Treatment, diet and product reviews

Treatment
There are tonnes of different treatments and products I saw online. Some people swear by the effect of certain product. To be fair, I can only talk about those that I have used. Even so, different patient can react differently to the same product.

Diet
This is probably the most important component. If you want to help out the liver in expelling toxic, the first thing is to stop eating food with toxic.

Avoid:
Diary product, butter, CHEESE, EGG, BEEF, crab, PRAWNS, LOBSTAR, clams, GEESE, DUCKS, junk food, fried food, chocolate, coffee, curry, spices, MANGO, pineapple, yams, ALCOHOL
Reduce:
Chicken, lamb, sugar
More:
Vegetable, sea fish, tomato, pumpkin, apple, berries, olive oil.

You may question the decision to avoid beef, cheese etc if you are not allergic to these food. Why are these food “toxic” anyway?
No, we are not talking about snake’s vernom kind of toxic. The toxic we are talking about is anything that can burden the liver. Complex proteins, chemicals that the liver must work hard to break down. Try to avoid the food that burdens the liver and you can see immediate improvement. Going on a strict vegetarian diet for a couple weeks at the beginning of treatment may be the best. Of course, you have to make sure you get enough protein, iron and calcium after cutting out the meat, (eg iron= Spinach, oatmeal, bran flakes, tofu, calcium =beet, broccoli, spinach, pumpkin, protein = beans, peas, soy, bread, nuts and seeds) If you have to eat meat, sea fish is safe (salmon is good), pork and turkey are ok.


Supplements

Cod fish Oil – The theory is that it is rich in the simpliest form of omega-3 which inhabit inflammation of the body. I used it from week 3 to week 6, for three soup spoons a day. The improvement is not noticeable to marginal. Some people say one has to use it for months to see the difference. I don’t rule out it can do something for you. Also, it taste good and benefit the heart.
Conclusion: Worth a try.

Flaxseed Oil – It is rich in omega-3 which inhabit inflammation of the body. The omega-3 is in a more complex form of ALA which must be convert internally. How efficient the body can convert ALA to omega-3 varies. I used it from week 5 to now, for 2 teaspoons a day. It can also be added to salad and bread. It seems to have some effect on the dryness of my skin. Again it takes a while to see the difference.
I also used flaxseed oil as a lotion and rub it on the itchy red patches. Apply after shower or anytime your skin is dry. Similar to other eczema lotion, it’s best to apply when the skin is not totally dry. (pat yourself dry after shower, stand there for 2 min to let the skin breath out the excess moisture, then apply oil) . It spread very well and take some time to massage the oil in. After ten minute or so, you will notice the oil has been totally absorb by the skin. It will also work when the skin is flacking off in the healing stage. You just have to apply an extra layer. It can reduce the inflammation. It soothes the itchness and protect the skin from skatching. It can leave yellow stain on the clothing. Therefore don’t put on your designer clothing while on it.
Conclusion: Strongly recommended for external application.

Lotion/Cream

Dermaveen – I used a cream called Dermaveen Eczema Cream from Australia. They do not sell the Aveeno brand of cream in my corner of the world. Similar to Aveeno, Dermaveen has oatmeal extract that would help with the itchness. I used it extensively after shower and found it to protect the skin well. The only problem is that when I have raw and exposed red patches, it stinks quite a lot in the first couple minutes after putting it on, quite painful when eczema is all over my body.
Conclusion: Highly recommended

Cetaphil – Another cream I tried. It’s not as thick as Dermaveen. The moisturizing effect does not last very long when skin is flacking off. It can be useful in milder case. To be fair, it’s not design specially for eczema.
Conclusion: Not recommended

Aloe Vera Gel – Aloe Vera Gel is useful when it is inconvient to put on other cream that require me to pre-dampen my skin. It is very soothing and moist the chronic dry skin well. Make sure you select a gel which is at least 98% pure aloe, with no alchol and at little additive as possible.
Conclusion: Recommended

Flaxseed Oil – Refer to the supplement section.

Bathing/Showering products

Do not use soap. Soap can dry up the skin in no time because it washes away all natural oil on the skin. Water itself is a good solvent and will make you clean.

Chinese medicine – If you are taking Chinese medicine, you can ask you doctor to prescribe some herbs for bathing. It will help the skin to heal faster. The remain of the Chinese medicine you boil for drinking may also be used for bathing. Add 6-8 liters of water to the left over herbs. Bring it to a boil and use low flame to boil for 30 minutes. Let it cool to a bathing temperature and wash the body with a small towel. Do not rinse and pat dry. Put on cream of your choice.
Recommended

Oilutum (omillient) – The solution is a substitute of soap as a cleaning agent and will envelop the body in mineral oil. The oil traps the moisture in the skin. Even when the dead skin is peeling off like snowflakes, the skin is chronically dry at the peak of the attack and the body is covered in scarred tissue, use it in shower will leave me with soft and smooth skin. I have my reservation though. The problem I encountered is that the mineral oil trapped “too much” moisture in the skin. I question overloading the eczema skin with moisture as I think part of the reason for the symptoms is the inability of the skin to regulate water. I say use it when absolutely necessary.
Recommended.

Sea salt – I accidental found out sea water is good for the skin on my vacation to Malaysia. My skin greatly improved when I swam in the sea for days. There’s also a control experiement done that dead sea salt has healing effect on eczema skin. Even common table salt reduce inflammation but by a smaller margin. Go swim in the sea if you are in warm climate. I do it sometimes but when the weather is bad I just add sea salt to a small bucket of warm water for bathing. Soak the symptom covered skin in the solution for 30 minutes, rinse off and pat dry. It has magnesium sulphate and other mineral that helps with eczema. Dead sea salt should be even better because it has many times the mineral content of sea salt. You may have to order it online since I just didn’t see it on sale in the supermarket.
Highly recommended.

Other treatment that may help
Drinking honey – I am drinking honey for two weeks now and see if it can further improve my skin
Yoga – Anything that helps internal balance may help strengthen the liver function.