What is the Root Cause of Eczema + How to Fix It
Eczema affects more than 30 million Americans each year. What is the root cause of eczema?
I lived with eczema for close to 20 years. As a college cheerleader, I was embarrassed wearing a short skirt with my eczema-covered legs exposed. I went to the doctor and when I was diagnosed, I was given a steroid cream. It thinned my skin after long-term use and wasn’t really helping my number of outbreaks.
As the years went on I started to use non-scented products which helped a bit, but my eczema always returned. Fast forward to finding out a long-term solution using functional medicine – I have been in eczema free now for more than 4 years now.
What is the Root Cause of Eczema?
There could be a few root causes of inflammatory conditions like eczema. What you need to know is that each person is unique in their root cause, however, the most common underlying issue is that the Gut is likely imbalanced. Gut health imbalances could be for a number of reasons which we will walk through in this article.
What is Eczema?
Eczema, or atopic dermatitis, is inflammation of the skin indicating that the immune system is on overdrive. There are different types of eczema and these can affect different parts of the body or even all of the body. Eczema can look and feel dry, itchy and red. Sometimes your dry skin patches of eczema can even puss or water filled when in an outbreak.
Why is Eczema affecting so many people?
With eczema affecting around 30% of the population, you might be wondering why this is so common in our modern society. Eczema can also be an indication that if the root cause is not addressed, you may be on your way to an autoimmune disease. Here are a few reasons why eczema is affecting so many people.
Intestinal Permeability
When you have a skin condition like eczema, chances are you have some level of intestinal permeability, also known as leaky gut. Leaky gut can lead to maldugested food getting out into your body causing things like food allergies, which lead to inflammation.
Imbalances in Gut Flora
Stress can be a cause of poor gut health. Birth via c-section instead of vaginally also affects your gut health as you are not exposed to your mothers microbiome leading to unwanted overgrowths. Also, taking antibiotics this can lead to decimation of the good bacteria you need for balanced gut health.
Eating Processed Foods
We live in a world of fast and convenient. Eating processed foods can cause unwated inflammation leading back to intestinal permability creating opportunities for skin conditions like eczema.
Overuse of Medications
NSAIDs, PPIs, and can create larger gaps in the gut lining, where we are supposed to have semipermeabletight junctions. When these junctions are loose, it allows for maldigested food particles to slip into areas of the body where they aren't supposed to be, ultimately causing inflammation.
Increase in Toxicity or Toxin Overload
Toxins are everywhere in the modern life that we are living. If you live in a bigger city, you could be affected by air pollution. Farming practices with pesticides have led us to have glyphosate in many of our food sources.
The products that we slather on our skin are loaded with ingredients that are harmful to us directly soaking into the skin barrier, too. Also mycotoxins, like black mold, can be at the root of the problem for things like eczema.
Hormonal Imbalances
One of the most underdiagnosed things that Americans deal with is hypothyroidism, hwere your body is not making enough thyroid hormone which can lead to a cascade of other negative effects in the body. Many ‘normal’ results that come in are actually incorrect and we aren't catching these things before they are later doagnosed when in fact they could have been prevented.
When looking at the health of your hormones if we have a sluggish thyroid it can contribute to almost anything esle being sluggish in our body, from the gut and bile flow to motility which leads to our next topic, which links the thyroid and gut health connection.
9 Ways to Eliminate Eczema for Good
While creams and antibiotics may help avoid an eczema flare in the short term, in order to eliminate eczema for good, you want to get to the root cause. To do so we've provided you with 8 ways to get started to identify what might be at play for you.
1 - Identify Food Triggers - Allergies + Sensitivities
There are some common food triggers and allergeis to check for when it comes to eczema.
Gluten
Dairy - Eggs, cheese, and milk products can affect people with a dairy sensitivity
Refined Sugars
FODMAP Foods - Including beans, lentils, and wheat-based products
Nightshades - Incluidng tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, and potatoes
2 - Do an Elimination Diet
In order to reduce inflammation, heal the gut, and also understand which things on the list above may be affecting you, you can start with an elimination diet for a minimum of three months. You may also want to include elimination of all grains becuase when eating grains we can have molecular mimicry occuring which leads to inflammation.
When it comes to children with eczema, you may want to look at elminating dairy for example, if they are drinking cows milk regularly as this is a common culprit as well as gluten.
We love health advocate Amie Valpone's book all about Eating Clean for great antiinflammatory recipes while doing an elimination diet where your palate will never get bored.
3 - Get Testing
If you have tried an elimination diet and still aren't quite getitng to the bottom of what might be cuasing your eczema, getting some gut health testing done with the guidance of a functional medicine practioner would be a great next step.
4 - Manage Your Stress
Stress is one of the biggest triggers for eczema aside from food. In order to truly heal the gut for the long haul, we need to lower stress levels. Things like surrounding yourself with healthy like minded people, meditation and seeking out a therapist to help you move through any life moments that may be causing you additional stress can be helpful in keeping cortisol levels down.
5 - Detox Your Life
Take the products out of your life that contain endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disruptors can interfere with your hormone function.
6 - Supplement with Vitamins + Minerals
Many people who have eczema have nutrient deficiencies. When you give the body what it needs, it will naturally want to rebalance itself. So as you work to heal or rebalance your gut, add the vitamins and minerals you might be missing into your diet or body through supplements. A few common imbalances that many people with eczema have issues with are low levels of the following vitamins and minerals:
Vitamin D - More than 40% of Americans are deficient in vitamin D, which is actually a hormone. You can add vitamin D rich foods like salmon and sardines into your diet. In the winter season using a high-quality Vitamin D supplement can be a great way to keep levels high when the sun isn't close enough to penetrate the skin.
Zinc - This can help you improve the tight junctions in the gut. Foods like oysters, grass-fed beef, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), and chickpeas are zinc rich foods to add to your diet. If your levels are quite low you may want to consider adding a zinc supplement as you start to work on elevating these levels as well.
Vitamin A - Vitamin A helps repair skin cells and fight inflammation
Fish Oil- We need omega 3s, like fish oil, for good gut and skin health. If you aren't already getting these from foods like salmon, think about a high quality supplement.
7 - Get Quality Sleep
Making sure that you get good quality sleep is essential to rest and repair your body. A minimum of 7 to 8 hours of sleep plus a few restful hours during the day like reading a book or relaxing to some music is a great way to provide your body with the downtime it needs to heal.
8 - Move Your Body
Your lymphatic system can only rid waste from your body if you are moving. If you are not regularly moving you are essentially sitting in a pool of your own waste. A minimum of 30 minutes of movement a day with things like walking or yoga are great ways to start with low and slow movement which also helps with keeping your body in a parasympathetic nervous system lending to a healing state.
9 - Work with a Functional Medicine Practioner
If you are starting your journey to get to the root cuase of your eczema, you may want some help to get there so you don't have to go this frustrating road alone. We provide health coaching programs using functional medicine catered to each individual. Sign up for a health discovery session to start your healing journey today.