how I reversed my eczema symptoms naturally

march 12, 2019

i have always had eczema since I was a teenager, but it wasn’t anything I was concerned about. it wasn’t until i reached adulthood when i started developing eczema on my face. it started around my eyes and then spread all over my face, neck, ears, back, torso, and shins. i had no idea what was causing it. i was really scared and worried. 

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over a two year period, i saw 12 different medical doctors. each told me that there wasn’t anything i could do except to manage my symptoms using meds. i absolutely dreaded the idea of having a lifelong dependency on harmful medications like cortisone creams and antibiotics.

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after resisting meds for some time, i finally caved in and used them. i was so uncomfortable and the intense itch was often hard to bear. i woke up every night around 3am, wanting to scratch off my face and gouge out my eyes. desperate to feel a moment of relief, i decided to use a low dose topical steroid cream for just two weeks. my symptoms got better, but it was only temporary. following the meds, i had the worst flare up of my life

(see below).

this was a turning point for me. i decided to heal my eczema naturally and refused to go down the dangerous road of becoming addicted to harmful medications to control my symptoms. i knew the meds weren’t addressing the underlying cause. instead, they were just temporarily addressing the symptoms, while possibly causing damage to other organs in my body at the same time (1). research has shown that steroid medications, even at low doses, can have serious effects on a wide range of organ systems including the cardiovascular (2), endocrine (3) and the digestive systems (1,4), just to name a few.

not worth it.

what did i do to start the healing process?

the first step i did was lay down the foundation for healing. i changed my diet by removing dairy, grains, sugar, alcohol, nightshade vegetables and processed foods. i ate organic as much as possible and only drank spring water. then, i worked on my gut - did a couple bowel cleanses, followed by gut restoration. within just three weeks of working on the gut, i had about a 65-70% turnaround.

so, how about the other 30-35%?

after seeing a lot of progress, i began to plateau. no matter what i did, nothing seemed to get me 100% there. it took me a while to figure out what was happening. then i came across bie, a modality that serves to identify and normalize the body to particular substances. under a stressful state, it’s thought that our bodies can wrongfully identify certain substances that it’s exposed to as the source of stress. as a result, when the body sees the substance in the future, the body “blocks” the normal response to that substance because the body didn’t have a good experience the last time it saw it. the exposure to the substance creates an inappropriate response in the body, potentially giving rise to various symptoms. 

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using biofeedback analysis (muscle testing), i found out that my body was intolerant to dietary oils, meaning, my body wasn’t able to recognize oils, and therefore, could not metabolize them. it’s thought that without the proper breakdown of these fats, they were coming through the skin, creating a lot of irritation and inflammation.

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so, one solution would be to stay away from all oils - omega-3s, olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, nuts, seeds etc. but, as a nutritionist, i know how important good fats are to maintain optimal health. i wanted to be able to eat oils without having a reaction. so, how could i get my body to no longer be intolerant to oils?

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i used bie.

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bie stands for bioenergetic intolerance elimination. it is a technology that serves to eliminate intolerances by imprinting the frequencies of substances onto the body. by imprinting the frequency of different oils onto my body, my body re-learned the identity of oils, and now knows how to deal with them appropriately. as a result, my rashes subsided, and i can consume moderate levels of oils with no issues.

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if you are experiencing eczema and are considering going the natural route to heal your skin, i understand how scary and uncomfortable the process seems. during the journey, it may feel like you are taking one step forward, one step back (sometimes, it actually feels like three steps back). what you want to strive for is progress made over a long period of time, rather than the progress made on a day-to-day basis. with the right guidance and support, it is possible to heal.

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you are worth it.

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References

1.

yasir, m. and sonthalia, s. (2019). corticosteroid adverse effects. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK531462/. (accessed march 12, 2019)

2.

sholter, d.e. and armstrong, p.w.

(2000). adverse effects of corticosteroids on the cardiovascular system. canadian journal of cardiology. 16, 505-511.

3.

dhar, s. et al. (2014). systemic side-effects of topical corticosteroids. indian journal of dermatology. 59, 460-464.

