Eczema And Allergies

Eczema And Allergies by Jane Thurnell-Read

Over the years I've treated many people with eczema, including myself and my eldest son. (In fact it was a search for help for my son's eczema that set me on the road to becoming a kinesiologist.)

Eczema frequently has an allergy component. Common culprits are cows milk, house dust mite, detergents, perfumes, man-made fibres (such as polyester and acrylic), lanolin, nickel and pet hair.

Perhaps surprisingly eczema can be triggered by airborne allergens in some people. This may be because some of the airborne particles are swallowed rather than inhaled. Sometimes people will show eczema in different places depending on what they have been exposed to. For example, my son used to get eczema in the flexures of his legs and arms whenever he ate wheat, but if he ate something with the food colouring tartrazine in it he would get a small patch of eczema in one specific place on his back. Another food colouring would make him itch at a different spot on his back.

As far as I know this is an individual thing, so wheat or these food colourings could cause someone else to itch in different places. This may explain why sometimes we are successful at clearing eczema in some places, but not in others we have dealt with the offending substance(s), either directly or indirectly, for some areas but not for others. Sometimes eczema appears in a particular area because of direct contact with an allergen. A client whose eczema was so severe he had been hospitalised on several occasions told me that the only time the eczema on his legs cleared was when he went into hospital. I found he was allergic to the indigo dye in the jeans he always wore, which suggested that it was not the hospital treatment itself, but simply that in hospital he wore pyjamas all day rather than jeans.

As an added complication, fungal and bacterial infections can colonise the skin legions in eczema, causing further irritation. Eczema doesn't usually scar, but if there is a fungal infection present, it often will, leaving a bluish/red or silver hue to the skin, so this is a good clue that you are dealing with more than just eczema.

When this is the case, removing the allergens that started the eczema will not be sufficient to allow the skin to settle down. The micro-organisms involved are usually staphylococcus aureus, candida or trichophyton. I remember well my first experience of this. I thought I'd sorted out someone's eczema, and verbal testing confirmed this, but still the client had some "eczema" patches left. I was very frustrated ( and professionally embarrassed). I finally took a closer look at the "eczema" and realised my mistake. (This is also a good example of how our preconceptions can get in the way of our work.)

Eczema sufferers will sometimes also react to pityrosporum ovale. This is a yeast that is normally present on the surface of the skin.