Saturday, April 17, 2010
More Images - April 12?
These images were taken with a real camera, so the detail should be better, though taking pictures of your own hands is more difficult than it seems. ;)
Images - April 8, 2010 (camera phone)
In some ways, the skin looks worse than it did before. As the inflammation went down, and the skin flattened out the surface area of the eczema increased. I was encouraged by the fact that I could see there was new healthy skin in the middle of the patches, but they had a border around them was really hard to look at. Making it worse, since I work in retail, customers were coming up telling me what I needed to be doing with my skin. Really annoying. I was very blunt with one customer, I told her "thank you for your input, but I am working on this my own way and it is healing. I am not accepting advice at this time."
What I do need
Omega 3 long chain fatty acids, (as well as other omegas), water, sleep, meditation, exercise, a high percentage of raw fresh fruits and vegetables, and natural products to keep my skin healthy. Eczema is unique in that it is inflammatory from the inside, but can also be aggravated by outside irritants. The first couple months I was trying to treat my eczema only from the outside. I would read about these people who started using coconut oil, and their eczema went away in a week. Multiply that by 100 and those are the things I read about, many of them I tried. Did my eczema go away in a week? No. Nothing I put on the outside made any difference.
Not until I started treating it from the inside did I see any results. I started using a supplement called sea buckthorn, that is a whole food supplement from the fruit by that name. It has a combination of EFA's, to get the body in the habit of making them on its own. I also started making a large green smoothie in the morning, and put it in a thermos to carry with me all day. This usually involved kale, which is incredibly anti-inflammatory, and spirulina, which is also incredibly healthy. Add whatever fruits, and I'm good to go. I really feel that the kale, the spirulina, and the sea buckthorn are what turned the tide for me. I also ended up taking yellow dock root as a blood cleanser to help with the detox process, but I do not think that would have worked on its own. How could I detox if I was still putting crap into my body? The nutrition element was the missing piece, and once I put it together everything else fell into place. When I first started my nutritional plan, I stopped putting anything on my arm, except for coconut oil right before bed. I was washing my hands with pine tar soap (which apparently had also worked for many people but did not work for me on its own), but did not even put coconut oil on my skin. I wanted to see how the nutrition on its own would work. And I observed my skin become softer and the inflammation go down, drastically. It took at least a week before my skin looked much less inflamed and angry. During this time it still itched, but did not feel like it was on fire like it had been. As an extra added benefit, I was able to feel good about allowing my body to heal from the inside, and trusting in my own intuition and inner knowledge as to what my body needs. I needed to have patience with the process. I learned that the skin regenerates the epidermal layers about every 3 weeks, and the entire skin layer about every 100 days. This made the wait more bearable. My skin is about 95% back to normal. This has been an amazing experience, and one I wouldn't trade for the world.
Not until I started treating it from the inside did I see any results. I started using a supplement called sea buckthorn, that is a whole food supplement from the fruit by that name. It has a combination of EFA's, to get the body in the habit of making them on its own. I also started making a large green smoothie in the morning, and put it in a thermos to carry with me all day. This usually involved kale, which is incredibly anti-inflammatory, and spirulina, which is also incredibly healthy. Add whatever fruits, and I'm good to go. I really feel that the kale, the spirulina, and the sea buckthorn are what turned the tide for me. I also ended up taking yellow dock root as a blood cleanser to help with the detox process, but I do not think that would have worked on its own. How could I detox if I was still putting crap into my body? The nutrition element was the missing piece, and once I put it together everything else fell into place. When I first started my nutritional plan, I stopped putting anything on my arm, except for coconut oil right before bed. I was washing my hands with pine tar soap (which apparently had also worked for many people but did not work for me on its own), but did not even put coconut oil on my skin. I wanted to see how the nutrition on its own would work. And I observed my skin become softer and the inflammation go down, drastically. It took at least a week before my skin looked much less inflamed and angry. During this time it still itched, but did not feel like it was on fire like it had been. As an extra added benefit, I was able to feel good about allowing my body to heal from the inside, and trusting in my own intuition and inner knowledge as to what my body needs. I needed to have patience with the process. I learned that the skin regenerates the epidermal layers about every 3 weeks, and the entire skin layer about every 100 days. This made the wait more bearable. My skin is about 95% back to normal. This has been an amazing experience, and one I wouldn't trade for the world.
What I no longer need
Caffeine, refined sugar, and dairy products. That about does it. I also do not drink, smoke, or use any other drugs, but since I was already not doing any of those things, I did not need to shed them. I started in massage therapy school in October full time, and still work part time. We had a nutrition class, and for most people they started eating better after learning more.
