I’ve just read Melinda's Green Your Insides Challenge and thought this was a timely find as I have been seeing my naturopath over the last two weeks due to my dermatitis getting out of control again. At the moment I’m having Low Level Laser Therapy twice a week, taking Dr Reckeweg R23 homeopathic treatment for skin conditions, zinc and fish oil supplements as well as a detox diet. The detox is definitely greening my insides :-)
A little history.....
My dermatitis started nearly 20 yrs ago under my wedding ring then quickly spread over my hands and up my arms. Doctors and 2 skin specialists prescribed many lotions and potions to no avail. Patch tests didn’t show any allergies. Cortisone creams made my skin weaker. Taking anti-histamines, washing myself with aqueous cream, wearing cotton gloves and avoiding harsh detergents helped. Eventually I was told to learn to live with it, which I did until I washed my hair with a popular brand of shampoo & conditioner. Within 20 minutes my face and neck were itchy, the next morning my face was puffed up like a balloon with slits for eyes and a button nose. One look in the mirror reduced me to tears so mirrors were avoided for awhile ;-)
Hubby insisted on taking me to a doctor. He was determined there must be something they could do, and was then shocked and disgusted when the doctor said there was nothing more to be done than I was already doing. The only thing we did learn was that if I hadn’t been taking my antihistamines regularly I’d have likely ended up in hospital.
During the next couple of weeks I slept a lot (not a good thing when you have a toddler in the house), went through two face peels and lived on antihistamines, then hubby mentioned a naturopath sign he passed every day on his way to work and reckoned it was worth a try seems the doctors couldn’t do anything. The naturopath said the build up of chemicals in and around my body had got to a level I couldn’t cope with anymore. After a detox, supplements that benefit skin conditions and some educating I was on the road to being able to control my dermatitis through diet and trying to live chemical free.
It’s about 12 yrs since I last saw my naturopath. During those years I have been able to keep my dermatitis under control dealing with minor outbreaks when I’ve come into contact with the wrong thing. I’ve improved our home a lot, but I’ve slowly let my diet slide and more recently I unknowingly entered chemical laden environments in the outside world. When the dermatitis was on my face again I realised I couldn’t keep doing this on my own it was time to go back to the naturopath and start at square one.
This time I will be having follow up visits and we will be working out a new diet for me to stick to so my insides stay green forever. In future posts I will write about some of the changes I’ve made over the past 12 years as well as changes I will be making now.
A little history.....
My dermatitis started nearly 20 yrs ago under my wedding ring then quickly spread over my hands and up my arms. Doctors and 2 skin specialists prescribed many lotions and potions to no avail. Patch tests didn’t show any allergies. Cortisone creams made my skin weaker. Taking anti-histamines, washing myself with aqueous cream, wearing cotton gloves and avoiding harsh detergents helped. Eventually I was told to learn to live with it, which I did until I washed my hair with a popular brand of shampoo & conditioner. Within 20 minutes my face and neck were itchy, the next morning my face was puffed up like a balloon with slits for eyes and a button nose. One look in the mirror reduced me to tears so mirrors were avoided for awhile ;-)
Hubby insisted on taking me to a doctor. He was determined there must be something they could do, and was then shocked and disgusted when the doctor said there was nothing more to be done than I was already doing. The only thing we did learn was that if I hadn’t been taking my antihistamines regularly I’d have likely ended up in hospital.
During the next couple of weeks I slept a lot (not a good thing when you have a toddler in the house), went through two face peels and lived on antihistamines, then hubby mentioned a naturopath sign he passed every day on his way to work and reckoned it was worth a try seems the doctors couldn’t do anything. The naturopath said the build up of chemicals in and around my body had got to a level I couldn’t cope with anymore. After a detox, supplements that benefit skin conditions and some educating I was on the road to being able to control my dermatitis through diet and trying to live chemical free.
It’s about 12 yrs since I last saw my naturopath. During those years I have been able to keep my dermatitis under control dealing with minor outbreaks when I’ve come into contact with the wrong thing. I’ve improved our home a lot, but I’ve slowly let my diet slide and more recently I unknowingly entered chemical laden environments in the outside world. When the dermatitis was on my face again I realised I couldn’t keep doing this on my own it was time to go back to the naturopath and start at square one.
This time I will be having follow up visits and we will be working out a new diet for me to stick to so my insides stay green forever. In future posts I will write about some of the changes I’ve made over the past 12 years as well as changes I will be making now.
--
BevB
1 comment:
Yikes - it sure sounds like you're a good candidate for the challenge!! I have a milder version of irritant contact dermatitis. Occasionally it has flared up and been truly miserable! But for the most part, decreased stress and paying a lot of attention to what triggers it (and then eliminating the triggers) has made it soooo much better. My latest step to eliminate SLS and SLES in shampoo has helped a lot.
I look forward to learning more from your posts!
Melinda, One Green Generation
Post a Comment