I realize that symptoms can be incredibly frustrating and annoying! But what if they could be used to decipher what’s actually going on beneath the surface? No matter whether you’re dealing with eczema symptoms or psoriasis symptoms (or any other skin rash condition’s litany of issues on a daily basis), it’s time to put on your investigator’s cap. Symptoms aren’t there to ruin your day or a special occasion. If you’re serious about figuring out what’s causing and triggering your rashes, you’ve got to shift your perspective on the symptoms. It’s my hope that you’ll see how I use the symptoms that a client shares with me to figure out the next step on their journey! What Do My Skin Rash Symptoms Really Mean? TRANSCRIPT Hi everyone! Welcome back to episode Number 41 of the Healthy Skin Show! Today I’m talking about symptoms -- and not just the ones that frustrate you at the level of your skin. The reason is that I’ve come to believe that symptoms are something incredibly important. I know that you might think that your body can communicate with you as clearly as a computer. But that’s not at all true. In fact, it’s not at all “computer technology”... but rather a more ancient technology. Literally think smoke signals, my friends. That’s why it can be so difficult to translate symptoms into something more meaningful. They feel… well, vague. As a result, it’s pretty commonplace to think of your symptoms as annoyances. However, they are so much more! What if you flipped the way you view those symptoms to see them as signals from your body. They are literally providing you feedback. When biochemical pathways or signaling mechanisms go off the rails, your body lets you know through those symptoms! This means that symptoms are actually an opportunity to look deeper so that you can support your body and its health from even the most basic of levels. Skin Rash Symptoms Aren’t Your Enemy It might seem completely counterintuitive, but hear me out! The confusion about what symptoms mean is the result of the way we approach the body from a Western perspective. Instead of tuning in, we prefer to suppress or eliminate symptoms -- be it eczema symptoms, psoriasis symptoms etc. Heck, Western medicine has become a serious pro at symptom management. That’s why there’s a pill for this and cream for that! Consider your own experience asking your doctor for help with your eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, dandruff… and pretty much any other skin rash condition. “Here’s a steroid cream,” they’ll say and send you on your way. One of the biggest frustrations our community continually shares with me is the overreliance by their dermatologist to just give them more steroid creams. Clearly, you don’t have a steroid cream deficiency, right? I’m certainly not anti-steroid cream nor judgmental about how you choose to address your skin rashes, but to be fair, steroid creams mask inflammation, itchiness, redness, flaking and other awful symptoms. The symptom suppression model means that you no longer have access to the vital clues to help you identify which systems and processes have broken down. And which ones are struggling because of low nutrient stores or detoxification challenges. And it makes it much more difficult to determine where to even begin. Especially when you’ve tried a bunch of random things you read about online that didn’t really work. Symptoms Are Clues From Your Body Hidden In Plain Sight When clients come to me frustrated because their skin is a mess, I start right here with their symptoms (it’s literally what we cover for a full hour alone!). I consider this process to be one of the most valuable processes that help us discover the root causes that underlie skin rashes. But in order to do that, you must consider your body as one entire unit rather than a sliced up conglomeration of organs and parts that happen to live together. And it acknowledges that all of your symptoms are connected no matter where you experience them. Yes, this means that n