You're not alone in dealing with these 3 Common Skin Conditions

At my college, we could wear a solid blue jumper over our school uniforms when the weather was cooler (which wasn’t too often).

But despite the year-round extreme Texas heat, I wore my jumper.

Every. Single. Day of the school year.

The heat was nothing in comparison to the risk of my arms showing.

I would’ve overheated if it meant keeping the red, flaky patches on my arms hidden.

I learned to deal with my eczema by simply hiding it in public, and smothering it with every cream, ointment, steroid at home.

But recently I’ve learned that I’m not alone in dealing with these common skin conditions.

And that there are natural solutions that are:

• Effective in healing my skin
• Safe for my overall health
• Low impact on the environment

1 in 3 Kiwis have Eczema

Eczema, or atopic dermatitis, simply inflammation of the skin is a common skin condition in New Zealand and throughout the world.

It is estimated that 35 million Americans and 1 million Australians suffer from eczema.

While the causes of eczema are not fully known, the symptoms are recognizable in areas such as the inner elbows, back of the knees, and scalp:

• Itchy, scaly, dry skin
• Red, inflamed areas (caused by extra blood flow)
• Scabs (caused by itching)
• Sensitive, swollen skin

This picture is of infected areas from the Ministry of Health NZ.

Some studies suggest, similar to psoriasis, that eczema happens when the immune system can’t tell the difference between normal body proteins and bacteria or virus’ proteins.

Every person responds differently to the inflammation and certain triggers of an outbreak that you could have are different from someone like myself.

While eczema is a common skin condition if left untreated it can negatively affect your:

1. Work performance
2. Daily life
3. Sleep
4. Lead to skin infections

When I was young, I would scratch the back of my legs raw while I slept. My mother forced me to wear oven mitts and to soak in an oatmeal bath for hours to calm the itching.

Because of these disruptive symptoms, so many people resort to steroid creams, oral corticosteroids, immunosuppressants to relieve the itching and scaling of their skin.

But while they relieve one problem for your skin, they create serious long-term effects for your health:

• Thinning of the skin
• Discoloration of the skin
• Bone loss
• Risk of cancer
• High blood pressure
• Kidney disease

Why would you want to risk these side effects for a skin condition?

A Common Condition

A chronic, immune-mediated inflammatory disease, psoriasis happens when the immune system attacks skin cells. This rapidly increases skin cell production, resulting in a buildup of patches of skin.

Common symptoms affect the scalp, elbows, knees, and lower back:

• Red patches of scaly skin
• White-silvery, leathery scales
• Discoloration
• Soreness
• Swollen joints

While this is a chronic condition, some outbreaks are triggered by an injury to the skin, stress, environmental factors, and a rapid withdrawal from corticosteroids.

The treatments prescribed are intensive just like its side effects:

1. Methotrexate-suppresses the immune system, causing liver damage and reduction of blood cells
2. Cyclosporine-weakens the immune system, resulting in kidney problems, high blood pressure
3. Retinoids-result in hair loose and lip inflammation

You do not have to sort through such intense treatments and high risks for healthy, nourished skin.

There are more natural solutions to these common skin conditions...

15% of Women Suffer from Adult Acne

Once we are past our teenage years, we think we have escaped the embarrassment of acne.

But the 8th common skin condition in the world, up to 15% of women still suffer from symptoms of acne:

• Enlarged powers
• Inflammation
• Premenstrual

Fluctuating hormones, more common in females, cause excessive oil production and inflammation.

Adult acne can also be caused by emotional stress, which we all face every day at work, in furthering our studies, or family life.

You are not alone...

Most people, like myself, believed that in order to calm intense breakouts and irritation, you had to resort to prescriptions, chemicals, and steroid creams to revert our skin back to “normal.”

But there are natural products that are just as effective in stopping the redness, itchiness, and dryness.

Returning your skin back to “normal” and a truly healthy state.

Without the harsh medications or dangerous chemicals on your skin that may solve one problem but will create more serious ones.

Wild Kiwihearts has many anti-inflammatory ingredients in our products, all carefully chosen to help with eczema and psoriasis:

• Hemp seed oil
• Black cumin seed oil
• Kawakawa
• Kumerahou
• Aloe Vera
• Coconut oil
• Camellia seed oil
• Borage seed oil
• Flax seed oil