4.

piper, j.m. et al. (1991). corticosteroid use and peptic ulcer disease: role of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. annals of internal medicine. 114, 735-740.

have acne? get rid of it with nutrition and bie

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september 1, 2019

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september is acne awareness month. the purpose of this post is to give more insight into this common skin condition and to share a safe, effective solution. 

what is acne exactly?

acne is a skin condition that results in blemishes on the face, neck, shoulders, chest and/or back. the severity of acne can vary from person to person, and also within the same person over time. it can appear in teenage years and then go away, or it can persist into adulthood. 

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what are some interesting facts and stats about acne?

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• acne has been around for a long time. people were getting acne diagnoses and treatments since ancient greek and egyptian times (1).  

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• acne remains one of the top three most common skin issues seen worldwide (1).

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• about 85% of canadian teenagers (ages 12-24) have acne (2).

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• acne is not a skin condition that is only experienced by teenagers. research shows that it is prevalent in adults too, especially women. in fact, women make up about two thirds of dermatologist visits for acne and up to 22% of women experience acne in adulthood (3, 4). 

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• the effects of acne can be serious and can have negative impacts on quality of life. some health conditions that are associated with acne include anxiety, depression and low self-esteem (1, 5, 6). furthermore, research shows that women with acne are twice as likely to suffer depression than men with acne (4). 

what causes acne?

acne occurs when our pores get clogged and become inflamed. how do pores get clogged and inflamed? the formation of acne involves four main processes:​

1. overproduction of sebum (natural oil that comes out of your oil glands)

2. overgrowth of bacteria

3. imbalances in hormones, particularly androgens (often referred to as “male hormones,” but are found in both males and females) 

4. altered shedding of dead skin cells

what are some of the major factors that influence the processes of acne formation?

diet

sugar and dairy appear to be the biggest culprits

• sugar - smith et al. (2007) showed that when patients with acne reduced their intake of high glycemic foods, their acne improved within 12 weeks (7). the more sugar and starchy foods we eat, the higher our blood insulin goes. studies show that with elevated levels of insulin, there is an increase in androgen hormones and sebum production, both major contributors to acne formation (8).  

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• dairy - researchers from harvard showed that, in comparison to girls that drank less than one glass of milk a week, girls who drank two or more glasses of milk a day had an increased risk of developing acne (9). it is thought that dairy products carry hormones from the cows, so when we drink/eat dairy, the hormone levels in our bodies increase, therefore throwing off our hormone balance (9). when our hormones are off, we can anticipate getting acne!

stress

stress is a huge contributing factor to so many different health conditions, and acne is definitely one of them. researchers at stanford found that students experienced acne flare ups during exams, a time period where students reported to be more stressed compared to when they were not going through exams. and, the severity of acne correlated with increasing levels of stress (10). the exact mechanism that explains how stress leads to acne is not exactly clear, but it’s thought that cortisol, our long-term stress hormone, may play a role. when we are stressed, our cortisol levels increase. when cortisol is high, it increases androgen hormones and sebum production, both major contributors to acne formation (11).    

medications

some medications known to potentially cause acne include corticosteroids, anabolic steroids, hormones (ex. testosterone), halogen compounds (iodine, bromine, fluorine, and chlorine) and some anticancer agents (12).

what are the current treatments for acne?

over the counter treatments

these usually include cleansers and/or spot treatments that contain chemicals like salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide.

prescription medications

• topical - these are creams that can have either synthetic vitamin a, antibiotics, or a higher dose of benzoyl peroxide in them.

• oral - these include antibiotics or hormones treatments like birth control pills.

laser and light treatments

these treatment types use light to reduce the amount of bacteria on the surface of the skin. usually several sessions are needed and the results are temporary (2).

what are the downfalls to these treatments?

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although these medications and treatments are effective in reducing and/or eliminating acne, they don’t seem to provide a safe, long-term solution. adult women (over the age of 25) have high rates of treatment failure, where approximately 80% of women relapse after multiple rounds of antibiotics and about 30-40% of women relapse after a course of isotretinoin medication (a synthetic vitamin a derivative) (13, 14). so, when you are on the medication, your skin may clear up, but when you come off, there is a high chance that your acne will come back. staying on the medications can pose some serious risks. some of these range from increasing your risk of getting sun burns with topical treatments --- to digestive issues with antibiotics --- to suicidal thoughts and birth defects with oral acne medications, like isotretinoin (15). it’s important to know that the side effects of these medications are common. for example, up to 95% of patients using isotretinoin experience side effects (1).

how can bie serve as a better solution for your acne?

