I never dreamed to find Hope quite so literally. Nor did I expect a complete healing that has lasted more than 32 years.
His name was Alan. Alan Hope. The first naturopath I ever consulted, way back in about 1985. I opened the Yellow Pages (younger readers, please behave!, no sniggering!) and the combination of his name which made me smile, the boxed-stand out yellow pages listing (yep, they worked) and his location in central Melbourne all 'clicked'. Desperation and my insistent, raw-food-eating-proselytizing first husband, Nathan, had pushed me to seek another path. I was all of about 22 years old.
I'm not sure when the severe and obvious weeping, bleeding, scabbing eczema started - my intuitive feeling is about the age of 4. ? But my mother assures me I had horrendous reactions to having my nappies washed in Omo even as a baby. My first distinct memory of it being terrible (and something to be ashamed of) were the tears in my grandmother's eyes when she visited from Holland and saw my skin.
Yes, that's me on the right, about the time I realized how my eczema upset and offended others
I had been plagued (pun intended) with both the eczema and very serious allergies, particularly to eggs and peanuts, almost as long as I can remember. Soaps and detergents were purgatory and inflamed everything. There wasn't much that didn't made me itch, wheeze, sneeze and break my skin open in the most painful, oozing, itchy sores. I had festering sores particularly on both my ankles, behind my knees, inside my elbows and all over my hands. I have no images of my own skin at that time, but the internet has graciously-painfully refreshed my memory of what I saw-hid-scratched-lived-with every day:
I was treated for most of my childhood and adolescence with heavy steroids and tranquilizers. I wore bandages to bed. My socks often stuck to my skin and pulled the scabs off. I was teased mercilessly at school (I think bullied would be the word of choice today) and still have a raised scar on my hand where my convent-school desk companion plunged her compass through my hand as a punishment because I had dared to allow my diseased hand to touch her side of the desk.
To this day I have scars on ankles and hands and that skin never tans. I still habitually & instinctively sit on my hands when I meet new people. The smell of Sapoderm Skin Wash still makes me ill.
Soooooo..... there I was, desperately looking for a solution, ready to consider alternatives. I expected creams, potions, herbs or SOMETHING to put on my skin. But instead, he INTERROGATED me about my diet. And prescribed a stringent liver-cleansing diet (long before anyone had heard of Dr Sandra Cabot) for 6 MONTHS!!! And nothing else except rice and oatmeal water to soothe the inflamed skin. I was shocked. And desperate enough to be unusually compliant.
The eczema literally evaporated over that 6 months of liver cleansing and has never returned. My allergies left me completely, and today I easily eat a dozen organic eggs a week without even a tickle in my throat. From time to time, if my diet goes 'off" badly when I travel, I feel my skin dry and uncomfortable, and I sniffle, sneeze and wheeze. It is always enough to pull me back towards liver cleansing. I am NOT a diet zealot nor a vegetarian, and most days eat some foods that are borderline or just plain "naughty" (by liver cleansing standards) and I drink alcohol moderately. As long as I stay in the 80/20 zone my skin is FINE.
Are there studied scientific or clinical links between liver cleansing-fatty liver and eczema? Actually yes. Many, dating back to as early as 1927. Here are a few samples to begin your clinical reading journey:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamadermatology/article-abstract/521839
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7613128
Kimata, H., 2001. Fatty liver in atopic dermatitis. Allergy, 56(5), pp.460-460. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1034/j.1398-9995.2001.056005460.x/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3303478/
The really interesting thing in the last study quoted is that it appears to be the eczema which causes the fatty liver problem, and not the other way. Regardless, the management of the fatty liver through diet removes the expression of the eczema. Or at least it did for me.
Even more interesting was that about 5 years after this first experience, when I was in hospital for a serious bone problem, it was discovered through blood testing that I was born with a genetic 'disorder' called Gilberts Syndrome. A seemingly "harmless" condition where one is lacking in certain enzymes to process and remove bile from the blood, but which distorts fat digestion by the liver! It manifests with jaundice, nausea and an inability to digest fats or fried foods.
My first experiences with both eczema and naturopathy have shaped me and set me firmly on a path for life towards natural healing, natural skin care and the making of my Pure Thai Naturals products.
I actually now understand there were, and are, so many more factors at play in the manifestation of eczema, and that the spontaneous, complete healing for me was, without doubt, impacted by far more than Alan Hope and his liver cleansing regime alone. But it remains imprinted on my mind and I am grateful beyond belief to have lived through, and healed, the triggers which pushed me towards my path and my calling.
BlissednBlessed
This post was created, by request, for the new @naturalmedicine community in Steemit. It took me many, many days to find that something inside to be able to share it. I believe most in the medicine of mind and a happy heart, in not looking endlessly back, in choosing one's health, in smiles and that we create our own reality.
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