5. Medical v’s Natural Treatments
What you will learn in this module
Medication and Treating Eczema
Holistic Health
Daily Nutritional Supplements
Natural Eczema Protocol
When medicine is necessary
You may have eczema or you may be the caregiver to someone with eczema. In this course you will discover there are many ways to help ease the symptoms of eczema, and later in this course, you’ll be introduced to many wonderful natural therapies and remedies you can mix up at home. That being said, medical treatments can also have their place. So let’s also discuss these too.
Not everyone with eczema takes medication. Consider if you have a mild eczema case you could benefit from making some small changes to your skincare routine, for example changing your soaps and moisturises to ones that have ingredients that won’t dry out your skin, and have no toxins included, you may never need over-the-counter medication just by cutting out the skincare triggers.
When deciding on getting treatment there are a number of factors to take into consideration. This includes; how bad your symptoms are, how regular your flareups, what your medical history is, and your age. As you now know from previous modules in this course, different types of eczema affect different ages.
Most people decide to use medical treatment when:
The itching is unbearable
The skin won’t heal
Flareups are regular and sudden
The eczema has led to an infection
Even if you go to a medical practitioner, remember you are always in control of your body at all times. It’s important you feel you are being listened to and respected. Also, you must be happy with the medication suggested and prescribed. After all, as eczema is bio-individual, a specific medicine often does not have the same affect on everyone. For this reason, it’s important for you and your health professional to have a conversation about options so that would work best for you. You do have options, it’s important to remember this.
Treating Eczema
In previous modules, we discussed different types of treatments, and depending on a few factors; the severity and eczema type, there will be a treatment that works better than another for you.
Emollients
Emollients are moisturising treatments applied directly to the skin to soothe and hydrate. They cover the skin with a protective film to trap in moisture. Emollients are often used to help manage dry, itchy or scaly skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis. They help prevent inflammation and flare-ups.
Emollients are very helpful for managing dry and cracked skin that can occur with atopic eczema. As well as making the skin feel less dry, these emollients can be formulated to reduce inflammation.
You may need to experiment with different emollients or try a combination. For example, you may decide to use a cream during the day and an ointment at night. Let’s discuss the different types now.
Emollients are available as creams, ointments and lotions. The difference between each is the amount of oil or fat they contain:
An ointment is 80 percent oil and 20 percent water.
A cream is 50 percent oil and 50 percent water.
A lotion is similar to a cream but it's an even lighter or less thick.
Ointments - are often used for very dry skin, as they are affective at holding water in the skin. Ointment’s are high in oil content, they should not be used on weeping eczema.
Creams - are a good choice if your skin is less dry and you want to moisturiser daily. They contain a mix of oil and water and feel light and cool on the skin. However, be mindful that most creams contain preservatives, which can trigger reactions, so always check the ingredients first and understand what each ingredient is. This is why I recommend dōTERRA pure creams, they have no fillers.
Lotions - contain the least amount of oil, and more water than other emollients, this means they are the least effective moisturises. Even so, they are good to use on hairy areas of the skin, such as legs. However, again, they often contain fillers and preservatives, that burn when applied to the skin that is scratched all broken.
Topical Corticosteroids
Topical corticosteroids are a type of steroid medicine applied directly to the skin to reduce inflammation and irritation. Corticosteroids also suppress your immune system, which can help control conditions in which your immune system mistakenly attacks its own tissues. Your medical professional may suggest this if your skin is inflamed and in pain. Depending on the severity of your eczema, and the strength of the topical corticosteroids, your skins itching, inflammation and redness may lesson within one or two days. If it doesn’t, you may need to return to your doctor and often they will discuss the use of a stronger steroid or another treatment.
