How can Traditional Chinese Medicine help psoriasis?

Psoriasis is a common, chronic and recurrent skin disease affecting up to 3% of the population. It is most often characterised by rounded circumscribed dry erythematous, scaling patches of various sizes, covered by multiplayer greyish white or silvery-white scales which appear repeatedly on the erythema. What we see most often with psoriasis is that it has a tendency to recur and persist.

Three types of psoriasis and associated symptoms

In terms of TCM, psoriasis is considered to be due to invasion of pathogenic wind which incubates in Yin and Blood, or stagnation of Qi and blood. These transform into heat. Wing and heat struggle in the skin.

There are three main types of psoriasis according to TCM

1. Flaming of heat at Qi and blood channels with wind

Symptoms: Erythema and scales appear continuously, expanding and spreading throughout the skin. The lesions are flushed and swollen. The scales are easily shed when scratched. Itching is sometimes intense. Restlessness, thirst, bitter taste in the mouth, sore throat, constipation. The tongue is red or dark red with a thin yellow or white coating, a rapid, taut or slippery pulse

Recommended treatment: Clear heat, resolve toxins and expel wind

2. Blood-heat and blood stasis

Symptoms: The lesions are moist and macule a purple-red covered by scales with new lesions appearing sporadically. Slippery pulse, red tongue with yellow coating.

Recommended treatment: Remove pathogenic heat, regulate Qi and resolve toxins.

3. Noxious heat and blood stasis.

Symptoms: Large thickened psoriatic plaques, stubborn lesions, dryness in the mouth, constipation, purple-red tongue with a yellow and greasy coating, deep-slippery and forceful pulse.

Recommended treatment: Clear heat and promote diuresis, remove blood stasis and resolve toxins.

How our treatment for psoriasis works

Our recommendation would be to address psoriasis with herbal medicine alongside acupuncture treatments that focus on removing Qi stagnation and other disharmonies.

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How can Traditional Chinese Medicine help eczema?

Eczema is a kind of common allergic inflammatory dermatitis most commonly seen as extreme itching to patients on the affected part of the skin, polymorphic skin lesions, frequent recurrence and also lack of effective treatment in conventional medicine.

Causes of eczema

Eczema is not only caused by the skin itself, it is also caused by internal pathogenic heat, dampness, wind, or a mixture of them. The differentiation of these causes can be accomplished by the observation of the symptoms of the affected skin, the colour of the tongue and its fur, and physiological reactions.

Different remedies are then used specifically to treat the symptoms. It can be treated successfully by taking several sets of Chinese herbal medicine in normal cases, although some chronic cases may need longer treatment.

Its fundamental principle lies in two aspects. Firstly, it takes the human body as an organic whole and holds that the human body has very close and inseparable relations with external natural surroundings. Secondly, it emphasises that the diagnosis and treatment are based overall analysis of signs and symptoms rather than on the illness itself. This approach explained why Chinese medicine has started to gain high popularity as an effective alternative medicine.

How our treatment for eczema works

Here at Eden Herbs, we’ve seen significant improvement in eczema through dietary changes.

As we know, symptoms relating to heat are easily observable in eczema patients. The affected parts of the skin are usually diffusely red with a sensation of burning, and severe itching and sometimes patients feel hot and thirsty.

A high proportion of eczema is attributed to excess heat and dampness gathering inside the body. We recommend consuming fewer ‘hot and damp’ food and drinks, such as lamb, chilli, hot curry or sauce, onion, garlic, alcohol, milk, cheese, chocolate and other dairy products.

Pork and beef are more or less neutral in nature and they generally do not aggravate the condition. Fresh fruits and vegetables are generally neutral or cold in nature and are therefore good for eczema.

Exceptions are peach, tangerine (not orange) and grapes. Peaches and tangerines are warm in nature and grapes can produce excess internal heat if eaten in large amounts, although their nature is neutral.

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