Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Treatment of Eczema: Differentiation of Syndromes and Treatment, Internal and External Approach<\/p>\n
Eczema is a common allergic and inflammatory skin disease characterized by redness, papules, vesicles, oozing, crusting, and intense itching. Modern medicine often uses antihistamines and steroid creams to control symptoms, but these are prone to recurrence. TCM, taking a holistic approach, believes that although eczema manifests on the skin, its root lies in the internal organs. Through differentiation of syndromes and treatment based on syndrome differentiation, better therapeutic effects are often achieved.<\/p>\n
Types of Eczema: Atopic Dermatitis,Contact Dermatitis,Neurodermatitis,Dyshidrotic Eczema,Numerous Eczema,Seborrheic Dermatitis,Peripheral Eczema;<\/p>\n
TCM’s Understanding of Eczema<\/p>\n
TCM refers to eczema as “wet sores” or “impacting sores.” The core cause is inseparable from “dampness,” often due to congenital deficiency, coupled with improper diet (excessive consumption of spicy foods, seafood, alcohol, and dairy products), damaging the spleen and stomach, leading to impaired spleen function and internal damp-heat; or exposure to wind, dampness, and heat pathogens, with the internal and external pathogens clashing and accumulating in the skin, causing the disease. Prolonged illness depletes yin and blood, leading to blood deficiency, wind and dryness, and malnourishment of the skin, resulting in a chronic condition.<\/p>\n
Common Syndromes and Treatments<\/p>\n
1. Damp-Heat Infiltration Syndrome (Acute Phase)<\/p>\n
* Manifestations: Red skin lesions, blisters, erosions, and significant exudation, accompanied by burning itching, dry mouth and bitter taste, dry or sticky stools, and yellow urine. Red tongue with a yellow, greasy coating.<\/p>\n
* Treatment: Clear heat and eliminate dampness, cool the blood and detoxify. Use modified Longdan Xiegan Tang or Bixie Shenshi Tang.<\/p>\n
* Commonly Used Herbs: Gentian root, Scutellaria root, Gardenia fruit, Alisma rhizome, Plantago seed, Rehmannia root, and Moutan bark.<\/p>\n
2. Spleen Deficiency with Dampness Accumulation Syndrome (Subacute Phase)<\/p>\n
* Manifestations: Redder skin lesions, reduced exudation, but still with papules and scales; milder itching, accompanied by fatigue, poor appetite, abdominal distension, and loose stools. Pale, swollen tongue with a white, greasy coating.<\/p>\n
* Treatment: Strengthen the spleen and eliminate dampness, supplemented with heat-clearing herbs. 3. Blood Deficiency and Wind-Dryness Syndrome (Chronic Phase)<\/p>\n
* Manifestations: Thickened, dry, desquamating, lichenified, pigmented, paroxysmal intense itching, accompanied by dizziness and insomnia. Pale tongue with a thin white or glossy coating.<\/p>\n
* Treatment: Nourish blood and moisturize skin, dispel wind and relieve itching. Choose Dang Gui Yin Zi or Si Wu Xiao Feng Yin with modifications.<\/p>\n
* Commonly used herbs: Angelica sinensis, Paeonia lactiflora, Rehmannia glutinosa, Polygonum multiflorum, Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Tribulus terrestris, Cicadae periostracum.<\/p>\n
* External Treatment Methods<\/p>\n
External treatment is a distinctive advantage of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treating eczema, following the principle of “treating dampness with dampness and dryness with dryness”:<\/p>\n
* *Acute exudative phase:* Apply a cold compress with a decoction of purslane, phellodendron bark, and sanguisorba officinalis, or apply indigo naturalis ointment.<\/p>\n
* *Subacute phase:* Apply coptis chinensis ointment or indigo naturalis ointment.<\/p>\n
* *Chronic hypertrophic phase:* Use black bean tar ointment or icteric acid ointment, or combine with herbal fumigation (using herbs such as sophora flavescens, cnidium monnieri, kochia scoparia, and dictamnus dasycarpus).<\/p>\n
Acupuncture and Dietary Therapy<\/p>\n
* *Acupuncture:* Select acupoints such as Quchi (LI11), Hegu (LI4), Xuehai (SP10), Zusanli (ST36), Sanyinjiao (SP6), and Yinlingquan (SP9). Use the reducing method for acute eczema and the balanced tonifying and reducing method for chronic eczema. Ear acupuncture can be performed on points such as Lung, Spleen, Shenmen (HT7), and Adrenal gland.<\/p>\n
* *Dietary recommendations:*<\/p>\n
* *Damp-heat syndrome:* Red bean and barley porridge, winter melon soup. * *Spleen Deficiency Syndrome:* Yam and Poria Cake, White Hyacinth Bean Porridge.<\/p>\n
* *Blood Deficiency Syndrome:* Black Sesame, Mulberry, Lily Bulb and Lotus Seed Soup.<\/p>\n
* *Dietary Restrictions:* Spicy foods, seafood, mutton, alcohol, sweet and greasy foods, and raw or cold foods.<\/p>\n
*Precautions:*<\/p>\n
1. Traditional Chinese medicine should be used under the guidance of a TCM practitioner based on syndrome differentiation. Do not self-medicate.<\/p>\n
2. Stubborn eczema often requires a combination of internal and external treatments, with a treatment cycle generally lasting 4-8 weeks or more.<\/p>\n
3. Avoid hot water washing, soap irritation, and scratching; maintain emotional stability and a regular daily routine.<\/p>\n
4. If large-area infection, fever, or worsening exudation occurs, seek timely medical attention combining TCM and Western medicine.<\/p>\n
*Summary:*<\/p>\n
TCM treatment for eczema is not limited to relieving itching and eliminating rashes; it focuses more on regulating the overall Yin-Yang balance and improving the underlying constitution of spleen deficiency and dampness. In the acute phase, the focus is on eliminating pathogenic factors, while in the chronic phase, the focus is on strengthening the body’s resistance. With accurate diagnosis, consistent treatment, and proper lifestyle adjustments, most patients can achieve significant reductions in recurrence and improved quality of life. Traditional Chinese medicine has irreplaceable and unique advantages in the treatment of eczema, a chronic and relapsing skin disease.
\nHuihao TCM has shown good efficacy in treating skin problems such as eczema, pruritus, and tinea through both internal and external application.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Huihao TCM has shown good efficacy in treating skin problems such as eczema, pruritus, and tinea through both internal and external application.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[33,31,32],"class_list":["post-884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-common-skin-diseases-such-as-eczema","tag-and-tinea","tag-eczema","tag-pruritus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":885,"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884\/revisions\/885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/huihaotcm.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}