A Message From Dr Aron
“Dr. John Van Wagoner, an eczema specialist for both adults and children, provides an outstanding service for patients in the United States of America. Dr. Van Wagoner has worked closely with me in studying the protocols of the regimen which I have developed for the management of Atopic Eczema. He has visited my clinic in Cape Town, South Africa on two separate occasions to study first hand the tools of management that I use in treatment. Dr. Van Wagoner provides a perfect balance between clinical expertise and compassion for each patient, and I am pleased to be able to say that any parent or patient who is battling atopic skin disease may consult with him in complete confidence.Dr. Van Wagoner is licensed to treat and prescribe in no fewer than thirty-five states and his remit will be extended to other states in the near future.”Richard Aron, Creator of the Aron Regimen for the treatment of Atopic Eczema
Healing Eczema With Dr Arons Cream
We can use topical lotions to treat a second root cause of eczema flare up the bacteria on the skin.
It can take 90 days for the full thickness of the skin to heal. Its not always a straight path to cure eczema, and this young girls case is a good example. She got better very quickly, her skin healed by 70-80% within a week, then she had some flare-ups in her eyes. We had to continue looking at food and supplements for her, then watch and adjust.
Our goal is to heal the full thickness of the skin while making nutritional changes and making sure we dont taper off the topical treatment too quickly, or the bacteria can cause a flare-up.
The effective topical protocol we used was formulated by Dr. Richard Aron, a consulting dermatologist. Hes created a formulation that we use over a period of time to alleviate even the most severe cases of eczema. It includes a topical antibiotic along with a steroid mixed in with a thick lotion.
The difference in this treatment compared to typical steroid prescriptions is that the steroid and antibiotic in Dr. Arons ointment is diluted several fold with lotion. The three of these creams in combination help heal the full thickness of the skin.
If your child suffers from rashes or eczema flare-ups, do not assume they are just a normal part of growing up. Consider taking my online course or scheduling a FREE 15-minute informational call with one of our patient care specialists to learn how to become a member of our practice.
Antibiotics For Skin Infections
Mixing the topical corticosteroid and topical antibiotic is not revolutionary, but it may be an important step. Many people with atopic dermatitis have an abnormally high number of bacteria on their skin, which can easily lead to skin infections. Some research has also suggested that the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which is commonly found on the skin of people with atopic dermatitis secretes a toxin that can induce flares, even on people who don’t live with the skin condition.2,3
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Still Struggling With Healing
Ive tried a lot of treatments and diets in the past, but the one thing that made the biggest difference is focusing on nutrition to heal from the inside out.
It is also very important to work with a healthcare practitioner to make sure you can adjust to this type of lifestyle and stay on track!
If you are embarking on the the eczema or topical steroid withdrawal journey and interested in a skin health coach to support you, please contact me via and for a complimentary 30min call!
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Steroids Commonly Used For Rashes On Children
Before coming to our practice, the specialists who saw her recommended topical steroids: clobetasol , triamcinolone , desonide plus an immune modulator Protopic .
Mom would use these topical steroids on her for a period of time, her skin would improve, and as soon as she stopped the steroids, her skin would flare up again.
Our young patient had also been requiring two different antihistamines to control her skin itching. One was used dailyXyzal then a stronger one for bedtime, Atarax .
Once we began the integrative approach with her, we were quickly able to significantly decrease the Atarax which she had been taking since seven months of age.
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Story Of How An African Dermatologist Saved Our Lives From Eczema
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Eczema kills,not just physically but mentally, and not just the sufferer, but whole families.
This is a long story of how Eczema had caused pain and taught me many lessons in the suffering of it.
My first baby was the unfortunate bearer of these lessons, and I felt it would be selfish to keep the learnings to myself after all that we had been through.
Eczema is a disease that creeps up insidiously onto anyone. When my baby girl first started scratching at joints, I was that confident mum that all super mums started out as, thinking that it is just normal to have itchy skin for kids.
Like most first time mums, I did my best to give the most natural and clean things in life to my baby. From exclusively breastfeeding for two full years, to spending more on organic, preservative-free, chemical-reduced products.
What in the world did I do wrong to cause Eczema to get so out of control in my precious toddler girl?
Mum guilt was tough, however it propelled me to be brave, to face difficult decisions, spent countless money and to own the studying process that back up the decisions. After all, my baby counted on me to save her life.
What we tried:
How Does The Aron Regimen Work
Fifty years ago, when Aron was a resident, he learned the art of compounding: mixing two or more ingredients by hand to create personalized remedies for patients with a variety of skin conditions.
Back in 1967, Id take a bit of steroid and a little antiseptic and mix them with an emulsifying agent, he said. Later, as more refined products became available, I fine-tuned the mixture, and my results started becoming more predictable.
