Eczema (濕疹): Restoring skin immunity comes first. Eczema is dermatitis that clinically appears with itching, redness, swelling, and other symptoms. In severe cases, oozing, pain, or scaling may also be seen. Depending on the specific pattern, it can appear in many different ways, and treatment methods and prognosis may vary according to aggravating factors, the area where the lesions occur, and their shape, so caution is needed.
The causes have not yet been clearly identified, but eczema may develop through a combination of factors, including genetic factors; exposure to humid environments; repeated excessive use of water or detergents; and environmental factors such as food, clothing, and contact with external substances. It is also known to be influenced by food, psychological stress, and immunity, which can damage skin tissue and lead to its development.
Eczema (濕疹), with itching, oozing, erythema, scaling, and other symptoms: restoring skin immunity comes first. In clinical practice, eczema is a form of dermatitis that presents with erythema, swelling, and itching. In more severe cases, oozing, pain, and scaling may also appear. Its presentation can vary widely depending on aggravating factors, the location of the lesions, and their appearance, and treatment methods and prognosis may differ accordingly, so careful attention is needed. The causes have not yet been clearly identified, but eczema may occur through a combination of genetic factors and environmental factors such as exposure to a humid environment, repeated use of water or detergents, foods, and contact with clothing. It is also known to be influenced by food, psychological stress, and immunity, which can damage skin tissue. Eczema is a chronic, recurrent condition that can appear in many forms. In detail, it can be classified as follows.
– Exogenous factors: contact dermatitis, allergic eczema, infectious dermatitis, etc.
– Endogenous factors: nummular eczema, seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, dyshidrotic eczema, etc.
In the early stages, eczema may cause itching along with erythema and swelling, and the skin around the affected area may gradually crack. In severe cases, bleeding and scarring may occur. In people who have had eczema for a long time, pigmentation such as changes in skin color or lichenification, in which the skin becomes thickened, may also be seen. Eczema may also arise from constitutional tendencies. It tends to occur more often when skin immunity or circulation is reduced in people with a constitution that is dry and heat-prone, or damp and heat-prone, so treatment also needs to approach these aspects.
As such, symptoms, characteristics, and progression can vary greatly from patient to patient. Repeatedly using the same medication treatments, such as antihistamines or steroid preparations, may be effective, but because they do not fundamentally resolve the issue, many patients experience repeated recurrence. If you no longer want to rely on strong medications or ointments, are there other options?
For repeatedly recurring eczema, it is important to identify the cause. Skin conditions cannot be viewed simply as skin problems. They are only expressed as skin symptoms due to other problems occurring within the body. In practice, when treating skin disease, we do not simply look at the skin alone; we first assess it from a broader perspective.
The advantage of eczema treatment at Kyunghee Ryu Korean Medicine Clinic is that we set a fundamental Korean medicine treatment direction to help prevent recurrence without relying on steroid preparations. We provide Korean medicine treatment in various ways, including herbal medicine, acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, pharmacopuncture, bloodletting therapy, phototherapy, external-use preparations, and daily lifestyle guidance, with the goal of offering fundamental support for difficult-to-treat skin conditions of unknown cause.
(1) Through immunity, the skin can help overcome skin disease on its own.
Infections or inflammation caused by the entry of harmful external substances can affect not only the affected area but also the body’s own recovery ability, and this is related to overall immunity. In other words, when skin immunity decreases, the skin’s natural ability to protect our body from harmful external substances is reduced. When immunity is lowered, symptoms tend to last longer and recovery is slower. The same applies when eczema occurs due to internal inflammation or waste products caused by reduced immunity. In Korean medicine, immunity is closely connected not only with the strength to protect our body from harmful external substances, but also with the balance of the five viscera and six bowels and the circulation of qi and blood. Our goal is to raise immunity by strengthening the spleen and stomach or enhancing the body’s self-recovery ability so that it can overcome these skin symptoms.
(2) Chronic inflammation can be harmful to the skin.
Even when inflammation markers are normal on blood tests, many patients with various difficult-to-treat skin diseases may have latent inflammation in the body. Skin inflammation cannot be seen simply as a problem of the skin barrier alone. Because the health status related to skin inflammation can also be considered an indicator of overall health, it may primarily be a problem of the skin itself, but it may also be affected by blood and lymph circulation, hormonal and metabolic status, and even the health of the gastrointestinal tract, including the stomach and large intestine. Ultimately, we need to assess the condition of the whole body, and through this, treatment aims to reduce inflammation.
(3) Waste products in the body can be harmful to the skin.
Unless someone has undergone surgery for a serious disease, waste products in the body most often arise from food. Incorrect eating habits can cause waste products to accumulate. If they are properly eliminated, they may not become a problem, but if elimination is not smooth, waste products can build up and trigger skin inflammation. Therefore, this management is an essential point in treating skin disease, and the goal is to improve blood circulation through detoxification and help eliminate accumulated waste products from the body.
For eczema, are you relying only on medication that helps only for the moment? When eczema is suspected and patients visit a dermatology or internal medicine clinic, they are usually prescribed antihistamines to reduce itching and steroids to relieve symptoms. Of course, these can help reduce immediate itching. However, because these medications are intended more to reduce current symptoms than to provide fundamental treatment, symptoms often recur when the medication is stopped. With repeated use, the same medication may no longer be effective, which may be related to drug tolerance.
In particular, long-term exposure to steroid medications can weaken skin tissue, and accompanying secondary infections such as bacterial or viral infections may occur, causing the affected area to spread, so caution is needed. The problem is that wounds can occur more easily, take longer than before to heal, and may ooze, increasing the possibility of worsening symptoms. During this process, itching may become severe, and scratching often makes the condition worse.
Therefore, at Kyunghee Ryu Korean Medicine Clinic, even if this approach takes a more gradual path, we focus on identifying and treating the fundamental cause of eczema. Our goal is to help the skin build its own self-recovery ability so that treatment can take place and recurrence can be prevented. In addition to managing each person’s possible lifestyle and dietary causes, we work to raise skin immunity, reduce inflammation, and help accumulated waste products inside the body be eliminated more smoothly, aiming for a more fundamental treatment.