Eczema and Autoimmune Disease: Can Self-Care Ease Your Symptoms?
Creating balance and moments of self-care in your life can help calm the chronic symptoms experienced from eczema and autoimmune disease.
Stress can induce symptom flares and increase inflammation. By learning ways to decrease stress and to better react to stress, you can ease your body’s tension and, in turn, the chronic symptoms you experience.
Daily personalized moments of self-care engage the pleasure center of your brain. Activities that make us smile, laugh, and feel relaxed trigger the brain to release analgesic neurochemicals called endorphins.
According to Dr. Josh Axe, author of “Eat Dirt” and other food/health books, “Endorphins work with your body’s design, not against it, and wind up benefitting your mind-body connection in ways you probably don’t even realize.”
“Essentially, endorphins promote a sort of ‘bliss,’ providing a sense of well-being,” he states on his website, draxe.com. “Low levels of endorphins are associated with the opposite effects: physical and emotional pain (including chronic pain linked to disorders like fibromyalgia), addiction and higher incidence of risk-taking behaviors.”
What endorphin-boosting self-care things can you do to boost your health and ease your symptoms?
- Develop habits of exercise, including cardio, flexibility, core, and strength training
- Eat healthy meals and snacks; embrace portion control
- Laugh more! Engage in fun activities and conversations
- Find an activity that provides you self-purpose; keep this activity sacred so it will consistently uplift you
- Find a non-negotiable 15 minutes a day just for you to relax, close your eyes, meditate, massage aching muscles and stress points
- Choose a mantra for motivation that resonates with your mind and your self-care purpose
- Unplug from negativity; connect with people who inspire you
- Spread a good message with others; send uplifting notes and cards to family and friends for no reason other than to say “you are cherished”
- Find or develop an uplifting support network
- Embrace spirituality, nature, and gratefulness
- Watch the sun rise, the sun set, the stars twinkle at night; enjoy a meal in the great outdoors
As you practice self-care with the intent of boosting your health, consider keeping a diary of your experience. By noting incidents that trigger stress, your daily symptom levels, moments you offered yourself self-care, and your perspective of the day, you can see patterns of distress and patterns of improvement. Use these patterns to develop strategies for self-care and better health.
Have you been diagnosed with eczema in the form of atopic dermatitis? Visit plasmalab.com/eczema-research to learn how you can donate your antibody-rich plasma to support eczema research.