How to use Topical corticosteroids
Your medical professional will advise how to use the topical corticosteriod, however here are some basic guidelines:
Apply your emollient on then wait 15 - 30 minutes, until it has soaked into the skin
Once your skin is appropriately moisturise, apply the recommended amount of the topical corticosteroid to the affected area
Use once or twice daily unless otherwise recommended. It’s important to note, more frequent applications will NOT produce better outcomes
Keep using for one or two days until the redness and itching has subsided to ensure the inflammation beneath the skin has also been treated adequately
Always check with your medical professional if the topical corticosteroid is safe to use during pregnancy and breastfeeding
Side-effects of Topical Corticosteroids
Corticosteroids carry a risk of side effects, some of which can cause serious health problems. When you know what side effects are possible, you can take steps to control their impact. Topical corticosteroids can sting on the skin when you first apply it but you shouldn’t experience any more side-effects. Topical corticosteroids can lead to thin skin, red skin lesions and acne.
Of course just because side-effects are rare doesn’t mean they don’t happen and if you have any of these symptoms, contact your doctor.
Common side effects include:
Itching (you don’t need more itching)
Burning/stinging sensation
Redness and dryness
Atrophy (thinning of the skin)
Striae (stretch marks) in the armpit or groin
Easy bruising and tearing of the skin
Telangiectasia (enlarged blood vessels often called "spider veins")
Hypertrichosis (localized excessive hair growth)
Perioral dermatitis (infection around the mouth)
Acne-like rashes
Purpura (purple-colored spots on the skin due to hemorrhage from small blood vessels)
Antihistamines
Antihistamines are medicines used to relieve symptoms of allergies, such as hay fever, and itchiness due to pollen, dust mites or animal allergies. Antihistamines block histamine, a symptom-causing chemical released by your immune system during an allergic reaction. Although eczema is not really a histamine problem, medical professionals often suggest they can be helpful as they can ease the itching associated with atopic eczema, and reduce some flareups triggered by the allergies.
Most antihistamines that you take by mouth are available over-the-counter. Some make you feel drowsy, and if you have a problem sleeping due to constant itching, taking a sedating antihistamine at night may be helpful. However, other types of antihistamines do not cause drowsiness, and these may be more applicable if you need to continue with tasks during the day.
A natural and very effective antihistamine which is readily available are Lemon, Lavender and Peppermint essential oils. When I talk about essential oils I am only talking about pure therapeutic essential oils from dōTERRA. Add one drop of each oil in the palm of the hand, rub your hands together, cup your hands over your nose and mouth and breathe in x10 deep breaths. This technique works the same as a synthetic antihistamine, to relieve any flareups and triggers from allergies, without any side effects.
Wet Wrap Therapy
During particularly intense eczema flareups with severe itching and pain, wet wrap therapy can work wonders to rehydrate and calm the skin and help topical medications work better. The fabric wraps are soaked in water and applied to the affected skin on the body. Face wraps use gauze and surgical netting, and are applied by nurses trained in this treatment.
Wet wraps are typically kept on the affected area for a number of hours and then removed and changed when they start to dry out. With very severe eczema, it is recommended the wet wrap therapy be carried out by a health professional, as there is concern for the skin tearing when the wrap is removed.
Wet wrap therapy should not be carried out every day. It is important to note, that consistent wet wrap therapy could end up drying out the skin even more.
Method
First moisten the bandage in warm water until slightly damp
Wrap the moist dressing around the affected area
Gently wrap a dry layer over the wet one
Always be careful when putting on clothes after wrapping so as not to disturb the dressing
Leave the wraps on for several hours or overnight, taking care not to let them dry out
Part Two: Holistic Health
You may have heard of holistic health. It’s a lifestyle approach that’s becoming more and more popular. The evidence is mounting that diet and nutrition, natural therapeutics such as supplements, vitamins, herbs, and acupuncture, along with healthy lifestyle choices such as exercise and no-smoking have a direct impact on skin health and managing your eczema flareups.
Let's go into detail about some of these therapies.
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) dates back to 200 B.C, and is still widely practiced today throughout China, Korea, Japan, India and Vietnam in their own unique versions. Chinese herbs have been used to all sorts of medical problems, including stroke, heart disease, mental disorders, bronchitis and the common cold.
