In my experience, most skin conditions are either caused by or made worse by heat and a toxic bowel. This is true for eczema, acne and even psoriasis.
From a natural medicine perspective, skin conditions are usually related to some issue with your food, nutrition or internal balance. I know from personal experience that diet and cleansing is key. You can soothe an itchy rash somewhat with topical treatments, but the real cure is internal. You can reduce pimples with various ointments, but for lasting relief you must address the inner physiology. The outer skin is a reflection of the ‘inner skin’ which is the lining of the alimentary canal (digestive tract). If there is inflammation and irritation in the digestive tract, then it perpetuates the same on the outer surface of the body.
Testing for food allergies and sensitivities, intestinal yeast overgrowth and toxicity, as well as for deficiencies of certain nutrients such as zinc and essential fatty acids are the starting points, all of which I do here at Live Well using muscle response testing, also known as Kinesiology. This approach is quick, simple, non-invasive and provides highly valuable information about your specific body chemistry and imbalances. I sometimes find it necessary to address emotional factors and chemical sensitivities as well when treating skin conditions.
If you do not live in this area, I’d recommend you find a practitioner who does similar muscle response testing so together you can come up with a treatment plan that will work best for you and your body’s needs. In the absence of that, another approach is medical tests (blood, stool and allergy testing), or doing an elimination diet and ‘candida cleanse’ and see what happens. But the medical tests, elimination diet and cleanse can miss the mark at times. The muscle-testing is quite accurate. I have had excellent results with patients successfully clearing up frustrating and uncomfortable skin conditions by working with me to address the internal imbalances.
If you are experiencing nagging health issues, please consider making an appointment so we can look at any food sensitivities, allergies and/or other underlying issues to help bring your body back into balance.