A Case of Eczema
A Case of Eczema
Often people come and ask me if “I have something for eczema”. I usually respond with the following story:
Acouple of years ago, an elderly lady – I will call her M. – whom I had known for many years decided she wanted to give flower essences a try to help her eczema. The eczema had appeared more than 10 years prior to our consultation, with symptoms of redness and itching. Since then M. had been using a cream prescribed by her doctor.
Flower essences work through the body-mind connection, and in the case of physical problems the key is to find emotional or other stress factors that either trigger the condition or keep it going.
In M’s case, the eczema had first appeared at a time of major changes her son’s life, including his relationship to his parents. The son had just finished his second university degree and was making decisions about his future that M. was not too happy with. At the same the ties between him and the parents were changing towards greater physical distance. M. herself was quite strong-willed – something running in her family – and at times found it difficult to watch others do things she did not consider the best mode of action. She tried not to get involved and not to interfere so but it was not always easy to battle her own strong will!
Another factor at the time of consultation was that she had recently lost her husband of 50 years and was still hurting from the loss, experiencing depression and hopelessness.
Some of the key essences I gave her included Star of Bethlehem for the shock through her husband’s death, Vine to ease the pressure of her strong will , Chicory to help her let go of imposing her role as a mother when it was time to let go, and Red Chestnut for worrying about a close family member. I also added Crab Apple, a key essence for cleansing real and perceived impurities. Crab Apple is considered a key essence when dealing with eczema or allergies.
To this I added a number of other essences to help her deal with the loss of her husband and similar issues .
After taking the blend for about 5 weeks, she reported that the itchiness had decreased considerably, only small spots remained of the eczema and both occurred much less frequently. She also mentioned ‘by accident’ that her shoulder which she had injured in a fall several years back had been hurting less in the past 3 weeks and that she was now able to water her plants without pain.
This is a typical example of how Flower Essences work. They are directed less at the eczema per se but rather at the stresses experienced by the individual in question and the situation that brought about the eczema.
For other people with eczema quite different essences may be called for. In Traditional Chinese Medicine the lungs and the skin are considered to be related to the Metal Element and the emotion of grief. Grief, a sense of abandonment or rejection, are often held in the lungs and can also be expressed through the skin.
The skin is a key venue through which inner problems, physical or emotional, “come to the surface”. It is a major organ of detoxification and excretion. It also is a boundary organ per se. One may have to look at the boundaries of the individual concerned. Are they too weak, too strong, is the person too sensitive, emotionally or physically? All these questions can be important.
There are a couple of essences which seem to have a general positive effect with skin problems. Crab Apple for cleansing on the physical and emotional level is one of them, Rescue Remedy/ aka Five-Flower Formula is another one. Also Self-Heal Cream from the Californian line of essences has proven helpful in some cases. In most cases it will be necessary to look at the particular underlying issues in addition to using essences which have a more general effect.
For other uses of Self-Heal Cream and Crab Apple essence, go to http://www.flowersociety.org/e-newsletters/practitioner_reports2.htm. You can also search the site for eczma, other conditions or particular essences.