I had to do a double take when I saw the article in the mail recently,
Skin deep: Expert who says eczema creams may actually make it WORSE was the headline…duh! Isn’t that obvious?
Seems not, and it makes me realise how important it is to constantly remind people that conventional skincare products so often exacerbate the problem rather than cure it.
The article was about a woman who has used anti-inflammatory steroid creams to treat her eczema as instructed by her GP, and while it helped initially over time it stopped working. She researched and found that TSW topical steroid withdrawal is a syndrome, named ‘red burning skin syndrome’ according to a dermatologist in California
Incredibly steroid creams are still the most common treatment for eczema sufferers in the Uk, (around 6 million), yet these creams could in fact be making the dry cracked and inflamed skin worse
Shann Nix Jones is the author of The Good Skin Solution and the founder of Chuckling Goat, she believes that good skin starts from the gut, and that eczema is not a ‘skin condition’ it’s a condition of the gut and if want to heal our skin we must first replace the good bacteria in our gut.
They offer a whole programme of drinking goats milk kefir, and using kefir based natural skincare. www.chucklinggoat.co.uk
I’ve written about this a lot, but our skin is our bodie’s largest organ and what we apply topically will go within, (or at least a percentage of it) and what is going on inside will work its way out!
A few things to remember if you have really irritated skin, drink lots of water, eat lots of dark green leafy veg and definitely keep up the omega 3 levels.
It may seem off topic but think about the water you are bathing in also. Chlorine is very drying for skin and not great for respiratory problems either. If you have delicate skin, dermatologists and skin specialists recommend that you bathe in de-chlorinated water. It is well documented that chlorine dries the skin out and when combined with hard water can do significant damage. Chlorine not only kills the bad bacteria that can make us sick, but it also kills good bacteria on which our skin relies. Restoring the skins moisture function is the most effective first step in overcoming the symptoms of dry sensitized skin.so invest in a dechlorination filter, there’s one for the bath and a shower filter, they remove pretty much all the chlorine from the water.
If you do get a break-out or a flare-up try everything gentle and natural before you reach for the steroids, its official, they don’t work (long term) and even more worrying, they could cause worse problems