Q I'm in my 50s and live in Dong-gu, Incheon. I have chronic dyshidrotic eczema that flares on both hands and feet. Does acupuncture really work?
A Acupuncture helps regulate the balance of over-reactive skin immunity, soothe itch signals, and lower stress, so it is used as an adjunctive treatment for chronic, recurrent dyshidrotic eczema. Rather than solving everything on its own, it is more effective when combined with herbal medicine. While dispersing the heat built up in the hands and feet, you should also keep up lifestyle care such as moisturizing after work.
Detailed Answer
Rather than eliminating dyshidrotic eczema at once on its own, acupuncture plays a supporting role in breaking the vicious itch cycle of chronic, recurrent dyshidrotic eczema and stabilizing immunity. The synergy is greatest when used together with herbal medicine and external therapies.
Korean Medicine Clinic Perspective
At Dongjedang, for those whose blisters recur because heat is concentrated in the hands and feet, we use acupuncture to disperse the heat sensation and promote the flow of qi and blood, supporting the effect of the herbal medicine. In fact, there was a case of a person who had worked for over a decade in a hot environment, whose hands and feet would heat up every change of season with blisters bursting into oozing and peeling. By combining acupuncture with herbal medicine that lowers the heat lodged in the Spleen-Stomach and replenishes the depleted fluids, the pain and inflammation subsided after about three months of treatment. Acupuncture is used in this way as one axis for releasing the concentrated heat.
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