Can Chinese Healing Herbs Give Eczema Relief?

Should you suffer from the pains of eczema, you will be all too aware of the misery that it can cause. Now though, a remedy may have been found in the form of oriental healing herbs.

New research results, made public for the first time at the yearly gathering of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, propose that orthodox Chinese herbal treatments might be of assistance in the treatment of both children and adults.

In order to evaluate patient worries about whether a non-western approach works, and is safe to use, medical researcher Julia Wisniewski, MD, of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York undertook studies on 14 young people who had persistent eczema and underwent treatment with traditional Chinese methods between August 2006 and May 2008.

Each of them drank Erka Shizheng Herbal Tea two times daily, soaked in an herbal bath for a minimum of 20 minutes, and applied a herbal cream to their skin several times a day. They also were treated using acupuncture.

At the beginning of the study, over 50% had severe symptoms, 8 months later, most had only mild symptoms. The children also needed a smaller amount of medication, such as antibiotics and steriods, after just a few months of the start of the treatment.

When it comes to eczema in adults, a team of Japanese researchers found that grown ups can also benefit from Chinese medicine. Their study involved 274 men and women who had suffered with eczema for an average of 12 years. About a third had symptoms that could be categorized as severe.

After three to four months of treatment with herbal remedies that had been chosen and administered based on the subject’s symptoms, 87% were symptom free. A further 12% were very much improved.

Therefore, while more work is needed, these research results offer encouraging results and suggest that, if you suffer with eczema, it’s time to consider using Chinese healing herbs or treatments.