I however, already knew some about nutrition. I knew that what I frequently ate was bad for me and socially, ethically, and environmentally irresponsible, but had been unable to stop. My eating habits got worse since being in school. I won't say my caffeine intake increased, because I drank a lot of coffee while I was working full time. But the kind of coffee I was drinking was worse. There is a Quick Trip right by my school, and I was getting those horribly sweet cappuccinos, and sometimes a donut as well. This is actually hard for me to write about, it's embarrassing for me considering I've been a vegetarian since 2001, and on again off again vegan since 2006. For years I've hated that I had not been able to commit to being a vegan, considering that they female cows are kept perpetually pregnant so they can provide milk all the time, and then baby calves are taken, kept in the dark in tiny cages so they can't move and their muscles stay "tender" to be sold as veal. I could go on, but there are many websites that talk about these issues. The point I'm trying to make is that even though I had all this knowledge, I was still unable to quit eating chocolate, cheese, refined sugar, and drinking coffee.
Why? As I have found out in the past few weeks, all these "foods" have addictive substances in them. The only way I do not crave these things is if I do not eat them. When I have quit coffee for a few months in the past, and I decide to have a cup, I start drinking it again. If I do not have refined sugar, I don't crave it, but if I consume it one day I want it more. Our bodies are not made to take in high concentrations of sugar. We are made to take in sugar in the form of fruits or vegetables. As a side note, I refuse to believe carrots should not be eaten "because they just turn to sugar" in the system. For the past few weeks, since I have been eating 80% raw, I have not craved refined sugar, chocolate, coffee, or cheese.
What this means practically speaking, is that I pretty much cannot eat any packaged foods whatsoever, because most companies put sugar in everything. Why? Because they will sell more because our bodies will crave it. But is not being able to eat packaged foods really a bad thing? I now have much more raw fruit and vegetable scraps than I did before, but since my partner and I have a worm composting bin even those are not thrown away. And I am not taking into my system a bunch of stuff my body is not made to process.
I feel liberated, I am thinking better, I have so much more energy, and I have a clear conscience that I am living according to my principles.
I however, already knew some about nutrition. I knew that what I frequently ate was bad for me and socially, ethically, and environmentally irresponsible, but had been unable to stop. My eating habits got worse since being in school. I won't say my caffeine intake increased, because I drank a lot of coffee while I was working full time. But the kind of coffee I was drinking was worse. There is a Quick Trip right by my school, and I was getting those horribly sweet cappuccinos, and sometimes a donut as well. This is actually hard for me to write about, it's embarrassing for me considering I've been a vegetarian since 2001, and on again off again vegan since 2006. For years I've hated that I had not been able to commit to being a vegan, considering that they female cows are kept perpetually pregnant so they can provide milk all the time, and then baby calves are taken, kept in the dark in tiny cages so they can't move and their muscles stay "tender" to be sold as veal. I could go on, but there are many websites that talk about these issues. The point I'm trying to make is that even though I had all this knowledge, I was still unable to quit eating chocolate, cheese, refined sugar, and drinking coffee.
Why? As I have found out in the past few weeks, all these "foods" have addictive substances in them. The only way I do not crave these things is if I do not eat them. When I have quit coffee for a few months in the past, and I decide to have a cup, I start drinking it again. If I do not have refined sugar, I don't crave it, but if I consume it one day I want it more. Our bodies are not made to take in high concentrations of sugar. We are made to take in sugar in the form of fruits or vegetables. As a side note, I refuse to believe carrots should not be eaten "because they just turn to sugar" in the system. For the past few weeks, since I have been eating 80% raw, I have not craved refined sugar, chocolate, coffee, or cheese.
What this means practically speaking, is that I pretty much cannot eat any packaged foods whatsoever, because most companies put sugar in everything. Why? Because they will sell more because our bodies will crave it. But is not being able to eat packaged foods really a bad thing? I now have much more raw fruit and vegetable scraps than I did before, but since my partner and I have a worm composting bin even those are not thrown away. And I am not taking into my system a bunch of stuff my body is not made to process.
I feel liberated, I am thinking better, I have so much more energy, and I have a clear conscience that I am living according to my principles.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly
Timeline:
Saturday, March 20: Saw the eastern doctor, he told me to come back and get the tea. Monday, March 22, started on the tea.
Tuesday, March 23-25, the number of patches and the severity of them grew. Called the eastern doctor and told him it was getting worse, he told me to stop drinking the tea.
Wednesday, at the insistence of a friend I tried applying a topical ointment (non-steroid in a base of petroleum jelly and castor oil). The texture of the trial spot on my arm changed and the color went down some, but not back to normal. Pretty much this entire week my arms and hands felt like they were on fire. It was spreading to be in between my fingers, on both hands, and both arms. The picture here is of my left arm, which is still worse. Sunday of that week (the 21) I went grocery shopping and got a bag of grapefruits and sweet potatoes among other things. I was planning to make a raw sweet potato soup for lunch. I end up eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables, not intentionally but just listening to what my body wants. Though I'm still applying the ointment from my friend, which was not natural.