Balance between health and disease is the key concept in TCM, patients usually seek TCM treatments to restore this balance. It is believed that to regain balance, you must achieve the balance between the internal body organs and the external elements of earth, fire, water, wood, and metal.
Treatment to regain balance may involve:
-Acupuncture
-Moxibustion is the burning of herbal leaves on or near the body
-Cupping is the use of warmed glass jars to create suction on certain points of the body
-Massage
-Herbal remedies
-Movement and concentration exercises such as tai chi and qi gong
TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) dates back to 200 B.C, and still practiced today in various forms throughout China, Korea, Japan, India and Vietnam in their own unique versions.
Complementary medicine refers to therapies and treatments that complement traditional western (or allopathic) medicine and is used together with conventional medicine, and alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine.
Alternative medicine refers to therapeutic approaches taken in place of traditional medicine and used to treat disease. Alternative medicine is commonly categorized together with complementary medicine under the umbrella term “complementary and alternative medicine”.
Integrative medicine refers to combining complementary treatments with conventional care. The basic philosophy of complementary and alternative medicine include holistic care, which focuses on treatment as a whole person.
Ayurveda is a great example of complementary and alternative treatment. which originated in India more than 5,000 years ago, This form of treatment emphasizes a unique cure per individual circumstances. Ayurveda incorporates treatments including yoga, meditation, massage, diet and herbs
Homeopathy uses minute doses of a substance that causes symptoms to stimulate the body’s self-healing response.
Naturopathy focuses on non-invasive treatments to help your body do its own healing.
Conventional medicine relies on methods proved to be safe and effective with carefully designed trials and research.
All of these medical systems share a number of common elements. They are based on the belief our body has the power to heal itself. Healing often involves incorporating multiple techniques that involve the mind, body and spirit. Treatment is best individualized with an holistic approach to healing.
Holistic health takes a whole-person approach to health and healing that includes body, mind, and soul as well as environmental factors of everyday living.
A holistic approach reminds us that the whole body is made up of many parts, when one part is out of balance or neglected, it affects the other parts. Let’s look at sleep. We know when we sleep well, we make better choices the next day.
Holistic health is also what I call informed health care as it’s empowering you, the owner of your body, to be mindful and make informed choices, self-study, self-education, and to live a way of life that is in harmony with nature.
Health and healing is a personal choice, it takes observation, and it takes commitment—learning to tune into your own personal experiences and learn what works for you, what exacerbates your individual symptoms, and what nourishes you is POWERFUL.
Learning the basics of holistic health will help you navigate your health and skin healing with mindfulness and inspiration to strongly guide you on your journey to wellness.
Benefits of Holistic Health
There are so many incredible benefits to integrating holistic health practices into your daily life:
Treating the common cold
Decreasing inflammation in the body
Alleviating daily stress
Adding in supplements, foods, or daily practices that are helpful additions to feel your best
Here’s some examples
Zinc and Elderberry, two natural remedies, have been shown to shorten the duration of the common cold.
Turmeric has been shown to lower inflammation in the body and especially for patients with symptoms of arthritis.
Acupuncture has been shown to be an effective treatment for chronic pain
Aromatherapy has been shown to support deep sleep and reduce levels of anxiety.
There’s a huge variety of holistic health treatments and protocols from various traditions. My tip is do your research, try them out and find a modality that works for you. Keeping in mind it needs to work with any other medical treatment or medication you are currently taking.
It’s widely popular to add in holistic living practices along with more conventional treatments—this is known as complementary or integrative medicine. Some holistic health modalities require a trained professional, others can be self-taught mind-body practices to explore on your own—such as meditation or yoga.
Here are a few holistic healthcare modalities for you to explore.
Functional Medicine
Functional medicine is a science-based approach that targets identifying and managing the root cause of disease. Each symptom and diagnosis may be one of many contributing factors to an individual’s overall health and wellness.