Dr. Richard Aron
Aron decided to include an antiseptic component because of his belief that the single-most important factor in severe eczema is the presence of bacterial infection. A staph infection may not be the original cause of the disease, but in moderate to severe cases, it often becomes the major driver of inflammation.
Heres how the Aron Regimen is thought to work. The steroid component reduces the inflammation. The antiseptic ingredient eliminates the bacterial infection. And the moisturizer dilutes the steroid. The diluting effect allows for uninterrupted, long-term therapy, which is essential for preventing relapse, Aron explained.
Conventional treatment involves the use of more potent steroids in short-term bursts followed by steroid holidaysan approach that can sometimes result in eczema rebound if maintenance therapy is not included. By contrast, Arons compounded treatment is designed to be used long term, starting with three to four applications per day and steadily tapering off until the symptoms subside.
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Topical Corticosteroid Side Effects
Another concern is the longer-term use of topical corticosteroids in the Aron Regimen and the risk of side effects. The possible side effects from corticosteroid use include thinning of the skin, changes to the color of the skin, stretch marks, and dilated blood vessels. Side effects are more common with higher potency corticosteroids, and Dr. Aron remarks on his website that the steroid in his recommended method is significantly diluted in the moisturizer and has less chance of causing side effects.1,2
Apprehension From The Medical Community
The anecdotal evidence in support of the Aron Regimen continues to mount in the form of online testimonials, parent-authored blogs and the sheer numbers of patients, parents and caregivers who flock to the doctors website and Facebook group.
His treatment is said to reduce itch, often within five to seven days. For many patients with severe eczema, the treatment reduces the need for oral antibiotics, light therapy, wet wrapping, immunosuppressive drugs and hospital admissions, Aron claims on his website.
Despite its popularity among patients, it hasnt exactly been embraced with open arms by the medical community. That could take time, he conceded. For one, doctors today arent trained in compounding, plus the process can be expensive and time consuming, Aron said. Also, new approaches are often met with resistance from those who prefer to stick with the tried and truethe established protocols for treating a disease.
Doctors try to rely on scientific evidence to support their treatment plans. To date, there has been no randomized, controlled trial on the safety or efficacy of the Aron regimen.
The most serious objection to Arons remedy has to do with antibiotic resistance, a major concern for the public and the medical profession alike. When an antibiotic is overused or misused, bacteria can become resistant, meaning they continue to multiply, even in the presence of an antibiotic designed to eliminate them.
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Healing Rashes On Children With Diet And Dr Arons Ointment
Rashes on children are all too common. Heres the case of a two-year-old little girl who has had eczema since birth, with constant flare ups and allergic reactions.
Her family took her to an allergist, a dermatologist and even a GI doctor for an endoscopy to make sure she didnt have eosinophilic esophagitis .
Thats a lot for such a young child.
Andwhat Is It That You Believe Causes Eczema
Current belief is that the primary, underlying problem is a genetic deficiency in the skin barrier. The skin barrier plays an important role in protecting the body from external agents and its integrity is essential for good health. Consequently, if the barrier is compromised, for any reason, this may lead to poor health in general.
I believe that one of the most prevalent factors in active atopic skin disease is the presence of bacterial infection. The bacterium responsible is called Staphylococcus Aureus and it is very well documented that these bacteria release a substance called a delta exotoxin that in effect burns and inflames the skin.
So, if you have a genetic skin barrier issue, aggravated from without by bacterial action it may lead to understanding how and why the skin becomes inflamed. Therefore, if you can treat the bacterial infection effectively this will lead to healing of the skin barrier.
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Healing Eczema With Diet
As an integrative pediatrician, my job is to look at all the information and testing that has already been done by the pediatrician or specialists. I put it all together to make sense of it in the big picture. For eczema, we specifically look at allergies , nutrition, gut health, supplements and the barrier of the skin. This information helps us figure out what the best approach is for that particular child.
One of the underlying triggers for eczema can be food related. Dairy and eggs are two of the biggest culprits, but there are several other foods that can play a role as well.
She was already off dairy with her known allergy, and she ended up drinking a great deal of soy milk daily. Since many people with a dairy sensitivity also have issues with soy, we began to wean her off of the soy milk.
She is a picky eater and these nutritional changes are going at an appropriately slow pace. It sometimes takes several months to figure out the right foods and the right topical lotions to significantly improve or resolve eczema altogether.
Red Skin Syndrome Dr Arons Recipe Is No Cure
Dr. Arons promise of homeopathic cure requires intense scrutiny. The 3500 patients that I have seen had remarkably similar medical histories that began with eczema in childhood. My contention is that within months they became addicted to the topical corticosteroids that were typically prescribed. The redness, oozing from the skin, and the generalized erythema that followed were all due to the corticosteroids they were using and not to worsening bad eczema.
