Comprehensive Acupuncture Treatment for Eczema

What is eczema?

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a non-contagious but chronic inflammatory skin condition characterized by dryness, itching, and redness on the skin due to a combination of genetic and environmental causes.

Eczema symptoms include swelling, rashes, crusting of the affected area, and seeping of clear to yellowish or even greenish fluid, and the severity of the affliction may vary by patient. Eczema symptoms are irritating, mentally restrictive, and distressing.

Allopathic treatment for eczema and its limiting factors

Allopathic treatment uses prescription drugs and chemical formulations, which invariably entail adverse side effects. Synthetic moisturizers, calcineurin and JAK inhibitors, antibiotics, antihistamines, advanced biologics, and steroids can temporarily help with symptoms, but they can induce skin thinning, pigmentation, and other side effects if people use them for more than a few months.

Eczema patients are apprehensive about the effectiveness of allopathic treatment, as it provides short-term relief and is prone to adverse reactions, further compounded by the risk of secondary infections. This has led patients to look for an integrated, holistic alternative treatment approach that not only alleviates the symptoms but also addresses the root cause of the affliction.

Traditional Chinese Medicine’s acupuncture therapy—a holistic treatment for eczema

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) fills this gap admirably with its renowned acupuncture therapy, which ameliorates eczema and also improves the patient’s overall health, allowing him to experience overall wellness.

TCM views eczema as a result of an internal imbalance and not just a skin issue, linked to Qi imbalance in the liver, spleen, and kidney on account of a hereditary carry-forward and/or underlying causes such as a poor or nutrition-deficient diet, stress, and environment.

Role of Acupuncture in Alleviating Eczema

Protocols in acupuncture for eczema, often combined with injectable or oral herbal concoctions, are known to address the underlying causes or patterns of eczema, such as wind, dampness, heat, and blood deficiency, by restoring proper Qi and blood flow. This helps cure eczema and also improves skin health.

Manually inserted needles or electro-acupuncture, on acupoints mapped by the acupuncturists, are known to regulate the immune system and boost blood and Qi flow through meridians, which target the root cause of eczema and calm stress.

Moreover, acupuncture for eczema is effective in treating various types of skin problems, including hives, psoriasis, contact dermatitis, neurodermatitis, and stasis dermatitis, by reducing inflammation and balancing nervous and immune system.

Benefits of Acupuncture for Eczema

Numerous studies, systematic reviews, and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have proved that acupuncture for eczema effectively reduces the related severity, itch, and inflammation and improves quality of life by regulating the immune system and gut microbiome.

With such effectiveness, acupuncture for eczema has established itself as a successful and valuable complementary treatment compared to standard allopathic care protocols. Reviews available in PubMed journals relate survey findings from eczema patients experiencing relief after 10 to 12 of acupuncture sessions in a matter of weeks or, in more severe cases, more than a month.

Intensive research is ongoing to invent or discover advanced and refined acupuncture protocol and Herbal formulas for different types of eczema.

Boca and Boston Acupuncture Clinics’ focus on individualized herbal formulas and acupuncture techniques, known to successfully reduce eczema symptoms by eliminating its underlying causes, thereby balancing the body as a whole.

References

Hon, K.L., Chan, B.C., Leung, P.C. Chinese herbal medicine research in eczema treatment. Chin Med. 2011 Apr 28;6:17. doi: 10.1186/1749-8546-6-17. PMID: 21527032; PMCID: PMC3110124.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3110124/

Jiao, R., Yang, Z., Wang, Y., Zhou, J., Zeng, Y., Liu, Z. The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for patients with atopic eczema: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupunct Med. 2020 Feb;38(1):3-14. doi: 10.1177/0964528419871058. Epub 2019 Sep 9. PMID: 31495184; PMCID: PMC7041622.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7041622/

Interview with Li MD, Xiu-Minhttps://nationaleczema.org/blog/traditional-chinese-medicine-and-eczema/