Friday, March 26: I go to work, and I feel like crap. I thought about calling in but didn't, only to go home at lunchtime. My hands and arms are the worst they've been, I'm miserable and my entire body aches. I'm having warm flushes and feeling like I need to be in bed. I get a detox bath and go home.
Over the weekend, I decided to try staying raw, cut out cheese, coffee, and chocolate (I was already vegetarian). Saturday the 28, I physically felt better and it was looking less inflamed. It was still itching all the time though and I almost broke down and used some hydro-cortisone ointment. At the encouragement of a friend who was staying with my partner & I, I resisted. I tried some apple cider vinegar instead. It burned, but did quiet the itching. I took the vinegar internally as well.
Sunday the 28 was better again, and
physically I was feeling like a new woman. The patches looked better than the day before, but not great. I took the apple cider vinegar again, and decided to not put anything on my skin topically and just let it heal from the inside. The only exception to this is right before bed after washing up I put a small amount of coconut oil on my skin.
Monday the 29th I learn in school that it takes about 3-4 weeks for the upper layer of skin to regenerate, and about 100 days for the entire skin layer to regenerate. I feel much better with this knowledge, knowing that I just need to be patient and let my body heal itself. I'm still not putting anything on as an ointment, and just trying to wash my hands as little as possible.
These pictures are from last Tuesday, March 30, taken with a camera phone so the detail isn't great. I now believe that the tea I had from the eastern doctor started the detox process, and in the course of that brought all the toxins to the surface.
All those red places were raised up and the skin around the patches was angry too. These pictures indicate an improvement from how it originally was!
More about the nutritional therapy in another post.....
Saturday, March 20: Saw the eastern doctor, he told me to come back and get the tea. Monday, March 22, started on the tea.
Tuesday, March 23-25, the number of patches and the severity of them grew. Called the eastern doctor and told him it was getting worse, he told me to stop drinking the tea.
Wednesday, at the insistence of a friend I tried applying a topical ointment (non-steroid in a base of petroleum jelly and castor oil). The texture of the trial spot on my arm changed and the color went down some, but not back to normal. Pretty much this entire week my arms and hands felt like they were on fire. It was spreading to be in between my fingers, on both hands, and both arms. The picture here is of my left arm, which is still worse. Sunday of that week (the 21) I went grocery shopping and got a bag of grapefruits and sweet potatoes among other things. I was planning to make a raw sweet potato soup for lunch. I end up eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables, not intentionally but just listening to what my body wants. Though I'm still applying the ointment from my friend, which was not natural.
Friday, March 26: I go to work, and I feel like crap. I thought about calling in but didn't, only to go home at lunchtime. My hands and arms are the worst they've been, I'm miserable and my entire body aches. I'm having warm flushes and feeling like I need to be in bed. I get a detox bath and go home.
Over the weekend, I decided to try staying raw, cut out cheese, coffee, and chocolate (I was already vegetarian). Saturday the 28, I physically felt better and it was looking less inflamed. It was still itching all the time though and I almost broke down and used some hydro-cortisone ointment. At the encouragement of a friend who was staying with my partner & I, I resisted. I tried some apple cider vinegar instead. It burned, but did quiet the itching. I took the vinegar internally as well.
Sunday the 28 was better again, and
physically I was feeling like a new woman. The patches looked better than the day before, but not great. I took the apple cider vinegar again, and decided to not put anything on my skin topically and just let it heal from the inside. The only exception to this is right before bed after washing up I put a small amount of coconut oil on my skin.Monday the 29th I learn in school that it takes about 3-4 weeks for the upper layer of skin to regenerate, and about 100 days for the entire skin layer to regenerate. I feel much better with this knowledge, knowing that I just need to be patient and let my body heal itself. I'm still not putting anything on as an ointment, and just trying to wash my hands as little as possible.
These pictures are from last Tuesday, March 30, taken with a camera phone so the detail isn't great. I now believe that the tea I had from the eastern doctor started the detox process, and in the course of that brought all the toxins to the surface.
All those red places were raised up and the skin around the patches was angry too. These pictures indicate an improvement from how it originally was!
More about the nutritional therapy in another post.....
Monday, March 29, 2010
Eczema, from the beginning......
I got diagnosed with Eczema this winter, during the coldest, driest part. I am also in massage therapy school, and had been washing my hands with crappy antibacterial liquid soap (you know, the orange stuff), and washing my hands more frequently than I ever have before. Add in stress of going to school full time and working part time. And I have eczema.
