Self help advice

This is intended to give you simple information about what you can do to help yourself if you suffer from particular common ailments. It is not a substitute for professional medical treatment and you are strongly recommended to consult a properly qualified herbalist or your local doctor.

There is a new topic every month. Previous topics are accessible from the archive.

This month: eczema

This is what herbal medicine can do for eczema!

William before he came to see Marianne.	William after a three-month course of herbal medicine
William now goes to school; his eczema has not returned.

What you can do at home to treat eczema

• Avoid any foods which you know make your eczema worse or which give you other symptoms, like headaches or diarrhoea. You probably also have some hidden food allergies, which will show up on an allergy test.
• Avoid E numbers. Eat fresh, plain, home-cooked food, organic if possible, with plenty of fruit and vegetables.
• Drink plenty of water - filtered or bottled, not flavoured - every day to flush the system through. Avoid squash and pop and keep tea, coffee and alcohol to a minimum.
• Increase intake of oils. That means good quality unprocessed flax seed, cold pressed sunflower and olive oils; plus plenty of seeds - sunflower, sesame, flax, pumpkin - every day. It does not mean processed foods containing "vegetable oil", or animal fats. If you are not vegetarian, eat oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring) twice a week. You can take 3000mg Evening primrose oil and 1000mg Cod liver or flax seed oil every day. Small children absorb these oils through the skin, so rub them on.
• Stop using biological washing powder or any fabric softener. Instead, use the gentlest non-biological powder you can find.
• Moisturise your skin with olive oil or almond oil. Avoid any products containing lanolin or soft paraffin.
• Don't use bubble bath or any other bath products. Use only the gentlest soap or do without.
• Add porridge oats to the bath water. Put some raw oats in a muslin bag if you have one. Most people haven't so use an old sock or a pair of tights. Let the hot water run through it into the bath and then leave it in the water. Squeeze the milky liquid out of it.
• Avoid stress as far as possible
• Reduce house dust mite which can cause terrible itching:
  • Vacuum regularly, including the mattress
  • Use mite-proof covers for mattress and pillows
  • Wash curtains regularly
  • Damp dust
  • Don't use chemical cleaners and sprays
  • Put all pillows, cushions, cuddly toys, etc either in the freezer or the tumble dryer for a couple of hours every 2 weeks. This kills mites.
• Herbs to use
  • Chamomile tea for stress and worry and the best herb of all for children. It is also anti-inflammatory and helps digestion. Safe for babies, but you may want to boil it for a minute as herb teas are not sterile. Strain into a feeding bottle. Most children with eczema benefit from chamomile tea, especially in the evening.
  • Red clover or heartsease teas reduce itching.
  • Marigold infusion added to bath water helps heal broken skin and is mildly antiseptic.
  • Chickweed and heartsease infusion added to the bathwater reduces itching.

How to make a herb tea

If you have a teapot, warm it first. Add a couple of teaspoonfuls of dried herb and add boiling water. Let it brew for 5 minutes, then strain and drink. If you haven't got a teapot, add one teaspoonful of herb to a mug of boiling water and cover with a saucer while it brews.

How to make a herbal infusion for the bath

Add a couple of tablespoonfuls of dried herb to a jug and cover with boiling water. Put a saucer over the jug. Let it brew for 10 minutes, then pour through a sieve into the bath. Remember not to scald your child!

Dried herbs are available from:

Baldwins
171-173 Walworth Road
London SE17 1RW
020 7703 5550
www.baldwins.co.uk

A herbalist will make up a mixture of herbs for your particular needs after a full consultation. Herbs may be combined with the aim of reducing itching and inflammation, preventing infection, combating allergies, improving digestion and absorption of food and detoxifying the system. You may also be prescribed creams and washes to heal the skin and reduce inflammation. Western herbalists never use steroids.