Functional medicine practitioners often compile scientific testing—such as blood work—to identify and prioritize a treatment plan. Over the course of working with a functional medicine practitioner, you will often be given dietary and lifestyle recommendations in the form of healthy eating, professional supplement regimens, sleep support, stress management, exercise protocols, hormonal health strategies, and mind-body practices.
Ayurveda
Ayurveda is prescribed to treat many conditions such as cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and asthma. Ayurveda is a medical system that includes physical, psychological, philosophical, ethical, and spiritual health. Ayurveda supports the many self-healing aspects of the body through a body, mind, and soul approach as well as the use of herbal remedies to treat specific ailments and conditions. Ayurveda as a holistic healing approach, a lot of progress has been made in the deeper understanding of how Ayurveda works and its effectiveness with many of today’s most common health issues.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture originated in China more than 3,000 years ago as part of traditional Chinese medicine that is and was practiced there. Acupuncture is based on the complex body of meridians—energy highways of the body—where qi (or energy) should flow. The meridians are often spoken of as pathways or channels throughout the body that access different systems of the body carrying blood and bodily fluids around the body.
Acupuncture primarily uses needles, suction cups, and pressure points at specific meridian locations on the body to activate and strengthen the meridians leading to more health and vitality.
Nutritional Medicine
Nutritional medicine is a holistic health modality that emphasizes the importance of food and nutrition in your overall health and wellness. Like the well-known quote by Hippocrates says: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” nutritional therapies emphasize food as medicine.
Nutritional medicine practitioners also look specifically at the individual and design an eating plan to match exactly what it is that is uniquely suited to the current health status and bio-individuality of the patient—the unique and specific nutritional needs based on many important factors and variables, including climate, genetic lineage, environmental stressors, and daily life rhythms.
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy, often called essential oil therapy, is a holistic health modality that uses natural plant extracts in the form of pure oils to elevate health and well-being. Aromatherapy uses a wide variety of aromatic essential oils medicinally either topically, internally, and aromatically, to improve body, mind, and spirit health. Aromatherapy is said to enhance both physical and emotional health.
For example, oregano oil is often used internally to boost immunity because of it’s antiviral properties, while Lavender oil is used topically to reduce skin flares because of it’s calming and soothing properties. There are a plethora of different plant-based essential oils to explore and match up with the many different aspects of your health and well-being. We will discuss the importance of essential oil therapy and skin haling shortly.
Meditation
By simply sitting quietly, slowing down your breath, and creating a one-pointed focus such as a mantra or an affirmation, you can achieve a deep state of inner tranquility that impacts many aspects of your wellbeing. We know eczema can cause immense levels of personal anxiety, having some holistic tools up your sleeve for when your skin is flaring and your mood is low, is a powerful solution to managing your eczema naturally with out any side effects from chemical products.
There are many types and styles of meditation—including spiritual, internal or external focused, and progressive muscular relaxation—that originate from a variety of cultures around the world. Finding a style that fits your needs is a good place to start.
Research shows that meditation may positively affect health issues such as high blood pressure, anxiety, cardiovascular health, and inflammation.
Many beginners enjoy guided meditation at first to learn the basics and get comfortable with meditation. You may also enjoy seeking out a meditation teacher or group in your community or online.
Yoga
Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices that originated in ancient India 3,000 years ago. Yoga includes a heavy focus on the mind-body connection through intentional movement and postures (asana) as well as breath work and focused attention.
Multiple studies have confirmed yoga can be a prevention treatment for many of today’s most common health issues such as blood glucose levels, musculoskeletal ailments, a healthy cardiovascular system and blood flow. Yoga has also been confirmed to support health, including lowering the level of anxiety, boosting positive emotions, and increasing mental focus.
If you are new to yoga, be sure to start slow, and learn the foundational elements so that you can build on them over time. Most yoga studios host beginner or foundations classes to get you started.
