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Understanding Eczema:
META-Medicine® Uncovers the Cause and Meaning
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Sarah had experienced eczema around her
eyes for five years. Although she had suffered from some minor
outbreaks as a child, this eczema around her eyes had flared up
suddenly at the age of 24, and had become a chronic pattern.
Eczema is a common
health complaint, affecting an estimated 5-20% of children and 3-10%
of adults in the UK – also the number of people experiencing eczema
in urban areas and developed countries is rising. While we are
familiar with eczema symptoms and types of eczema treatment, what
still remains a mystery are the causes of eczema - why it occurs in the first place and
why it sometimes becomes chronic. |
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Don’t we already know the causes
of eczema?
Many irritants have
been identified as possible eczema
causes, including detergents,
toiletries, clothing, food sensitivities, house mites and pets.
While this sounds plausible, it leaves many questions unanswered.
What turns these substances from harmless to irritant (especially if
the individual has experienced them long before the eczema started)?
Why do different people react to different substances? And why
doesn’t everybody react with eczema? Most people aren’t bothered by
these irritants at all!
Another factor being
considered in modern medical fields is whether there is a genetic
component, as skin issues like dermatitis have been found to run in
families. However, the latest research by Dr Bruce Lipton and other
epigeneticists is demonstrating that genes are not causal in 95% of
dis-eases. Furthermore, our genes are not fixed: they are affected
by our environment. Could sharing the same environment and beliefs
as our parents count for more than our genes in predisposing us to
similar health issues?
A third
commonly-cited eczema cause or trigger is stress. In this article, we
will go beyond current modern, complementary and alternative medical
understanding by explaining for the first time how a specific
type of stress causes eczema, and how there is a bio-logical
meaning behind this. |
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What’s the latest biopsychosocial
understanding?
META-Medicine®
is a new healing paradigm in integrative medicine that finally explains the
cause, process and meaning of health issues. It
explains the mind body connection, and answers many of the puzzling questions about eczema,
enabling us to understand exactly:
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Why someone gets
eczema – and why it isn’t a mistake
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Why it appears at
a specific time
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Why it appears in
a particular location on the body
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Why it becomes
chronic and flares up when it does
Once we know the why,
then we can talk about eczema treatment and therapy. Knowing the specific cause
enables us to choose the most effective therapies for truly
overcoming the issue.
What’s the root cause of eczema?
Meta Medicine
explains exactly how and why an illness starts. With the exception
of poisoning and accidents, all dis-eases begin with a traumatic
life event: a dramatic, emotional shock that is unexpected and
leaves us temporarily stunned. Whether the shock is a major trauma,
hearing bad news or simply seeing something unpleasant, the
body-mind takes over, switching into fight-flight-freeze. At the
same time, we experience a reaction in a specific organ. Which organ
responds depends on the emotion we experience. Meta Medicine
maps emotions to organs, via the brain, based on an understanding of
the organ’s function. The body’s reaction is always meaningful.
So what’s the
function of the epidermis (outer skin), where eczema occurs? It’s
not protection – we have a much tougher skin layer for this, the
dermis, which lies beneath the epidermis. The epidermis is a
sensory organ. Its purpose is touch: to sense our environment
and feel connected to those around us.
The type of shock
preceding an epidermis issue is a separation anxiety shock: a
sudden and unexpected separation from the mother, family or social
group. |
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How does an emotional
shock cause eczema?
Meta Medicine
reminds us that dis-ease is a process – not a label
we’re stuck with forever! After a traumatic life event, or shock,
the body goes into stress (Phase 1). This is where we typically
experience:
And in the case of
the epidermis, the cells begin to decrease, causing the skin to
become paler, cooler, and less sensitive
If we experience a
sudden separation from a loved one, the epidermis desensitises, so
that the body no longer feels the separation, and we can continue to
function.
For example, consider
baby eczema: an infant suddenly
separated from her mother after birth may experience a separation
anxiety. The baby will enter Phase 1, and her brain will direct the
outer skin to de-sensitise. This process will continue until she is
reunited with her mother and feels connected again.
