Remove the Causes: Cure the Eczema! by Dr Morison

When did your doctor last discuss with you the possible causes of your eczema? Never has? Then perhaps you may not even be aware that eczema has causes, just like most things in life!

Funny that: if you went along with a cut finger, one of the first things you’d be asked is “How did you do it?” but if you have a common condition like eczema, nobody bothers to ask!

Do you know what the causes of your eczema are? If you do, you’re half way home! So instead of applying yet another layer of steroid cream, let’s look at this idea in some detail.

Are there certain times of year when it flares up? Spring brings tree pollens; summer, grass pollens; and autumn brings the moulds. Any of these may make your eczema worse, and by avoiding them - or being desensitised to them - you can stop your eczema from erupting.

Does your cat make you itch (or sneeze), or Aunt Jemima’s old dog? Some of you will be aware of these hazards already. But you’ve got rid of your cat after much heart searching and perhaps a few tears, only to find that your eczema is no better, so you’re regretting your decision or (worse) you’ve got another one because “that can’t possibly be the problem”! Oh yes it can! Did you know that it takes at least six months, and often longer, before the cat’s fur is entirely eliminated from your house, however careful you have been to clean it? Even then, have you thought about your neighbour’s cat, prowling around outside? If you think that can’t possibly be a problem, my wife can develop her asthma from a cat fifty yards outside a closed window - I’ve measured it!

OK, so you don’t eat tomatoes because they make your eczema flare up - possibly a true (IgE mediated) allergy - but are you aware of “food intolerance”? If not, it’s time you were, as I find that this is the commonest cause of eczema, although don’t be surprised if others (even doctors) would disagree with this statement. As long ago as the time of the ancient Greeks, it was well observed “One man’s meat is another man’s poison” and this is even truer today in this age of processed foods with all the additives used in their making. [I have wandered from the path I meant to follow, but no matter, as this also introduces you to “chemical sensitivity”, another important cause in this petrochemical world!] In a nutshell - no pun intended, but they can cause problems too! - food intolerance means that you are reacting to most of the foods and drinks that you consume at-least-twice-a-week. I have hyphenated this phrase because it is important, as I hope to show in a later article.

Please do NOT be persuaded to do anything about food intolerance on your own, without expert advice - you will starve to death before you see any benefit! Certain diets can be of use, but this is rarely the best answer, and before you even consider them you must get help from an appropriate source. So often I have patients coming to see me on a diet that is inconsistent with good health, and - worse - their food intolerance has escalated into a major problem when it started as a minor inconvenience of which they were largely unaware. Desensitisation is the best way forward for most sufferers, although a few might get away with a strict dietary regime under careful supervision.

“My eczema is too severe to be curable”: nonsense! “My dermatologist doesn’t believe that diet has anything to do with eczema”: such is the generally abysmal medical training in the subject of allergies, I can only say I’m not surprised! But ask yourself this question: does your dermatologist have to live with your eczema?

Let me end with a story about one of my patients - I’ll call her Sally - a little girl of two and a half when we first met, with such severe eczema I called her “The walking scab”. Not very flattering, I’ll admit, but true! She had eczema from scalp to soles of feet, cracked and bleeding, and she was - not surprisingly - a whining, scratching, miserable little soul, her only redeeming features being a full head of long black ringlets and an amazingly willing attitude to being cured!

Her full history showed a complete range of allergy causes - eczema is an allergic condition, isn’t it? - including inhalant allergens, food intolerance and chemical sensitivity, and she required a full four days of desensitisation (in particular, “neutralisation”) before commencing treatment. On the fourth day, her skin cleared completely - for the first time since birth! - and we were all looking on the floor to see where the scales had gone! By now she was a very happy little girl, and she threw her arms around my legs saying, “I love you, Dr Morison”!

She remained completely free of eczema until the following spring, when small patches appeared on the inside of her elbows and the back of her knees. It was father who spotted it! At home, chestnut trees surrounded them, and these were all flowering. Nobody had suspected any seasonal element for her eczema, as she had had it all her life, and on neutralising her to chestnut pollen she cleared completely once again, and has remained clear ever since.

Grateful patients are always most welcome (!) and this family are certainly “top of the league”: as I write this story I have a picture beside me of “Sally” leaning nonchalantly against an armoured car - don’t ask me why! - and simply written on the back is her name and “12 years”.

A very wise pediatric (sic) allergist - in America, where else? - Dr Doris Rapp has posed the question, “If a child has a pain in her foot from a nail in her shoe, would you give her an Aspro?” So why are you adding chemical insult to your already inflamed skin, when you could be removing the causes?

Further Information

Dr Stewart Rutherford Morison,
4 Orchard Close, Horndean,
Waterlooville, Hampshire. PO8 9LL

Tel/Fax: 023 9259 3529

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