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New Choices in Natural Healing: Rashes

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Rashes

A rash can leave you scratching your head as well as your skin, and with good reason. From sunscreens to detergents, poisonous plants to cosmetics, there seems to be no end to the number of substances that can trigger a rash.

And apparently, there’s no end to the hassles that a rash can cause. Whether red and itchy, wet and oozing, dry and flaky, hot and bumpy or cold and clammy, rashes have one thing in common: They’re aggravating. From obvious culprits such as poison ivy and razor burn to that mysterious reaction to eating the “wrong” food or to wearing clothing made with an allergy-causing chemical, a rash is your skin’s way of telling your body that something is not right. The natural remedies in this chapter, used with your doctor’s approval, may help soothe or heal a rash, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When...

Your rash develops when you feel sick or run a fever or after you take any medication.
Your rash stings or burns, turns raw or blisters.
You develop a bull’s-eye rash after being bitten by a tick—even months later.
Your household includes more than one person with the same type of rash.
You have small black or purplish dots on most of your skin and have a bad headache or feel lethargic.

For hot, itchy skin rashes, mix one teaspoon of ghee, or clarified butter, with a pinch of black pepper and take this mixture twice a day until your symptoms clear, says Vasant Lad, B.A.M.S., M.A.Sc., director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico. (For a recipe for ghee, see “How to Make Ghee” on page 26.)

To soothe hives and the nausea that can accompany an allergic rash, Dr. Lad suggests steeping 1 teaspoon of coriander, ½ teaspoon of cumin and 1 teaspoon of raw sugar in one cup of hot milk. Drink this mixture once or twice a day until your symptoms are gone, he says.

Herbal Therapy

Try dried chamomile to make a soothing wash for poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac rashes, says Varro E. Tyler, Ph.D., professor of pharmacognosy at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He says to steep two tablespoons of dried chamomile (available in most health food stores) in two cups of boiling water for about ten minutes. Let it cool, dip a washcloth in the wash and spread it on the rash. You can use this remedy as often as you like, he says.

Hydrotherapy

An oatmeal bath helps soothe and heal irritated skin, says Agatha Thrash, M.D., a medical pathologist and co-founder and co-director of Uchee Pines Institute, a natural healing center in Seale, Alabama. Using your blender, grind a cup of rolled oats into a fine powder and add it to a hot bath. Soak for 20 to 30 minutes, then pat the skin dry. Dr. Thrash recommends using this treatment once or twice a day for one to two weeks or until symptoms subside.

Juice Therapy

Both apple and dark grape juices may be beneficial to those with reddish skin rashes, says John Peterson, M.D., an Ayurvedic practitioner in Muncie, Indiana. These sweet juices are used to “cool” many skin problems, according to Dr. Peterson. He recommends drinking the juices at about room temperature and apart from meals. If the juices seem too strong, he says, they can be diluted with water. He adds that papaya and pineapple juices may also be beneficial.

For information on juicing techniques, see page 93.

Vitamin and Mineral Therapy

Many rashes respond to increased intakes of zinc and vitamins A and C, nutrients that repair and build skin tissue, says Elson Haas, M.D., director of the Preventive Medical Center of Marin in San Rafael, California, and author of Staying Healthy with Nutrition. He recommends 5,000 international units of vita min A a day, along with 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C and up to 30 milligrams of zinc. He says to continue these levels of supplementation until the rash clears up.

See also Heat Rash; Lyme Disease

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