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bie can serve as an option to help get rid of acne without the use of any medications or needles. bie stands for bioenergetic intolerance elimination. it is a technology that aims to eliminate an intolerance. how does an intolerance relate to having acne?

to gain insight into how bie can help you, we must first define what an intolerance is under bie terms. an intolerance is anything that the body does not properly recognize the identify of. everything in this world carries a unique frequency. that means that every hormone, every food, every chemical etc. will have its own frequency pattern associated with it. as such, an intolerance occurs when our bodies lose the ability to properly recognize the frequency pattern of a particular substance and, therefore, no longer has the ability to absorb, utilize, metabolize and/or eliminate the substance correctly. this results in imbalances in our bodies, giving rise to symptoms, like blemishes on our faces.

bie gets your body back into balance! 

as mentioned above, it is clear that one of the processes that leads to acne is hormone imbalance. as a bie practitioner, I am interested in why my client has a hormone imbalance. could it be due to an intolerance to dairy, where the body does not properly recognize the frequency of a dairy component, therefore, it doesn’t know how to properly metabolize it, causing an increase in hormone levels and creating a hormone imbalance? why is it that some people can eat dairy and not break out, while others do?

bie hypothesizes that the difference between these individuals is that one person’s body properly identifies the dairy and therefore knows what to do with it, while the other person’s body does not. to get the body to recognize what dairy is, bie simply reintroduced the frequency of dairy to the body. by doing this, the body re-learns the identity of a dairy component, so when you eat dairy, your body doesn’t break out. this can be seen in a client that was normalized to both dairy and dietary fats/oils using bie (as shown below). this client is now able to enjoy the muffins or cake at special events without having anything show up on her skin! 

before

after

References 

1. 

mahmood, n.f. and shipman, a.r. (2017). the age-old problem of acne. international journal of women's dermatology. 3, 71-76. 

2.  

acne and rosacea society of canada. (2019). about acne - what is acne? https://www.acneaction.ca/about-acne/about-acne/. (accessed august 26, 2019).

3.

silverberg, j.i. and silverberg, n.b. (2014). epidemiology and extracutaneous comorbidities of severe acne in adolescence: a u.s. population-based study. british journal of dermatology. 170, 1136-1142. 

4.

yentzer, b.a. et al. (2010). acne vulgaris in the united states: a descriptive epidemiology. cutis. 86, 94–99. 

5.

uhlenhake, e. et al. (2010). acne vulgaris and depression: a retrospective examination. journal of cosmetic dermatology. 9, 59-63. 

6.

golchai, j. et al. (2010). comparison of anxiety and depression in patients with acne vulgaris and healthy individuals. indian journal of dermatology. 55, 352-354.

7.

smith, r.n. et al. (2007). a low-glycemic-load diet improves symptoms in acne vulgaris patients: a randomized controlled trial. american journal of clinical nutrition. 86, 107-115.

8.

kucharska, a. et al. (2016). significance of diet in treated and untreated acne vulgaris. postepy dermatologii. 33, 81–86.

9. 

adebamowo, c.a. et al. (2006). milk consumption and acne in adolescent girls. dermatology online. 12, 1.

10. 

chiu, a. et al. (2003). the response of skin disease to stress: changes in the severity of acne vulgaris as affected by examination stress. archives of dermatology. 139, 897-900.

11. 

zari, s. and alrahmani, d. (2017). the association between stress and acne among female medical 

students in jeddah, saudi arabia. clinical, cosmetic and investigational dermatology. 10, 503–506.

12. 

kazandjieva, j. and tsankov, n. (2017). drug-induced acne. clinics in dermatology. 35,156-162.

13.

goulden, v. et al. (1997). treatment of acne with intermittent isotretinoin. british journal of dermatology. 137, 106-108.

14. 

goulden, v. et al. (1997). post-adolescent acne: a review of clinical features. british journal of dermatology. 136, 66-70.

15. 

tan, a.u. et al. (2018). a review of diagnosis and treatment of acne in adult female patients. international journal of women's dermatology. 4, 56-71.