Why do I get Eczema on my skin ?
Why do I get Eczema on my skin ?
The following few lines are the most important information that you were suppose to get from your doctor the very same day he/she diagnosed you with Eczema!
If, just in case, you have not gotten any similar info from your doctor, and instead you got a prescription, seriously consider changing your doctor!!
Seriously consider that your doctor is uninformed and what he says and does may be dangerous for your overall health and may cause further injury, on the long run!
People get Eczema symptoms on their skin because they are hypersensitive to something.
Hypersensitivity does not always mean an allergy!!!!
There are 5 different hypersensitivity reactions, allergy being just one of those 5.
An allergy is IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction.
There are hypersensitivity reactions that are not IgE-mediated and can not be discovered by an IgE patch test or IgE blood test.
Hypersensitivity is a signature factor of almost all autoimmune disorders. What you are hypersensitive to is your symptom trigger! 2 people can have identical symptoms triggered by totally different triggers. Some triggers are under our control while other triggers may not be 100% controllable.
Diet, cosmetics, soaps, toothpaste, supplements and medications seem to be the potential triggers easiest to control.
How can you identify your triggers?
1. Watch when flare appears !
2. Make a detail list of everything you ate and everything you touched (cosmetics, soaps, chemicals, foods etc) during the last 24-36-48 hours before the flare started.
Some people, actually very few, may even react as late as 72 hours after exposure to a very specific food trigger.
Complete list you compose should contain all of your triggers, as long as you are able to compose a 100% complete list. Writing detail diary (everything you put into your mouth) every single day helps !
3. Make a new list every time there is a flare, if ever.
4. Cross-reference lists from the last several flares looking for possible common triggers.
5. Take a special note on the TOP 8, as up to 90% of people with skin symptoms react to the TOP 8.
Yes, you read it right! 90% of people react to at least one of the TOP 8!
That is hundreds of millions of people around the globe using corticosteroids for something triggered by the Top 8.
You are buying your disease at the grocery store, and you are not even aware of it !
The most common food allergens and eczema triggers, the Big 8 are:
1. dairy, (all cow milk products belong to this category)
2. egg, ( eggs are also a common ingredient in vaccines )
3. wheat, ( includes wheat oil and wheat gluten added to many foods and also to vaccines)
4. soy, (includes soy oil and soy proteins added to many foods and also to vaccines)
5. peanuts, (includes peanuts oil added to many foods and also to vaccines)
6. tree nuts ( hazelnuts, walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia, chestnuts etc)
7. fish
8. shellfish, shrimps, crabs
Allergic reactions or intolerance reactions can be caused by virtually any food and any cosmetic, but these 8 food groups are the cause of 90% of all
food intolerance reactions and food allergic reactions.
Cow's milk is the most common trigger in children. Most formulas contain Cow's milk, and majority of mothers who breastfeed, drink milk.
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Beside food, people with skin disorders also often react to toothpaste, soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, laundry detergent, rubber, plastics, nickel, implants, mobile phones, shoes, clothes, bedsheets, dust, cat dander, dog dander, pollen etc.
Take a special note to liquid products containing MIT = methylisothiazolinone
The preservative known as MI or MIT (methylisothiazolinone) is used in a wide range of liquid products like shampoos, moisturisers and shower gels as well as make-up and baby wipes.
Experts say the chemical is second only to nickel in causing contact allergies.
Well-known products that contain MI found on sale in shops included "Nivea body lotion", "Wet Ones" and "Boots men's face wash".
Experts say incidents of allergies are occurring faster than they did to methyl dibromo glutaronitrile, another preservative that was banned from use in cosmetics in 2005 after it was linked to an increase in eczema cases.
MIT belongs to a group of similar compounds called isothiazolinones, which also include the following chemicals:
Chloromethylisothiazolinone (CMIT)
Benzisothiazolinone (BIT)
Octylisothiazolinone (OIT)
Dichlorooctylisothiazolinone (DCOIT)
You'll find MIT and chemicals like it at low concentrations in most liquid rinse-off products.
How to avoid it ? Avoid using liquid soaps, shampoos, and similar liquid products!
All liquid products contain
preservatives !!!
Assume that all
preservatives are bad for your skin and may iritate your skin !!!!!!
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Are there any other factors that can affect hypersensitivity ?
Stress makes body more hypersensitive, so people are more likely to react to milder sensitivities when under extreme stress.
For example, you are mildly sensitive to wheat. When living with no stress, you consume wheat every day, and you get no symptoms on your skin. But, 24 hours after a major stress situation (an exam at your school), skin symptoms appear. If you would have known that wheat is your mild trigger, you could have avoided wheat days before the exam, and you would have no symptoms on your skin. And, if you do not know, you just blame the stress.
The same is true for people who get the symptoms seasonally. Or during pregnancy.
Season, temperature, weather, climate, pregnancy, sleep or lack of it etc. may affect hypersensitivity of some people, so people are far more likely to react to milder sensitivities when under special weather conditions.
Hormones associated with menstrual cycle in women can also affect hypersensitivity in some individuals.
Some women know they get more symptoms before or during their menstruation. That is a sign of your body being more hypersensitive during those days.
Artificial hormones from IUD may have effect on some individuals.
Alcohol and
Sugar consumption may make some people more hypersensitive due to depletion of
DAO (diamin oxidase) and increase in the levels of histamine.
Not sleeping enough may make you more hypersensitive due to depletion of
DAO and increase in the levels of histamine.
Negative emotions (depression, anxiety, fear, anger, worry etc) can make you more hypersensitive.
Positive emotions (love, joy, happiness, calmness, serenity etc ) can make you significantly less hypersensitive and more likely to tolerate mild triggers.
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Can an allergy test help discover you personal Eczema triggers ?
Maybe, if the test is positive. Negative allergy test is of no value for people with skin symptoms.
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Hypersensitivity reactions and allergies, are they the same ?
You can be hypersensitive to things without being allergic to things.
Gluten sensitivity is not an allergy (it is non-IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction).
Gluten sensitivity is not the same as wheat allergy. Wheat allergy is IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction. It is a true allergy.
Nightshade Sensitivity can be both an allergy (IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction) and an intolerance (NON-IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction)
Lactose intolerance is not an allergy (it is non-IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction).
Lactose intolerance is not the same as a milk or dairy allergy.
food intolerance is not an allergy (it is non-IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction).
Sulfite sensitivity is not an allergy!
Histamine sensitivity is not an allergy!
Salicylate sensitivity is not an allergy (it is non-IgE-mediated hypersensitivity reaction).
You can be sensitive to gluten without having celiac disease (non-celiac gluten sensitivity).
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