Part Three: Daily Nutritional Supplements
Daily Nutritional Supplements
We definitely need to supplement. But I didn’t always think this way. It was not until I completed my nutrition certification that I deeply understood that nutrition is foundational. It allows our body to function optimally. We know good nutrition results in increased energy and increased mental clarity. Nutrition supports cardiovascular health and proper inflammatory responses. We should be focused on supporting our cardiovascular system and our inflammatory responses so we’re not dealing with the major issues from rampant inflammation in our bodies so our skin benefits.
How you fuel your body is the foundation of lifelong health and skin vitality. A balanced whole-food diet, complemented by the right nutritional supplements, provides the essential macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals your body needs to function at its peak. Whether your body gets these nutrients, directly impacts your skin health.
Proper nutrition provides the right about of essential macro and micro nutrients your skin cells need to repair and renew. Eating right also provides your body the energy for daily exercise and recovery. It also helps you sustain proper rest habits, regulate stress levels, reduce toxins, and support proper functioning of all your bodily systems. These benefits help maintain our long-term health and keeps our body functioning well.
What Supplements Should I Take?
There is a lot of information and misinformation out there about what supplements to take, considering more than 90% of supplements sold are made up of rock minerals which you body can not absorb. Here are the basics, those most helpful for supporting your immune function are the following:
A multivitamin and mineral
Vitamin C
Zinc
Probiotics
Tips to Help You Eat Right
Eat the rainbow! Incorporate multicolored fruits and vegetables into your daily diet.
Limit your intake of highly processed foods.
Drink water throughout the day to stay hydrated. You can add citrus essential oils to your water for a boost of flavor and internal detoxing, but more about essential oils next!
One night a week, make a grocery list and meal plan for the week so you make sure your body gets proper nutrients.
Cellular Health
Cells are the basic building blocks of all life. The foundation and root of wellness starts in our cells. We have trillions of cells that make up every tissue and organ in our bodies. Our lifestyles can have a large impact on our cells and our overall well-being. Our daily vitality is dependent on our ability to make lifestyle changes in these 4 core areas.
Nutrient Intake
Metabolizing enzymes
Cleaning waste and toxins from our body
Supporting healthy intestinal flora
I don't know about you but even when I drink a smoothie in the morning, which is pretty common for me and eat my salad for lunch. Even when I do all of those things, I'm still actually not getting that many fruits and vegetables in my diet in a day. You know, I probably eat one fruit a day to be honest. And when I make a smoothie, maybe it increases to three or four. And when we lack vitamins & minerals and essential nutrients, our bodies just can't perform.
You are what you eat.
Is the concept that you are what you absorb. If you are not properly digesting what you consume, all those nutrients aren’t reaching their target sites, and all that nutrition is only creating colorful—and possibly expensive—excretions without promoting optimum health. With the increase of highly-processed food in the conventional modern diet, nutrient absorption is becoming a progressively bigger concern.
The reasons to use dietary supplements, and which ones to use, are very individual, but it all boils down to one primary concern: nutrient deficiencies. A survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that as many as 95% of the American population has at least one vitamin deficiency. If you are currently on a weight management diet, your risk for micronutrient deficiency may be even greater. Unfortunately, avoiding nutrient deficiencies isn’t as simple as eating a whole food diet or picking up the first supplement bottle you see on the shelf.
Did you know that most supplements are not fully absorbed in our bodies? This is because the grocery store supplements are not fully bioavailable. There is also a concern now with many of the supplements on the market because of companies trying to pack too much into a pill. Mega dosing on some nutrients, and lack of some nutrients, are both not good.
When we focus on giving our body what it needs, we thrive. It all starts with optimal daily nutrition and digestive support. dōTERRA whole-food supplements are an ideal companion for your health needs.
