Topical Steroid Withdrawal & Eczema
Modern medicine classifies Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) and Red Skin Syndrome (RSS) as ‘rare’. It is not rare, but getting a medical diagnosis is. Some medical professionals question whether this condition even exists.
No doctor wants to accept responsibility for poorly managed eczema and the resulting fall out from the over prescribing of steroids. Whilst these steroids come with the advisory of using them short term, in my experience patients are relying on them on a daily basis over prolonged periods of time. Years in many cases. I’ve seen children in my clinic whose parents despair at the repeat prescriptions and the endless merry go round of creams.
Many of us know that these steroids are not addressing the eczema, they are just suppressing it, we know when we stop then the skin flares and we are back on that steroid cycle. Really we are trapped between flared skin or suppressing and running the gauntlet of steroid damage. This is because modern medicine really has nothing else to offer other than topical steroids, drugs like Protopic that suppress the immune system, oral steroids and antibiotics.
So how do you heal from TSW?
In my years in practice as a homeopath specialising in skin conditions, I have heard some horror stories of TSW, people bedridden for over a year, unable to work, skin pustular and infected, or burnt red raw and splitting - and this is all due to a drug that was given to help their eczema. Once they come through the withdrawal, which can takes years in some cases, they are usually back to square one again - dealing with eczema. Years of these steroids have done nothing to help the initial problem, they have just created a whole separate skin problem that never needed to have happened. Shocking really. And this is just the physical fallout of TSW, the mental and emotional element to this is also something that I hear on a regular basis.
This photo above was a man who had an online appointment with me in April this year, 4 months into steroid withdrawal. The left hand photo was april and the right photo in may. One appointment using remedies focusing on adrenal support and a bowel remedy was transformational for him, still a work in progress but a positive start. His skin was burnt all over, splitting, itching and pustular in places. he's very happy!
Homeopathy is working for people with TSW, the same way it is working for people with eczema. I don’t give a remedy for TSW or eczema, I base remedies on individual peoples symptoms (physical and emotional) I think we have all seen that the one pill / cream ethos of modern medicine is flawed. Even though you may have RSS, another sufferer will have differing symptoms, homeopathy knows this and knows it has to take every single detail into account. This is about YOU healing from TSW and this has to be tailored to YOU
I work by using organ support remedies alongside my prescriptions. The detoxing organs of the body can come under strain during TSW and need to be supported. I often use remedies that work on the gut as these can have a positive impact on skin healing, from both RSS and eczema itself.
How can TSW be rare when GPs (in the UK) handed out around 27 MILLION prescriptions for TS in 2015? With eczema rates on the increase then we are coming to a stage where TSW will be more prevalent. I am committed to helping eczema sufferers heal from eczema, I fear for the huge numbers of children being routinely treated with steroids and I know there is a another way, one that is safe, gentle and non toxic and NON ADDICTIVE
If you are affected by eczema or going through TSW then do contact me. I work internationally and always happy to offer a free no obligation chat.
https://tracywhitehomeopathy.setmore.com
tracywhite.co.uk