Can Chinese Herbal Medicine Help Atopic Eczema?

If you've lived with eczema for any length of time, you'll know it's far more than "just dry skin." The relentless itching, cracked skin, disturbed sleep and constant cycle of flare-ups can affect every part of life. For parents, it can be heartbreaking watching your child scratch until they bleed, trying cream after cream and wondering if anything is ever going to make a difference.

Chinese herbal medicine has been used to treat skin conditions for thousands of years. During my postgraduate training in Chinese herbal medicine, I had the privilege of studying dermatology under Mazin Al-Khafaji, one of the world's leading practitioners and teachers in Chinese herbal medicine for skin disease. His work, combining traditional Chinese medicine with modern dermatology, has heavily influenced the way I approach eczema in clinic today.

One of the things I love about Chinese medicine is that it doesn't just ask, "What cream should we put on the rash?" Instead, it asks, "Why is the skin behaving like this in the first place?"

Looking Beyond the Skin

In Chinese medicine, the skin is often a reflection of what's happening internally. Depending on the individual, eczema may involve patterns such as Heat, Dampness, Dryness, Blood deficiency or Wind. Two people can have eczema that looks almost identical but require completely different treatments because the root cause is different.

This is why I don't have a "one cream fits all" approach. Every prescription—whether it's a cream, a bath or internal herbs—is made specifically for the individual sitting in front of me.

Herbal Baths – Especially for Babies and Children

One of the gentlest ways we can treat infants and young children is with herbal baths.

Most children actually enjoy them. It doesn't feel like treatment, there are no needles, and no one is trying to hold them still while cream is rubbed into sore skin. It's simply bath time with carefully selected Chinese herbs.

Children often respond particularly well because their skin is naturally thinner and the skin barrier is still developing. This makes their skin more permeable than an adult's, allowing the herbal constituents to come into close contact with the inflamed skin over the whole body. The aim isn't to flood the body with herbs, but to allow the skin to benefit from their anti-inflammatory and anti-itch properties while helping to support healing of the skin barrier.

From a Traditional Chinese Medicine perspective, these herbs are chosen to clear Heat, resolve Dampness, calm Wind and relieve itching. Because the whole body is immersed, herbal baths can be particularly useful when eczema affects large areas rather than isolated patches.

For many parents, bath time also becomes part of the treatment itself. It can be calming, soothing and, for children who are constantly scratching, one of the few times they feel some relief.

Alongside the baths, I will often prescribe bespoke herbal creams or ointments, depending on the presentation of the skin. For babies and younger children, this combination is often the ideal place to start.

When Internal Herbs Become Important

As children get older—and particularly for adults—external treatment alone is often not enough.

In my experience, if someone has had eczema for years, or it affects large areas of the body, we usually need to treat what's happening internally as well as externally. Otherwise, we're simply trying to calm the skin without addressing what's driving the inflammation underneath.

This is where Chinese herbal medicine really comes into its own.

Every prescription is made specifically for you. As your skin changes, your prescription changes too. The aim isn't simply to reduce redness for a couple of weeks, but to calm the inflammatory process, reduce itching, strengthen the skin and reduce the frequency and severity of future flare-ups.

Let's Talk About the Taste...

I'll be honest...

Chinese herbs don't taste great.

No one has ever phoned me to say, "Nicola, those herbs were absolutely delicious!!"

Whether you're taking traditional herbal teas or concentrated granules, they have a very distinctive taste. But I always say exactly the same thing to my patients:

"You're not taking them because they taste nice. You're taking them because you want your skin back."

The good news is that most people adapt far quicker than they expect, and I have plenty of tips to make taking them easier.

Healing Takes Time

One of the biggest misconceptions is expecting eczema that's been present for years to disappear in a few weeks.

Can people improve quickly? Absolutely.

Can eczema flare during treatment? Yes—and that doesn't automatically mean the treatment isn't working.

Healing isn't always a straight line. Sometimes the skin improves, then flares, then settles again. That's why we review things regularly, adjust the prescription and monitor progress carefully with photographs.

I usually ask patients to commit to at least three to four months of treatment before deciding whether Chinese herbal medicine has really had the opportunity to work. This isn't a quick fix—it's about changing the internal environment that's driving the eczema.

What Does the Research Say?

It's always encouraging when modern research begins to support what practitioners have observed for many years.

A 2024 systematic review and meta-analysis analysed 39 randomised controlled trials involving more than 4,500 people with atopic eczema. The review found that Chinese herbal baths significantly reduced eczema severity, decreased the area of skin affected, relieved itching and reduced the recurrence of eczema compared with control treatments. The researchers also reported no increase in adverse events and suggested that herbal bathing may help regulate immune and inflammatory pathways involved in eczema.

This doesn't mean herbal baths are a cure, and we still need more high-quality research. But it does provide encouraging evidence that carefully prescribed external herbal treatments can play an important role in managing atopic eczema—particularly when they're combined with an individualised treatment plan.

Every Prescription Is Individual

No two people with eczema are the same, so no two herbal prescriptions should be the same either.

During your consultation we'll talk about far more than your skin. We'll discuss your digestion, sleep, energy, stress levels, temperature, medical history and anything else that helps me understand your individual pattern.

We'll also photograph the affected areas so we can accurately monitor your progress over time. Sometimes the changes are gradual, and looking back at photographs is the best way to appreciate just how far your skin has come.

Chinese herbal medicine isn't about finding a miracle cream.

It's about understanding your body, treating the root cause where possible, and giving your skin the best chance to heal.

If you'd like to find out whether Chinese herbal medicine could help your eczema, book an initial consultation https://nicola-court-massage-and-traditional-medicine.au1.cliniko.com/bookings?fbclid=IwAR3c8vpJ8zQuA_DsCM8ByDArzzQAI6o1QJLbu6AE6BsgrByPf0DxJ75w9NA#service

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