People in distress never think that you feel enough.
Dr. Johnson
First, Dr. Aron is treating bad eczema which is the wrong diagnosis. These patients are not suffering from bad eczema they are suffering from Red Skin Syndrome which is the condition resulting from addiction to the topical corticosteroids that they have been using. Second, Dr. Arons step-down approach using less and less steroids with wraps is based on an old idea that was repudiated many decades ago called homeopathy. This treatment approach from the 1800s is based on the assumption that smaller and smaller doses of medication over time stimulates the body to cure itself and that particles or remnants of the drug will finally cause an end to the disease.
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Eczema: Getting Under The Skin Of The Condition
Eczema is a very common, chronic inflammatory condition of skin characterized by redness, itching, and oozing vesicular lesions. The most common form of eczema, atopic dermatitis affects up to 20% of children and up to 3% of adults recent data show that its prevalence is still increasing. October marks Eczema Awareness Month recognizing #TheRealEczema to reduce the stigma and raise awareness of the conditions true impact.
While there is still no single concrete answer as to cause, or cure, research is further exploring the line to the microbiome. An example is the work by Professor Richard Gallo, of the University of California, San Diego in researching the function of the human skin microbiome and its implications in patients with atopic dermatitis. His recent research has studied human skin cells from people with and without eczema, and colonised Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria on the skin of mice, to figure out the connection between the bacteria and eczema.
There are many proposed remedies and solutions for treating the skin. Each person may have a different answer and even within the medical profession itself, there are differences of opinion as to the most appropriate treatments.
We spoke to Dermatologist, Dr. Aron, who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of atopic eczema, to analyze the condition not only from the scientific perspective, but also from both psychological and lifestyle aspects, as well as discussing his views on the best therapeutic approach.
Whats Different About The Aron Regimen
While Dr. Aron customizes his recommendations for the individual patient, the major difference in his approach is to combine a topical corticosteroid, topical antibiotic and a moisturizer into one product that patients apply to their skin up to six times a day . While the application is more frequent than usual, many patients find it is simpler having just one product.1,2
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So Starting From The Top What Is Eczema
If a diagnosis of eczema is made in a patient it implies that the skin is inflamed. The word eczema is derived from the Greek word meaning boiling anyone who has seen the red, sore skin of a patient may understand why the sages applied the word boiling, because it looks quite literally as if the skin is boiling.
There are many types of eczema but the most common type that I deal with on a regular basis is called atopic eczema. This implies that the eczema is related to other conditions such as asthma and hay fever I like to think of these as the first cousins of eczema. Not necessarily all patients will present with all three of the conditions.
It is important to note that the labels eczema and dermatitis are often used interchangeably. So, if, for example, you see atopic dermatitis, it is not a different condition, it is the same condition with a different label.
Hear What Eczema Specialist Dr Aron Has To Say About
As a physician and inventor, I welcome any and all opportunities to discuss health issues with other medical professionals. At the most recent American Academy of Dermatology meeting, I had the chance to sit down with the esteemed South African eczema specialist Dr. Richard Aron. Read on to hear what Dr. Aron of the famous Aron Regimen has to say about causes of eczema and how he uses CLn.
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You Work With Many Individuals Thatlive With Eczema How Can Eczema Affect An Individuals Life
Eczema is a condition that is not taken seriously enough by both professionals and the public in general. Starting in infancy and early childhood, chronic eczema can cause failure to thrive, in other words infants and toddlers may not reach their milestones because of the chronic inflammation of the skin.
In older children, the itching and scratching will affect their capacity to concentrate in school. These children are often wrongly diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. There may be social exclusion and bullying to compound the corrosive effects of the disease.
Sleep deprivation, not only for the patient, but also for carers adds to the burden. The extended family suffers as well in that parental attention is focussed on the suffering child leading to a measure of what may be described as benign neglect for siblings.
The prevalence of atopic skin disease is such that I believe it is one of the major public health issues of the day and should be recognized as such.
Having October 2019 as Eczema Awareness month will be another significant step in this direction and is to be heartedly welcomed.
Read another one of our pieces about eczema here.
Use Practical Results As The Guiding Light To Consistent Messages
Occasionally, Dr Aron would write about certain cases and concerns in the social facebook group. What was most convincing was his reassurances using his actual recorded experiences and his personal involvement in all his patients. His deep understanding of how skin bacteria reacts on the skin coupled with the empathy on all the eczema-associated sufferings, brought out key nuances of the Aron Regimen that makes the messages additionally strong and powerful.
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