I didn't know what it was, I was terrified it was something contagious. I saw an TCM Dr, who told me I had sluggish digestion and did some electric acupuncture that was pure torture, but seemed to make the redness go down. He also gave me an herbal salve that I believe had turmeric in it among other things, but it was hard to tell if it worked because it turned my hands yellow. Before my next appointment with him I decided I wanted to get an official diagnosis, so I saw a mainstream dermatologist. By this time the skin on my right thumb and on the top of both hands was incredibly inflamed, with many layers of cracks and crevices, and it hurt and itched all the time. So the dermatologist said eczema, and given the horrible state of my hands gave me a very strong steroid prescription. It started working immediately, and those places went away. I did not return to the eastern doctor, because I was convinced that if I just did what I needed to to take care of myself, I wouldn't have another outbreak. Even though my dermatologist said that even people who take perfect care of themselves still get outbreaks when under stress. I was very, very, wrong. Since that time I have had one spot after another. I didn't want to use the steroid cream in the first place, so I have used it very sparingly. Still, it seemed to thin my skin out, and the more frequently I used it the more spots I got.
I believe in the body's ability to heal itself, and I was frustrated with my attempts to go with natural treatments. I've tried:
tea tree & lavender essential oil
shea butter
coconut oil
castor oil
having a humidifier on in the house
raw honey
oatmeal and oatmeal soap
pine tar soap
topical apple cider vinegar (though I didn't dilute it and I prob should have)
I have also tried a petroleum jelly/castor oil mix, and with any of those topical applications I would put cloth gloves on at night to let them soak in.
What do all these things have in common? They are on the outside of the skin. I had considered what the eastern Dr. told me, that this was digestive, and so somewhere in there I tried psyllium seed husks. However, they interfered with the way my body was metabolizing my anti-seziure medication, so I had to stop. But that stuck in my mind. I went back to the eastern Dr, and he told me I had too much fire element and made me a tea. This was last Monday. My patches that were forming on my arm got much worse. On Thursday, I called him and told him, and he told me to stop taking the tea. I was going to go back in on Saturday, but by Saturday I was discovering something else. I was eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables, not because I said to myself at the beginning of the week "I'm going to be a raw vegan and detox my body", but because I was listening to what my body wanted. And it wanted pink grapefruit in the morning, no coffee or sugar, raw sweet potato soup, slightly wilted kale, and green smoothies.
To be continued.....
I didn't know what it was, I was terrified it was something contagious. I saw an TCM Dr, who told me I had sluggish digestion and did some electric acupuncture that was pure torture, but seemed to make the redness go down. He also gave me an herbal salve that I believe had turmeric in it among other things, but it was hard to tell if it worked because it turned my hands yellow. Before my next appointment with him I decided I wanted to get an official diagnosis, so I saw a mainstream dermatologist. By this time the skin on my right thumb and on the top of both hands was incredibly inflamed, with many layers of cracks and crevices, and it hurt and itched all the time. So the dermatologist said eczema, and given the horrible state of my hands gave me a very strong steroid prescription. It started working immediately, and those places went away. I did not return to the eastern doctor, because I was convinced that if I just did what I needed to to take care of myself, I wouldn't have another outbreak. Even though my dermatologist said that even people who take perfect care of themselves still get outbreaks when under stress. I was very, very, wrong. Since that time I have had one spot after another. I didn't want to use the steroid cream in the first place, so I have used it very sparingly. Still, it seemed to thin my skin out, and the more frequently I used it the more spots I got.
I believe in the body's ability to heal itself, and I was frustrated with my attempts to go with natural treatments. I've tried:
tea tree & lavender essential oil
shea butter
coconut oil
castor oil
having a humidifier on in the house
raw honey
oatmeal and oatmeal soap
pine tar soap
topical apple cider vinegar (though I didn't dilute it and I prob should have)
I have also tried a petroleum jelly/castor oil mix, and with any of those topical applications I would put cloth gloves on at night to let them soak in.
What do all these things have in common? They are on the outside of the skin. I had considered what the eastern Dr. told me, that this was digestive, and so somewhere in there I tried psyllium seed husks. However, they interfered with the way my body was metabolizing my anti-seziure medication, so I had to stop. But that stuck in my mind. I went back to the eastern Dr, and he told me I had too much fire element and made me a tea. This was last Monday. My patches that were forming on my arm got much worse. On Thursday, I called him and told him, and he told me to stop taking the tea. I was going to go back in on Saturday, but by Saturday I was discovering something else. I was eating mostly raw fruits and vegetables, not because I said to myself at the beginning of the week "I'm going to be a raw vegan and detox my body", but because I was listening to what my body wanted. And it wanted pink grapefruit in the morning, no coffee or sugar, raw sweet potato soup, slightly wilted kale, and green smoothies.
To be continued.....
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