Video Transcript:
Hi there. Dr. Shayna Peter here holistic doctor here in the Chicago area. I want to take a few minutes today to walk you through what we're doing in our office to help people who've been struggling with eczema. So these people they've kind of been through everything they've done a conventional treatments, they've done the steroids. They've done all these different creams and ointments. And their eczema just keeps coming back and so eczema is this complex condition that's caused by an imbalance in the immune system.
And so that can be caused by a number of factors in the specific root causes can vary from one person to the next so I got a few tips that I'm going to zero in on with you today that when they're addressed they can really help to get that healing process going.
Identify Food Triggers
So the first is identifying food triggers and so the most common ways to do that are through an elimination diet where you eliminate a group of foods that are considered allergenic for a period of time and then you reintroduce there and see how your body respond.
The other method would be through food allergy testing. There are many different types of testing out there. I'm a fan of doing a blood test because you can check for immediate reactions as well as more delayed reactions that are harder to pinpoint and so a lot of people find “healthy” foods that are triggering their eczema reaction, so it can be really helpful for people in that way to identify some foods that they could start avoiding right away to get their skin under control.
But one thing I do want to bring to your attention is food sensitivities are a symptom of a deeper problem. So that deeper problem has to be addressed in order to correct the food sensitivities and someone has a lot of food sensitivities doesn't mean that they need to avoid all those foods for the rest of their life some of those sensitivities can be overcome if the root cause is addressed.
Restore Gut Health
So next we've got assessing digestive health. So we said that eczema is caused by an imbalance in the immune system, right? Well, seventy percent of your immune system is located in your gut and there are many different things that can go wrong with a person's gut health that can lead to eczema.
They can have an imbalance in their microbiome— so they could have over growth of good bacteria, they could have not enough good bacteria, they can have presence of bad organisms and pathogens and all these things can cause problems with good health. They can have poor digestion which can cause a lot of problems, they could have leaky gut syndrome. So we've actually seen a number of cases of people that have had undiagnosed celiac disease. So they were continuing to expose themselves to wheat through their diet, not realizing that they were allergic and it was causing their eczema and also causing severe leaky gut. So those are some examples.
Repair the Skin Barrier
So the last one that I want to touch on is repairing the skin barrier. So a damaged skin can be very can play a big role in eczema, so it's really important to have a skincare routine in place that repairs the skin barrier and really helps to minimize as much as possible the water loss through the skin. So I hope that you found those tips to be helpful.
Ready address the root causes of eczema and looking for one-on-one guidance?
Well Ahead Chicago blends holistic dermatology and functional medicine to help people that have eczema pinpoint the root causes. Regardless of where you live in the world we offer virtual strategy sessions to fit your personal needs.
Medical Disclaimer
Information contained within this site is for educational use only and is not to be construed as medical advice. Always consult with your health care provider before making changes to your lifestyle or medical treatment plan.
