People are always sending us private messages on the Young and Raw facebook page to ask how they can heal their eczema without using expensive and harmful chemical creams. I for one, have a lot of experience with the agony and embarrassment that eczema breakouts can cause.
For the duration of my childhood and early into adulthood, I suffered from extreme eczema breakouts on my legs, arms and hands. In adulthood, the breakouts localized to my hands and it got really bad. My hands basically looked like big giant scabs, my skin was always flaking off and I would hide my hands in public so people didn’t get grossed out (and trust me, they did get grossed out.)
I tried everything the doctors gave me, vaseline, coritsone, cotton gloves at night while I slept – but nothing seemed to work. The thing is, skin conditions are almost always caused by something internally. Eastern beliefs associate skin conditions to negative emotions, and in the west, we associate skin conditions to poor diet. Personally, I feel it is very likely a combination of both. Sitting here writing this, I am happy to declare that I haven’t had an eczema break out in years since following the principals below and I am almost certain that if you apply these in your own life you will experience the same results.
We asked our friend Yarrow Willard, Herbalist and Co-Owner over at HarmonicArts.ca about how they treat eczema. Here is what Yarrow had to share with us:
“For working with eczema, it is important to remember that the skin is one of the four major eliminatory organs (Bowels, Kidney, Lungs, Skin). Being that it is the largest of these eliminatory organs, it reflects the internal imbalances of body ecology most apparently. When we see eczema and psoriasis it is the tell tale sign that there is a shift needed inside to make changes to what we eat and how it is assimilated.
Typically the health of the gut and the liver are the first place to start. If these are managed properly usually the skin clears up. In the gut the imbalance is often linked to inflammation and Candida. Reducing or eliminating inflammatory foods and those that break down to simple sugars which candida and other non beneficial organisms feeds on is a must.
We suggest a detox/cleanse diet, using our Candida Combat and Digestive Elixirs 2 droppers full 2x daily, before meals. As the liver is the major organ that processes garbage and metabolizes oils in the body, it must be working properly as well. Often the liver becomes congested and backed up do to our modern food choices and habits. For this we use the Liver Elixir in the same way as the other tinctures. This cleansing program is ideal to do for 1 month, followed by a month of building with ferments and probiotics, then another of cleansing if necessary. For some they must stay on a candida diet for 90 days to really shift the imbalance. Hope that is helpful.”
10 Eczema Healing Principals to Follow
1. Avocado and aloe vera can be uses topically on a break out to help moisturize and heal the skin. Mix one or both together into a paste and apply to your skin for 20 minutes and gently wash off with warm water.
2. Swap out pasteurized dairy products for dairy free kefir, sauerkraut and other fermented foods. Pasteurized dairy can be overly acidic and the other potential hormones, chemicals can lower the immune system and aggravate skin conditions like eczema and acne.
3. Replace acid producing foods like beef, pork and chicken for dark leafy green vegetables, whole fruits and sprouted nuts or seeds for a few weeks and see if you notice any improvement.
4. Swap out your oils for a cold pressed, organic, extra virgin coconut oil.
5. Eat more living foods – fresh juices, fruit & green smoothies, salads, and lightly steamed vegetables.
6. Drink green vegetable juices with ingredients like celery, cucumber, kale, parsley, cilantro and ginger.
7. Take a dairy free probiotic to support and re-build healthy gut bacteria. You can also have cultured foods like sauerkraut, coconut kefir and miso.
8. Avoid caffeine as it can aggravate eczema. Drink water instead, hydration is important.
9. Remove Gluten from the diet that may be hiding in packaged foods, breads, cereals and replace it with sprouted, whole grains or fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and seaweeds. You can find wonderful seaweed blends from HarmonicArts.ca
10. Eat foods rich in Omega 3′s like chia, hemp seed, and walnuts, (salmon if you eat fish). You can also find an oil like Udo’s oil or hemp at your local health food store. Spirulina is another great food for skin conditions, it’s rich in fatty acids and protein.
11. Bonus Tip. Reduce your stress by doing the things you love and following your bliss. If there are areas of your life that need healing, do what it takes to clear past wounds and embark on a new chapter in your life. There are some great meditations out there like the Ho’oponopono track, and wonderful books by authors like Harville Hendrix, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Nathaniel Branden and NLP practitioners Richard Bandler. These authors have written amazing books on self-healing and self-growth.
Following these healing principles does not mean you will experience results overnight, but over time when you adopt these principles as part of your lifestyle your skin will follow suit. It took about 2 months for my hands to heal completely, so like anything – you need to give it time. Talk to your N.D or R.H.N about implementing these practices into your daily routine.
Have you healed eczema in yourself or a child naturally? Share your tips in the comments below!
Learn more recipes and tips like this in our 3 months course How to Go Raw, Not Crazy! We’re taking a few more student testers, if you’d like more details on how you can get a discount on registration you can email us with the subject line “how to go raw”.
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I just wanted to say that this is an amazing BLOG!!! I have been following your website and fb page for about 5-6 months now, and I have to say that you are beautiful inspiring health GURUS, and I truly appreciate all the tips, information and personal stories you share with us. I myself am a Registered holistic Nutritionist, and live a very alternative natural lifestyle. After having my first child (21 months ago) I broke out in severe ezcema about 3 months later on my hands as well, wosre on the one then the other. It was bubbly, swollen, red,dry, oozey, soar, itchy, bleeding, crusty, just horrible. I literally didint have use of my right hand for about 5-6 months, as i couldnt even stretch my fingers. I had to wear a cotton glove for almost half a year, which was so difficult having to change a new borns bum multiple times a day.lol. I was offcourse breastfeeding at the time, so my options were limited as far as detoxing and certain natural supplements go. I tried everything I could possibly think of, from an elimination diet literally living off veg/fruit/healthy vegetarian fats for 4 weeks. I didnt notice any difference,but actually more inflammation. I then went to my Naturopathic Doctor and also a Traditional Chinese Acupuncurist for recommendations. I then tried acupuncture, herbal remedies and fresh made herbal cream for my hand; also some natural supplements like Biotin. This helped eliminate some inflammtion and pain, but definatly not all. I tried jucing greens, spirulina daily, and even at one point cut out the raw foods for a short term as it got to the point where it seamed maybe the raw was irritating me, but that wasnt the problem either. I tried many other natural routes, but nothing seamed to completey clear it up. Its been about 18 months since I broke out, and I am still having issues with it. It is not anything nearly to the extent it was, but I am still struggling with clearing this up 100%. This article has really inspired me to start doing some extra juicing (maybe 2-3 times a day instead of 1) and to start some more stress reducing techniques. I really believe the stress has a huge roll to play for my break out, and some hormonal imbalance as well. I LOVE your site, LOVE the things you share…keep it up YOUNG & RAW! Your team is literally RAWKING!
Much thanks and love,
Lara Marie, R.H.N.