At the moment of
connection (resolution), the dis-ease process switches into Phase 2, the
regeneration phase. This is where we experience:
In the case of the
epidermis, it will start to regenerate and re-grow. This re-growth
will be more rapid than regular skin growth, so the skin will be
red, itchy and hot: what we call eczema symptoms!
What’s been labelled
as the problem is actually regeneration: the problem was the
preceding feeling of separation anxiety. The body-mind was responding to the
emotion!
This new and
revolutionary understanding helps to explain how many pharmaceutical
treatments work. For example, eczema treatment like steroid creams may appear to resolve
eczema, as the symptoms disappear. We now know that they put the
skin back into Phase 1, in which the skin is desensitised. After
approximately two years, use of steroids has to cease, because the
skin becomes so thin. When treatment stops, eczema often reappears –
not because the body’s making a mistake, but because it is a
meaningful process! We can’t experience Phase 1 without going
through Phase 2: this is how the body rebalances. |
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The 2 phases |
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So why does eczema
appear on a particular part of the body?
Why does one person
get eczema around the eyes, while another gets it around the mouth
or inside the upper arms? Why does it sometimes flare up in one
area, then next time somewhere different? These questions are
overlooked by modern medicine.
Meta Medicine
explains how location is meaningful: eczema appears in the place
where the individual felt the separation most strongly. The baby
taken from her mother may experience a whole body eczema, as she
feels totally separated. Sarah experienced a visual-separation
shock. She worked abroad for six months after university. When she
returned home, she expected to see her father at the airport,
waiting with her mother. When she didn’t see him there, she got a
huge shock! It wasn’t until several days later that she resolved the
feeling, and the eczema appeared around her right eye. Other people
get eczema on the head, where a loved one has stroked them; inside
the arms, where they want to hold somebody close; or around the
mouth, when they miss talking to someone.
Why does eczema
sometimes become chronic?
Once somebody has
experienced a traumatic life event and gone through the dis-ease
cycle, a reminder of the original event is enough to re-trigger the
separation anxiety. They don’t have to experience another trauma, just
have the same feelings. For Sarah, not seeing a friend or family
member when she expected to see them triggered the feeling of
separation, causing a chronic eczema pattern.
This gives us a new
perspective on irritants: if they are in the environment at the time
of the shock, they can also become triggers. Many babies, for
example, develop milk allergies when they are given cow’s milk in
place of their mother’s breast. Interestingly, most cases of baby
eczema resolve by age 5, as children become more comfortable with
being separated from their parents and get used to different adults
caring for them. |
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How can we use
this revolutionary understanding to help clients?
Meta Medicine
questioning reveals the specific information needed to empower a
client resolve their issue, rather than simply suppressing
their eczema symptoms. The Meta Medicine
diagnostic process uncovers the specific separation anxiety shock the client
experienced: when, where, with whom - and what re-triggers it. Using
this information, we formulate a plan for overcoming the issue at
all levels:
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Mind – overcoming
the memories, thoughts and feelings associated with the shock
(in this case, separation anxiety or fear of feeling
disconnected)
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Body – supporting
the whole body and specific organ (epidermis) to come through
the two phases naturally
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Spirit – helping
the client to align with their higher self
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Social &
environmental – making real life changes to overcome the issue
(for example, learning to feel comfortable with spending time
alone)
Meta Medicine
is a truly integrative approach that encourages understanding and
healing at all levels. Most clients, like Sarah, get a huge ‘aha!’
when they finally understand their body, and begin to take control
of their healing. Furthermore, Meta Medicine is
meta-disciplinary: it can be learned and used by any
therapist before any healing modality to pinpoint the root
emotional cause and meaningful process of any health issue, and
enhance the effectiveness of the therapy. |
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Authors Robert
Waghmare and Joanne Ross, Licensed META-Medicine® Health Coaches &
Master Trainers, offer:
Contact Joanne Ross
and Robert Waghmare on
0845 838 6787
or email
info@metamedicineuk.com
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