TCM Solutions for Hives and Eczema

Food and the environment can trigger symptoms. Learn about how ancient Chinese medicine tackles these skin conditions.
TCM Solutions for Hives and Eczema
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Naiwen Hu
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Skin conditions such as hives (urticaria), eczema (atopic dermatitis), and dyshidrosis, a type of eczema involving blisters, are troubling for many people. In severe cases, they affect people’s mood, sleep, and quality of life.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has its own ways of helping you nip these conditions in the bud to relieve itchiness without resorting to medication.

Hives

Urticaria, commonly known as hives, is an inflammatory skin disease that affects up to 20 percent of the world’s population during their lifetime. Urticaria is divided into acute and chronic, and most of them are acute.

An acute case of hives is generally related to infection, certain drugs, or food and usually lasts no more than six weeks. Chronic hives are mostly related to work pressure, anxiety, and irritability. It can be spontaneous or induced and usually continues for over six weeks. Most of these cases could last more than a year.

According to a 2019 cross-sectional analysis of U.S. census data on more than 55 million patients, the prevalence of chronic hives is higher in patients aged 40 to 59 than in any other age group. It is 2.7 times more prevalent in women than in men. Global comprehensive data also show that chronic urticaria, especially chronic spontaneous urticaria, is most common among women over 30 years old.
Studies have shown that chronic hives may be related to stress, with some people experiencing high stress levels before the onset of the condition.
To prevent acute hives, consider the following.

Avoid Inflammatory Food

Avoid eating things considered inflammatory, “stimulating,” or prone to inducing allergies.
This usually refers to certain foods that can induce or aggravate conditions. Typical items in this group include bamboo shoots, mushrooms, mango, seafood, beef, duck, peanuts, nuts, chocolate, and seasonings such as satay sauce (spicy peanut sauce), chili flakes, etc.

Apply Ice to Relieve Itching

What should you do if you develop hives triggered by food? For quick relief, you can apply an ice pack for 10 minutes to the area to reduce itchiness, redness, and swelling. Rest for five minutes, then repeat the application. Do not apply ice for more than 10 minutes to avoid rapid dilation of blood vessels, which could worsen itching.
Acute hives usually resolve within two to three days.

Avoid Medication and Scratching

The treatment of chronic urticaria with Western medicine is often quite complicated. It starts with a variety of antihistamines, and if the symptoms cannot be controlled, you will be referred to a specialist for treatment with immunomodulators. In some cases, a three-to-10-day dosage of corticosteroids is also employed to control the condition. The skin typically fully recovers after three months without using any drugs. This is precisely how I got cured, with no scars.
Scratching will aggravate the condition. The human body has its own self-healing power. If you can resist scratching, the skin will gradually heal by itself.

Take 3 Steps to Prevent Recurrence

TCM posits that hives are related to “wind, dampness, and heat.” “Wind” refers to the abnormal wind that changes with the four seasons; “dampness” refers to accumulated moisture inside the body due to the body’s inability to transport and transform water normally. For example, moisture collects inside the body if the climate turns wet and humid or if you habitually drink iced drinks or cold salad. “Heat” refers to abnormal heat from the weather or eating foods with thermogenic properties, such as fried and heavy-flavored foods.
Chronic urticaria takes an average of four years to resolve, so to avoid its recurrence, you must monitor your diet and the environment. There are three ways to do this:
  1. Avoid allergens: Find where the allergens are and avoid contact or consumption.
  2. Eat whole foods: Choose natural, simply seasoned foods, avoid processed foods, and read the ingredients on the packaging carefully.
  3. Avoid alcohol: Alcohol will aggravate urticaria.

Eczema

Atopic dermatitis, also called eczema, is a chronic condition that causes inflammation, redness, and irritation of the skin. It is common in young children but can occur at any age.

If a child has eczema, prickly heat powder can help relieve itchiness. It absorbs water, keeps the skin dry, and has a particularly favorable effect on alleviating symptoms such as itchy skin and allergies.

TCM proposes that eczema is caused mainly by toxins originating from excessive “heat,” as too much heat can overstimulate the immune system and cause abnormal reactions. To survive, internal organs and their cells will try to move the toxins caused by heat accumulated in the body to the surface, and the skin, as the end receptor, will react vigorously.

TCM suggests barley soup and sanmiao powder to detoxify, remove dampness, and relieve itchiness. Barley is cool in nature and can clear the heat; sanmiao powder, apart from its effects of clearing heat, can also relieve itchiness, remove dampness, and kill bacteria.

Barley Soup

Add 4 cups of barley and 6 liters of water to a pot. Bring the water to a boil. First, steam the itchy area with it. Then, after the soup cools down, use it to wash the itchy affected areas. Next, apply sanmiao powder to relieve itching.

Sanmiao Powder

Crush equal parts of betel nut, raw Atractylodes, and Phellodendron into powder and rub it on the itchy area to effectively relieve itchiness.

Dyshidrosis

Dyshidrosis is an eczema-like skin condition that commonly occurs on the sides of the fingers, palms, sides of the toes, soles, etc. It causes small, itchy blisters and is often the culmination of excessive moisture and heat, likely to be attributed to a damp and hot environment or weak spleen and stomach.

TCM holds that a weak spleen and stomach will result in food not being fully digested and absorbed. When that happens, the heat and moisture in the body are not discharged properly, which can lead to eczema.

Western medicine often treats dyshidrosis with steroid cream, but that cannot cure it completely. Conversely, TCM would recommend first removing dampness, strengthening the spleen, and addressing the root cause. The following are a few approaches to try.

Drink “Dampness-Dispelling” Tea

Ingredients: Preparation:
  • Pour 1,000 milliliters (34 fl. ounces) of water into a pot.
  • Add the ingredients.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Turn off the heat and simmer for another 10 minutes.
  • Drink when it cools to just warm.

Avoid 4 Types of Foods

When you are experiencing an acute case of dyshidrosis, avoid eating stews, ice-cold foods, processed food, and greasy stuff.

The herbs mentioned above can be purchased at health-food stores and Asian grocery stores, but since everyone’s constitution is different, please consult a professional physician for specific treatment options.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.
Naiwen Hu
Naiwen Hu
Naiwen Hu is a traditional Chinese medicine physician at the Shanghai Tong Te Tang in Taipei, Taiwan, and a professor at the Nine Star University of Health Sciences in Sunnyvale, California. He also worked as a researcher of life science at the Standford Research Institute. In his over 20 years of practice, he has treated more than 140,000 patients. He was known for successfully curing the fifth melanoma patient in the world by using traditional Chinese medicine. Hu currently hosts a YouTube health program that has over 700,000 subscribers. He is also known for his popular road show on health and wellness held in various cities in Australia and North America.