The skin condition of atopic dermatitis, known as eczema, is characterized with a very dry, itchy, and flaky skin. According to researchers, the barrier of the skin is damaged (compromised) virtually from the very outset (majority of babies with atopic dermatitis or eczema, experience them again in their adulthood), and they link it to allergy (knows as the allergic triad) where people with eczema might as well have rhinitis (condition of a runny nose caused by allergy) and asthma.
Eczema is not a deadly disease, so there aren’t much finances put in the direction of this condition since those with mild eczema don’t understand that it truly does influence their physical, emotional, and mental well-being, and that the constant suffering isn’t a proper quality of life.
The realities of eczema are sleepless nights because of scratching, painful and sore showers, bloody sheets, itching with stress and even without a reason, peeling skin from cortisone, occasional need for antihistamines, cortisone shots, and immunosuppressive agents to cease the immune response and unawareness of the everyday causes for such reality. People with eczema just want to stop scratching themselves.
What is Your Dermatologist Not Telling You
Dermatologists are experts on the skin and are trained for this particular organ. But occasionally, when we look at a specific organ, we are more likely to see just symptoms and not the cause. The pathology of eczema is usually deeper than the surface of the skin, so it is a tough condition to reveal. However, there surely are methods to lower inflammations related to eczema and there are certain triggers which can worsen the immune response. So how come you don’t know that they exist?
- Unfortunately, not every person with this skin condition is afflicted with the same triggers. Nevertheless, there are some related patterns, and we will discuss them in continuation;
- Some things which can help in the treatment of eczema take a lot of time and patience. However, a lot of patients with a sore and itchy skin just want a quick relief. But you have to ask yourself if you only want to relieve from the symptoms or you want to reach to the initial triggers of eczema;
- Food allergies are some of the triggers which aren’t diagnosed in people with eczema, since the testing methods are rarely discussed and not covered by our medical system. Since OHIP doesn’t cover IgG delayed-type blood testing for hypersensitivity reactions to foods, or IgE blood testing for reactions to foods, it is rather expensive for people to pay out of their own pocket for each possible trigger, which can be quite a lot;
- Usually, false negatives are provided by IgE skin scratch tests for people with skin problems. Skin is a very complicated organ, it reacts when it shouldn’t, and it doesn’t when it is supposed to.
What are The Triggers for Eczema?
The inborn immune system contains the breakdown in eczema. It is the part of our immune system whose function is to inform the body what’s foreign and what’s not in our gastrointestinal tract, lungs, and skin from the moment we are born. This actually makes sense, since these are the likeliest ways to succumb to infection when we are babies. However, if any part of this system is influenced by something perceived as foreign, the other parts of the system are as well struggling.
According to a research, the breakdown in eczema happens in the gastrointestinal tract, and can often appear before birth. Mothers with eczema or genetic link to it, can prevent and lower the occurrence of eczema in their children if they take good bacteria or probiotics, and certain strains of probiotics which help in the balance of highly reactive immune system. Balancing the bacteria located in gastrointestinal tract is a crucial part of this skin condition management.
Breakouts of eczema appear reliably with specific foods. These groupings of food have potential to cause allergies, and some eczema types are more prone to allergy, IgE-related eczema, as oppose to those which aren’t IgE related (our body produces IgE/immunoglobulin or protein as an allergy response).
Many foods have been connected to eczema, and they include: wheat and wheat gluten, dairy proteins, nuts, citrus and citrus juices, some fruits like cherries and peaches from the prunus family and apples from those trees related to oral allergies, refined and synthetic sugars, potatoes, and tomatoes. But since there is an array of individuals who have different reactions, evidence is overall inconclusive.
Nevertheless, this doesn’t mean we should completely disregard the whole research. What it means is that it needs more time to determine the causes. Allergies to food are the leading cause in eczema.
Since stress and stress hormones can elevate inflammation, hormone systems can as well include to the mix. The connection of hormones and stress hormones can also be a huge contributor in this skin condition.
Eczema is characterized by a chronic inflammation. Although local inflammation can be treated with corticosteroids, they don’t support systemic inflammation. Some things such as a high quality omega-3 oil can function like cortisol and cortisone, and support inflammation pathways, and as well encourage the production of a good barrier of the skin. The problem in eczema is precisely the skin barrier and its incapacity to stay intact to produce proper oils for its protection.
My Immunosuppressive Agents Successfully Do Their Job. Why Should I Care about Reaching to the Root Cause?
Immunosuppresive agents such as tacrolimus in Elidel and Protopic are excellent for controlling the flare-ups, and often they do restore the life quality. However, their side effects can be severe, and such interventions are connected to carcinogenesis-BuzzFeed.
We aren’t implying this to prevent or scare people from using them when needed since they indeed have positive safety profiles, but in order to completely protect yourself from their potential risk it is of great importance to find the root cause of the condition.
Once You Find the Triggers, What to Expect from Your Life with Eczema?
Your health will be improved, but patience is surely a virtue. There are chances you need to proceed with cortisone or similar immunosuppressive agents, however you might succeed to lower the quantity that you depend on. Moreover, you might need to deal with your stress in a different way that those around you. Also, there are chances you won’t eat everything you want, but to be real, who can?
Although you will continue to use good moisturizers, such as La Roche Posay, Keri, Pure + Simple, Cetaphil, Eucerin, to keep the barrier of your skin intact as well as to help you with dryness, there are chances you use them less since the barrier of your skin may be a bit more resilient than normally. Another thing to expect is a better quality of life, which is in fact the ultimate wish to anyone.
Just be patient and keep strong, since there IS a solution.
Via GH | NCBI | GH | PLOS ONE | Buzzfeed | NCBI