was so dramatic that it could not be called anything but a Cure. If you want to be a little more cautious than I was have your doctor or nutritionist approve a diet for you using these principles. Just be smart about it. For instance, too much grapefruit can be harmful if on certain medication. So if you are on any medication, or have any health concerns get your diet approved by your doctor.

Look, I am not a doctor, or researcher, or scientist of any kind, but what I have been is my own test subject in my life-long search for a cure for eczema. And in my search I, in fact, found a cure. A cure that worked for me, anyway, and I am hoping will work for you also. So, please, do as I did and follow the diet and a twenty minute daily aerobic exercise (consult your Doctor to approve an exercise that is right for you) for at least three months and then please let me know how you did. Just remember not to put anything into your body that is not completely healthy for you or doesnt fit into the alkalizing diet.A nice steady pleasant aerobic workout every single day is absolutely essential in order to, lets say, rinse your skin of any toxins. Aerobic exercise also releases endorphins (which have a profound effect on your well being). By keeping your workout nice and easy, it keeps you motivated. Trust me on this, all you want to do is break a sweat for 20 minutes every day. I predict that your skin problems will subside and you will feel absolutely amazing. Please do not form your opinion until three months is over, as you may experience initial flu-like symptoms as built-up toxins leave your body. This should happen within the first week or two though.So prepare yourself mentally, and commit yourself to three months on the pH diet. I will definitely say that this requires some discipline but I will also say that this changed my life and I am hoping it will do the same for you. Commit yourself to this diet, dont do it half way. Consider everything you put into your body and make sure it fits into the diet. Yes, I am sorry; this does mean no good things for at least three months. Trust me it will be well worth it. Your skin will clear up, your eyes will be brighter and you will have way, way more energy. If you can think of eating as a way of delivering nutrients to your cells, this might help in eating only the best of foods.

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my story. If you suffer from eczema or psoriasis I would be humbled if this story helps you. I strongly believe that if you follow the pH diet, drink lots of water (moderate amounts regularly throughout the day) and engage in twenty minutes of easy aerobic exercise (approved by your Doctor of course) for at least three months you will see improvement in your symptoms, if not completely cure yourself from this awful affliction. So plan your meals and make sure you have all the groceries you need on hand. Commit yourself 100% to the diet and aerobic exercise. Then create an image of yourself with clear, beautiful skin.

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A cure for eczema, is it really posible?

Today we have a guest post from Christina, who suffered from eczema from childhood all the way through to her adult years. Christina only finally managed to control her eczema when she addressed the health of her digestive system.

The gut is a very important organ in your body, and much more complex than most people think. I never thought that something as seemingly unconnected as the gut could have an impact on my eczema or skin issues in general.

But before I go deeper, let me give you a little background about me

Christina as a child

Ive had eczema ever since I was a kid, about 8 years old. I remember it would just randomly appear on various places on my body, specifically my arms and legs and sometimes on my chest and neck. I was often brought in to see dermatologists and skin doctors, but the diagnosis was always the same thing: Its just eczema, its normal for kids to have. The doctors would prescribe some creams and ointments to relieve the itchiness and help dry it up, but it never got rid of it completely.

As a teenager it was rough. I wasnt able to do other normal things, like wear shorts or sleeveless shirts or go swimming in the summer. I was so embarrassed of my eczema that I even made up stories to the friends I did have, telling them it was bug bites or that it was a rash from something I ate. Most of the time I would try to just change the subject whenever my peers or adults would ask me what it was -because I didnt really know myself.

I remember hoping it was an age factor and that it would get better as I got older. I had read testimonies of people who had horrible breakouts that miraculously disappeared once they hit their 20s. Even my dad told me that he had really bad eczema when he was younger, and that it had gone away eventually. I desperately hoped this would apply to me! Unfortunately, the hope of it only being teenage eczema wasnt the case, and my eczema followed me through my 20s and after.

An adult with a crisis

As an adult I became so frustrated at this never-ending problem that I considered just giving up trying to find solutions. I had doctors tell me that since it seemed hereditary, there was a big possibility it would never go away. I was prescribed steroid creams, corticosteroid creams, antibiotics, and medicines that just didnt work! I was spending lots of money and not seeing any of the results I wanted.

Eczema flare-up

Because I had to use the creams and medications regularly, I was at the point where if I DIDNT use them my eczema would get out of control. (The picture is how my eczema looked when I was using creams) When I would have a flare up, I hid it the best I could. Out came the creams, topical ointments, gauze, tape, and band aids. I would apply and re-apply until it went away, then repeat the process when it came back. At some point my eczema was returning as fast as it was clearing. It would flare, I would apply the cream for 2 or 3 weeks, and then it would go away-only to return 2 weeks later.

I was so frustrated and unhappy. Even having a physical relationship was uncomfortable, and some nights it was so bad I would cry out of frustration because I couldnt sleep. When I was on vacation or traveling I couldnt enjoy myself because I always had this very literal itch.

Research

Just like many of you struggling with eczema, I spent a lot of time online. I would browse new medications and look on forums for peoples experiences with eczema, trying to find a new solution to an age old problem. It surprised me to see how many people were suffering from the same issue that I was, and getting near to no help from their doctors either.

It was one of these days that I stumbled across an article on gut healthrelated to adult skin problems. The article talked about how gut health could be critical in healing skin conditions like adult acne, psoriasis, and eczema. It talked about gut health as the key to revolutionizing the way dermatologists treat eczema.

Now from what I knew, eczema was an autoimmune and inflammatory disease, and so far the only reasonable way for me to treat it was to use medicines or creams to help my body fight against it. I would use antibiotics and medicines (to help my bodys immune system), anti-inflammatory creams (to lessen inflammation), and so on. I never considered that I could go natural and try to heal my body from the inside-out!

