"First, do no harm"
Sir William Osler (1849-1919)
Canadian-born physician |
"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not "Eureka" (I've found it!), but "That's funny..."
Isaac Asimov |
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Wheatgrass in the Management of Steroid-dependent Eczema
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No eczema treatment, including wheatgrass and topical (or oral) steroids, is likely to work unless simple, ‘damage control’ measures are also taken. After all, you splint a broken leg until it heals before walking on it. The same basic principle applies to eczema. I give my patient’s immune system a chance to heal the skin by reducing (usually lifestyle) adverse factors – soap, hot water - that tend to dry the skin and slow recovery. I do not give nutritional or other lifestyle advice; the spray tends to work quite well by itself. I usually advise patients to:
- AVOID SOAP. Of any kind. This includes soap-containing shampoos, dishwashing detergents and so on. Try to find a colloidal oatmeal containing soap-free wash for body and face and a shampoo containing the same ingredient. Oatmeal appears to have a similar immunomodulatory action as wheatgrass and the two appear to work synergistically. In Australia, the only colloidal oatmeal containing product I know is the ‘Dermaveen’ brand, available at pharmacies and manufactured in Sydney. In the USA it is called ‘Aveno’, but I understand there is an equally good but lower priced product available at WalMart stores under the ‘Equate' brand.
- REDUCE EXPOSURE TO HOT WATER – in other words, take short (5 minutes max) showers and NO BATHS. Soap and hot water combine to remove sebum from the pores and deep into the sebaceous glands, inhibiting sebum production. They also directly dry the skin’s surface. Subsequently the skin dries out to a critical level and the itching starts. But this also happens even if soap and water are not used, so there are other mechanisms at work to reduce sebum output which I believe are mainly immunological. Sebaceous glands (Fig. 1) are controlled by hormones which in turn are under the influence of the immune system. In eczema though, something goes awry with the skin’s immunity which is probably genetically determined or influenced. And this is where wheatgrass comes in. It is a powerful, topical immunomodulator, and, because it is derived from the young wheatgrass sprout and not the seed as in colloidal oatmeal, it is much more effective. But the two products do work well together.
- APPLY WHEATGRASS SPRAY AT LEAST TWICE A DAY. More often if necessary. I do not recommend using wheatgrass cream for eczema as the spray has proven itself much more effective. As well as helping the local immunity under the skin, the extract is absorbed systemically so that in time, the patient’s immune status becomes enhanced - a major bonus. I manage to wean around 90-95 percent of my patients off topical steroids by using wheatgrass and the colloidal oatmeal soap-free wash. I also get them to take the extract orally to further boost their immune system. Ultimately, patients end up managing their own skin, except for occasional flares. The saving to the patient in time and cost can be substantial, not to mention the avoidance of skin damage by topical steroids.
(View Case Histories)
Fig. 1 The skin
How Wheatgrass Spray Was Born
At first I had disappointing results using a wheatgrass-based cream for eczema. Admittedly, there were occasional startling recoveries where some severe cases, particularly children, cleared up in a few days. But these were certainly the exception, so much so that I usually stuck to the soap and hot water avoidance, topical steroid and moisturizer regime I had used for most of my professional life.
One day, one of my staff who had severe, generalized atopic eczema/dermatitis refractory to every kind of conventional therapy except oral steroids, took it upon herself to apply the dilute wheatgrass extract daily to her facial skin. I had noticed that her skin was improving. She then informed me of her experiment with the extract. It then occurred to me that it was most likely some of the ingredients in the cream that had previously aggravated her eczema. I encouraged her to continue using just the extract. After about three months of twice daily application, her condition had improved to the point where her chronic skin lesions had almost disappeared, and her facial skin had completely recovered. (View Photographs).
I then began using only the wheatgrass spray on the numerous eczema patients I see every day. The results have been outstanding. Mild to moderate cases almost invariably improve without the need for topical steroids. Some recover in as little as a week, but most of them take a month or two for their skin to stabilize. Nowadays, the strongest topical steroid I ever use is 1% hydrocortisone. In the more severe cases, I use the same technique, but add oral prednisolone in reduction doseage, usually starting with 15-20mg. daily. |
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