What Your Skin Is Trying To Tell You…

… If You Only Knew How To Listen

I wrote candidly in a previous blog post about my journey with my skin – which started when I was very young although it didn’t manifest in my skin until I was in my early teens.

I talked about how I needed to change some of my lifestyle habits – my food intake, my consumption of certain supplements. I also mentioned the connection of my skin to my lungs.

This is true in Chinese Medicine.

It’s true in me, and it’s true in you. The skin is an extension of your lung and your large intestine tissue. This actually has embryological roots. But I’m not going to go into that here.

What was real for me is that I wasn’t breathing deeply. I recognized that anticipation for some upcoming events had me so excited that I wasn’t taking the time to fully breathe in the present moment. And truth be told as soon as I had that insight AND started acting on it (aka breathing more deeply) my skin started to heal.

No. Joke.

In that article I referenced an unbelievable example of this lung / skin connection in an actual real life patient (aka one that is not me.) He has given me permission to share his story with you. I will be purposely making up / hiding parts of this recount to preserve his confidentiality. However the essence of the experience will be presented in it’s full miraculousness.

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Mike was middle-aged when he came to me for help with his eczema. It was much more severe than my most recent bout I was just mentioning. He had patches of dry, flaky, red, skin full of little fluid bubbles on most of his upper and lower limbs. He was in a lot of discomfort.

I asked him when the skin reaction started. He mentioned it started 6 months previously and was only getting worse. I, as a naturopathic doctor, put the context of my patient’s unique symptoms in the context of their individual life experience and environment. I asked Mike what was going on in his life 6 months ago. He casually brushed off a response about a break-up with a long-term, live-in girlfriend. It was as if he hadn’t even heard himself.

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Which I said nothing about.

We continued on with the interview getting the data – both his subjective account and my objective observations.

He and I decided a food allergy blood test was the best first step. We found wheat, dairy, eggs, and strawberries. We worked together and put a plan in place to support him making the dietary changes the blood work suggested.

We also did some basic nutrient supplementation including zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D and fish oils.

Fast forward a couple months.

Mike was impressed that his skin had cleared up by about 75%. Progress. I liked it.

However, it had not improved in the past two weeks. We were part way there.

Certainly the food and the nutrient issues were contributing to his symptoms, but I had other ideas about why the rash popped up in the first place, and why the food changes didn’t clear the rash up completely.

(Tweet Tweet.)

I suggested we add a layer to our approach in an attempt to heal the remaining 25%. We agreed that he would try acupuncture 4-6 times to see if the skin would improve further.

I’ll never forget that day.

It was treatment number 4.

Mike was lying on his belly for the treatment. I needled a very specific point on his back. I needled it for a very specific reason.

I loved what happened next.

Mike started crying. No. That’s not true. He started bawling.

He quietly observed, “I’m crying.”

“Yeah,” I said, “I think it’s okay.”

He nodded to agree. I left the room to let the needles do their work. I returned and he told me had been crying the entire time I was gone.

(Tweet Tweet Tweet.)

Until this moment we hadn’t talked about anything but food and supplements. And I knew as a practitioner that he was now ready for my theory. I also knew in that first visit that he wasn’t ready to hear what I thought was the root cause his skin concerns.

I told him in Chinese medicine the lung, large intestines and skin are all components of the same organ system. I explained that this organ system helps the body feel, process and eliminate the emotion of grief – sadness, directly related to loss. I kindly showed him the connection between the timing of his eczema and his break up.

I think I actually saw the light-bulb-AHA turn on above his head. (I definitely made this part up.)

He conceded how much sense this made, and was so grateful for my conscientious approach and timing with his case. He agreed that he would not have believed me or even returned if I had brought this connection up in the first visit.

A couple days later Mike called me at the office.

He wanted to give me an update. He started with, “I’m not sure what you did…”

Oh, dear. What have I done?

“But whatever you did, by the time I arrived home from that appointment the remaining 25% of my skin had cleared up. The rash was gone.”

Oh, dear! What have I done? (But in a good way this time.)

It was profound, it was miraculous, and it was real.

Mike returned for 2-3 more sessions to clear the rest of the grief, repair the skin and help the body store the new change.

His skin healed when he felt, processed and released his grief.

I’m incredibly humbled by this story. I’m in awe of the body’s power to heal, given the right circumstances.

I’m so grateful to have witnessed this transformation. I’m blessed to be guided by facts and instincts. I’m honoured to be a safe space for people to recognize and heal the deeper things that make them ill.

Mike, thank you for letting me share this story. I’m ever yours in gratitude and service.

I’ll be writing more articles in the future about the Chinese organ systems and their emotional components. In the mean time comment below. Go ahead and share any experiences you’ve had with acupuncture. I’d love to hear it!

Here’s to your jivin’ Health and thrivin, Life,
Dr. Tonia

P.S. I help busy super-people – just like you – learn to listen to the subtle (and sometimes overt) cues from their body so they can rock on in their healthy, delightful life. Every week I have a few online Brain-Based Transformation Coaching sessions available to help you do just that. Brain-Based Transformation Coaching is my favorite mind-body healing tool.