Consequences of an Unhealthy Gut

For years I had been addressing my eczema as just a surface problem, never realizing it went way beyond that. As I did more research,I realized that in order to heal your skin you had to go a lot deeper than just lotions and topical creams.

As I mentioned before, the human gut is something so overlooked, but very important as it is responsible for so many different functions in our body. It promotes normal gastrointestinal function, provides us protection from infections, regulates our metabolism and comprises more than 75 percent of our immune system. Most importantly, its home to over 100 trillion micro-organisms, (bacteria) both good and bad. Research has shownthat in order to maintain a healthy gut, there should be a ratio of around 80 percent good bacteria vs 20 percent bad bacteria.

This balance of bacteria in particular has a lot to do with skin and our overall health. Medical researchers and experts in mucosal biology have shown that that the gut was a key factor in autoimmune diseases, like coeliac, diabetes, obesity, and more. Their conclusion was that an unhealthy gut was the main cause for a wide range of autoimmune diseases, including eczema, psoriasis, and other chronic skin issues.

The gut-skin connection

I started to better understand that the link between the gut and overall health was in fact, very strong. In my case, the consequences of an unhealthy gut showed up through my skin. From research and studies, heres what I discovered:

The gut is a big part of the digestive system. What ever goes in, goes out or at least this is how its supposed to work. Now remember how in order to maintain a happy healthy gut, there has to be IDEALLY a 80-20 balance of good to bad bacteria? Well, studies have shown that if you continually consume certain inflammatory foods or toxins, these types of foods can cause the bad bacteria to grow at a rapid pace, outgrowing the percentage of good bacteria.

This is a problem because when the balance is thrown out of proportion, the overgrowth of bad bacteria starts to create toxins that are damaging to our gut lining. These toxins then hit the walls of the gut lining, creating spaces and holes between the cells.

These holes are dangerous because they allow the guts bacteria (remember theres a lot of bacteria in there!), toxins, as well as incompletely digested proteins and fats, to leak out of the gut and into the bloodstream.

This is what is commonly referred to as Leaky Gut Syndrome or increased intestinal permeability. Instead of going straight OUT (like it should), its going back INTO your body (where it shouldnt).

So how does eczema come into play?

Well, because the damaged gut is no longer up to the job of dispensing these bad bacterias and toxins, the body has to use another method of eliminationthe skin.

The skin is the bodys largest elimination organ, so its not surprising why a myriad of skin diseases come into play during this clean-up process. Because of this bacterial breach into our bloodstream via our leaky gut, the body now has no other choice but to react by pushing the toxins out through our skin. Our body is simply trying to eliminate the bacterial problem the best way it can and rid us of the escaped toxins in our blood.

Unfortunately for us, it essentially puts our skin under assault, resulting in multiple breakouts in skin rashes, acne, eczema, pimples, acne and psoriasis. Along with these effects, you may also experience gas, bloating, fatigue, sinus congestion, and foggy thinking.

How to heal your gut and help clearyour eczema

Now that I understood how the gut-skin connection worked, I wanted to do something about it. Looking into my diet was important in helping me clear my skin. I realized that using creams and taking medicines to heal my eczema wasnt the way to heal my bodyI needed to focus on gut health in order to heal my eczema.

Here a few things I did to start healing my gut:

1) Get rid of inflammatory foods. When I first started to heal my gut, I stopped eating inflammatory foods like wheat(gluten), dairy, soy, and high amounts of sugar. Many people think that just because they arent allergic to these types of foods that it means they can eat them all they like. The fact is, however, that these kinds of inflammatory foods can create problems in your gut that cause the bad bacteria to grow. Sugar, for example, actually feeds bad bacteria in your gut, causing them to grow at a really fast pace.

2) Increase the amounts of probiotics. Just getting rid of inflammatory foods isnt enough for your gut to fully heal. If youve been on medications, and especially antibiotics, youre going to need to grow good bacteria. The fastest way to grow good bacteria is to increase probiotic foods and even supplement if necessary. Foods that contain good probiotics are things like sauerkraut, kimchi (marinated cabbage), kombucha (fermented drink), and kefir.

3) Add Omega 3s to your diet. Another thing that greatly helps build gut-lining are healthy fats that contain high amounts of Omega 3s and essential fatty acids. Fish oil, extra virgin coconut oil, and avocado oil are all good sources of essential fatty acids that will help rebuild your leaky gut lining.

How I healed my eczema through healing my gut

Christina's skin before and after she changed her diet.

In my experience, I had never tried anything more revolutionary than using gut-health to clear eczema. As I learned more about the gut-skin connection and went off the creams and antibiotics that were inflaming my gut, I began to see my eczema heal.

After over 12 years of suffering from eczema, trying creams, medications, fad diets, artificial methods, and spending hundreds of dollars and having none of them work, I was finally able to see new skin! Through gut health I found the REAL, inexpensive, natural way to heal my skin, clear my eczema and keep it off permanently.

Ever since I healed my gut, my eczema hasnt returned and Im no longer hiding or covering my body. Instead I feel healthier, more confident, and Ive even gotten rid of some other issues that I thought would never go awaylike my chronic canker sores and dandruff problem.

Doctors told me it was something I couldnt get rid of, and that I would have eczema and be reliant on creams and medications for the rest of my lifebut Im proud to say I proved them wrong..and you can too!

Creams, steroids, and medications are not long-term solutions. It all starts with the gut.

Bio:

Christina Reeves is the Author and Creator of The Flawless Program: a program focusing on gut health as a way to permanently clear skin issues.

Her website http://www.flawlessprogram.com, gives insightful information for anyone looking to heal their gut and fix their skin, naturally and forever!

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Everything For Eczema | Prevent the itch stop the scratch