Can Probiotics Cause Itchy Skin Or Eczema?
Eczema (atopic dermatits) flare ups in children and adults remain a mystery to medical science. The cause and exact triggers of eczema are still unknown and researchers still grapple with data that doesn’t seem to have any definitive conclusions. What they are left with are plausible contributors to the onset of eczema, these include the combination of genes and environmental factors.
Probiotics: Side Effects and Skin Treatment for Eczema
There is some confusion with regards to people who suffer from eczema and who have also jumped in on the reading about probiotics and its amazing effects on skin. In a few short words: Yes, probiotics do have an amazing ability to get the body back into its best condition but it also requires a healthy dose of proper diet and rest. But more importantly it’s very important to understand that not all probiotics that you can buy off the shelf are going to be effective. This will be covered in greater detail towards the end of the article.
The premise is that people who suffer from eczema tend to have immune systems that tend to be overactive, or react more acutely to an allergen that causes skin inflammation and following itchiness and dry skin.
“Never in my life did I expect my itchy eczema-ridden skin to clear up so quickly until I found this…”– click to find out how I did it.
There is also a suggesting that mutation of genes results in the reduction of filaggrin, a protein that our body utilizes to form a shield layer over our skin. When the filaggrin production is reduced or halted, skin then becomes very susceptible to drying as well as bacterial infections. Whether this can be 100% validated is still open to debate but suffers are always advised to keep their skin moisturized with hypoallergenic creams such a natural shea body butter.
Can Probiotics Cause Itchy Skin or Trigger Eczema Flare Ups?
Probiotics without a doubt, are an excellent dietary supplement that promotes an active an healthy intestinal system. In our modern day diet, where food companies do all they can to maximise crop yields for fruits and vegetables, and to increase growth rates and health of livestock, all sorts of chemicals and antibiotics are used which end up being absorbed by the foods that we eat. This in turn ends up in our stomachs and subsequently into our organs.
The increase of these synthesized chemicals and traces of pesticides, are known to destroy and kill bacteria, both good and bad. As a result, we are actually killing the good bacteria that allows us to have better digestion and to keep our bodies in a balance, or a healthy biological equilibrium.
Probiotics are actually supposed to undo the effects of the allergenic effects of non-naturally occurring food and to help regulate a suppressed immune system which eczema tends to appear. But to find out more about what probiotics does, we would need to find out more about the immune system.
The Immune System
Where is the immune system located in the body? Is it the brain? Is it the liver or the kidneys? We know that there are lymph nodes that form the lymphatic system of the body. Other part of the lymphatic system include bone marrow, spleen and the thymus.
They work as a whole unit to fight infection or disease and deal with foreign “invaders” like viruses.
But what is truly fascinating is that the body contains more bacteria than the number of cells in your body by a factor of 10. That’s right, this means we are practically walking germ-banks.
Which also means that creating a healthy amount of good bacteria is essential in dealing with any sort of malignant threat that is ingested as part of our food. When we eat or drink, the bacterial system in our digestive system is the first line of defence that deals with harmful germs as well as viruses.
The Power of Probiotics in Disease Treatment
In a study done and published by the US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health, it was discovered that probiotics contain genetic elements that mediate immunoregulatory effects and have observable evidence that they aid in the functionals of the body’s mucosal immune cells and intestinal epithelial cells. There is a strong potential for the treatment of diseases, especially those pertaining to immune response-related disease such as allergies, eczema, viral infection and vaccination responses.
In other words: there is a repeatable evidence that clearly shows that probiotics are effective in the helping with the immune system and treatment of eczema. But because medical science and pharmaceutical companies often work together on research, the conspiracy theorist in me would like to think that no one in the industry is actually interested in a real cure.
Because curing a disease means you only get to get the patient to pay for the medication once.
That’s hardly profitable at all.
Evidence has emerged and continues to be published on the power of probiotics and regulate immune health but at this point, it hasn’t been established as the de-facto treatment option for modern medicine. Simply because the visible results take time.
Eczema Triggers
When a person’s immune system is suppressed through the onset of flu or stress, it creates an environment where the body becomes highly susceptible to all sorts of disease and symptoms if it stays suppressed over time. If left unchecked, it would then become more likely to develop long term chronic conditions or even worse a terminal illness. There are several studies that discuss this in great detail.
Stress is perhaps one of the biggest contributors and the leading cause of any known human illness. As a person is exposed to stressful situations and environments, his or her cortisol levels rise and this sustained cortisol exposure leads to issues like insomnia/sleep loss and loss of appetite and a weakened immune system, which then becomes the gateway to all sorts of illnesses and negative symptoms appearing.
Because every individual responds to stress differently, there isn’t a once size fits all approach to understanding and quantifying stress. It’s a highly complex matrix of emotions and physical reactions. But safe to say, it would be always good to find a way to remove yourself from prolong stressful situations in life that would take a toll on your health and mental well-being.
Allergens and Environmental Triggers
One possible trigger is environmental or chemical irritants. Everyday products such as shampoo or body washes although innocuous at first, if used over an extending period, may collectively trigger an eczema response. Typical chemicals that have been suspected to trigger eczema include, nickel, cigarette smokes, harsh household cleaning solutions, surfactants, artificial fragrances and antibacterial products.
Healing Crisis and Itchy Skin — A Possible Symptom of Probiotic Intake
Herxeimer Reaction or “healing crisis” is a term used to described a person that may be altering his or her diet to a more healthy one. As a result of the change, a bodily reaction takes place where it is suggested that the body begins to remove toxins and organs such as liver and skin are unable to keep up with the toxin removal.
Some speculate that the toxin remains “in queue” until fully evicted out of the body.
My personal experience with any change in diet is usually hunger. And the only symptom I have is massive cravings.
However there are people who believe if you start consuming high-grade probiotics, it will lead to the dying off of pathogenic organisms, such as negative bacteria as well a microscopic parasites, Candida yeast infections and even viruses. The results of these dying off of pathogenic organisms release endotoxins that your body actively tries to remove.
For example, if you have a higher than healthy sugar intake on a daily basis, then as you transition to a lowered process sugar diet, the pathogenic organisms that thrive in high sugar environments begin to die, which leads to the similar effect of increased endotoxins.
The extent that a person feels the effects of a healing crisis when consuming high grade probiotics, varies depending on the individual. In my personal experience, when I switched from lower-grade probiotics to higher-quality probiotics, Lower grade probiotics are usually an random mix of different probiotic strains that may not be beneficial or naturally occurring within the human body.
I noticed that I had initially some stomach discomfort that led me to more frequent bathroom visits. But after 3 days the symptoms went away and after a few weeks my overall health, as well as my skin and eczema flare ups were greatly reduced.
As with any skin healing process, not unlike that of a scrape that begins to dry and crust-up, there is usually an itch that occurs. So this might not be unexpected.
You can aid the process by drinking lots of plain water and staying away from fried and processed foods, and foods with processed sugars.
It is always wise to be observant when introducing new supplements as part of your regular diet and look out for possible allergic effects such as nausea, rashes, facial swelling or other non-usual symptoms. But in the case of healing crisis, if you skin is healing and it itches a little more, it could be a good sign that your eczema is starting to heal.
“Never in my life did I expect my itchy eczema-ridden skin to clear up so quickly until I found this…”– click to find out how I did it.
Still Struggling With Eczema?
If you or a loved one is struggling with eczema, I would like to invite you to read about my personal review of an Eczema Free Forever ebook that I purchased and put into practice as part of the daily routine. The results were remarkable and I have since been free from my long-standing eczema and I’m just so happy that I have finally put the steroid treatments in the bin!
