Dermatologist Mamta Jhaveri discusses atopic dermatitis and what criteria is used to determine if integrative treatments are appropriate for a patient. Jhaveri provides patients a holistic approach that factors in stress and sleep, as well as offers topical options that do not include dyes and allergens.
A topic. Dermatitis is the most common form of eczema and afflicts more than 31.6 million adults. It is typically due to an overactive teach to inflammatory system. And we also do know that there has been evidence of mutation or dysfunction in the elaborate protein in our skin barrier, fill a green is important for a natural moisturizing factors of our skin lipid barrier. So without it, our skin becomes dry and leaky and more prone to eczema. We also do know there's some environmental factors as well as some irritant factors. We also do know that stress plays a role in eczema flares as well. Um, so we do see a lot of increased inflammatory responses, including Cortisol, into looking forward and 13. So with a topic dermatitis, we know that there's a lot of comorbidities including increase in stress, increasing anxiety, decreasing ability to sleep well and also increased chronic it. So in addition to treating their exam, a we do want to treat some of these comorbidities, which includes some integrative modalities. So most commonly I do speak to my patients about stress relieving mechanisms including yoga meditation, um and other kind of tai chi or other modalities to help them address their stress. But in addition eczema because it requires a lot of moisturizing and topical treatments, patients are very interested in using natural moisturizers, vitamins and minerals to help boost their immune system. So with for our care, we want to make sure that we're addressing this for our patients to make sure that it is something that's helping their eczema and not potentially causing a further irritant contact dermatitis. So we don't have any specific criteria to determine if a patient requires integrative treatments. For me, it requires just speaking to the patient and families to know what they're own beliefs and cultural beliefs are that are helping determine their eczema care at home. So for me, I want to make sure that they are on board with some of the topical moisturizers and we're making sure we're using moisturizers, whether they're sunflower oil or coconut oil, things that will not irritate the skin further. And there's also sometimes hesitancy to use some of the topical creams prescribed. So we want to also help identify some natural treatments that could help boost the immune system. Um Where I'm also talking about supplements, one to make sure that they're using some of the right supplements, but also some supplements can contain dyes and other allergens that can actually make it similar worse. So we try to incorporate a holistic approach to work with the patient and any integrated from modality providers that they work with, including chinese herbalists and acupuncture providers. This is because eczema is commonly associated with chronic itch, which leads to worsening stress um, and impacted sleep. So we do know that patients require this care and it's helpful if we can help integrate it for them and make sure that they know what they're using and why and using the most appropriate fashion. Yeah.
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