Natural Eczema Protocol
This is the exact natural protocol I used to take back control of my skin health. It’s a 90 day program split into 3x months. The first month is a 30 day entire body restore and reset, followed by 2 months of maintenance. This program worked for me and it’s worked for hundreds of my personal health coaching clients. It will also work for you. In module 10 I give you all the details how you can participate in my Cleanse Camp program with private 1-on-1 coaching. So let’s go through my protocol now in detail.
Day 1 - 30: Focus on three different body systems.
Gut Health:
Weed out the bad bacteria in my GI Tract
Seed the gut with quality probiotics
Feed the gut with digestive enzymes
Filtering Organs - skin, lungs, liver, kidney, colon:
Detox all filtering organs for 30 days using raw botanicals and essential oils.
Cellular Health:
Cellular renewal by using high nutrient wholefoud supplements from dōTERRA
Day 31 - 60: Maintenance Focus on increasing nutrition and continue gut cleansing.
Gut Health:
Seed the gut with quality probiotics
Feed the gut with digestive enzymes
Cellular Health:
Cellular renewal, by using Lifelong Vitality Supplements, high nutrient whole-food supplements from dōTERRA
2 drops of Frankincense essential oil taken internally in the mouth under the tongue, morning and night.
Skin Hydration:
Rose Essential Oil applied three times a day to areas of concern, to maintain moisture.
Sleep Support:
Lavender in a diffuser next to the bed, effectively supports sleep.
4 drops of Lavender rubbed into the bottoms of your feet, help soothe and calm to sleep
Day 61 - 90: Maintenance Focus on increasing nutrition and continue gut cleansing.
Gut Health:
Seed the gut with quality probiotics
Feed the gut with digestive enzymes
Cellular Health:
Cellular renewal, by using Lifelong Vitality Supplements, high nutrient whole-food supplements from dōTERRA
2 drops of Frankincense essential oil taken internally in the mouth under the tongue, morning and night.
Skin Hydration:
Rose Essential Oil applied three times a day to areas of concern, to maintain moisture.
Immortelle Blend (Rose, Sandalwood, Helichrysum, Frankincense, Myrrh)
Sleep Support:
Lavender in a diffuser next to the bed, effectively supports sleep.
4 drops of Lavender rubbed into the bottoms of your feet, help soothe and calm to sleep
Skin Healing Oils: Lavender, Tea Tree, Helichrysum, Sandalwood, Frankincense, Rose, Immortelle blend
Essential oils based products: Gx Assist Gut Cleansing Formula, PB Assist probiotic, Terrazyme Digestive Enzymes, Lifelong Vitality Supplements, Zendocrine Detoxification Blend, DDR Prime Cellular Complex, Correct X ointment.
Correct X is an ointment including 17 pure essential oils formulated to address a wide variety of bacterial, viral, fungal or protozoa type infections of the skin.
Self made essential oil blends are very effective. Consider including these oils:
To relieve itching – Lavender
To sooth and heal the skin – Geranium, Frankincense, Helichrysum and Myrrh
For infection – Melaleuca, On Guard Protective Blend, Tea Tree (hot, use with caution). Blend with fractionated coconut oil because of its benefits to the skin
Ointment 1:
1 teaspoon carrier oil such as Extra Fractionated Coconut Oil
20 drops Lavender
20 drops Geranium
20 drops Melaleuca
Apply to affected area, 4 times a day.
Ointment 2:
1 teaspoon carrier oil such as Extra Fractionated Coconut Oil
10 drops Lavender
5 drops Helichrysum
5 drops Myrrh
3 drops Melaleuca (if there is topical infection)
Apply to affected area, 4 times a day.
For larger areas use a bath adding the 6 to 12 drops of the Lavender and the other oils as needed.
Conclusion
Finally, understand that often the root cause of skin condition problems is an internal infection and the skin irritation is only a manifestation of an internal problem. Therefore, strongly consider using a cleanse like the Cleanse Camp you will learn about in Module 10. Couple this with supplements to balance nutrition. In some reported cases of prolonged eczema the Cleanse Camp program had to be repeated multiple times to restore the health of the gut.