Should you suffer from the pains of eczema, you know all too well the misery that it can cause. However, a remedy may have been found in the shape of Chinese healing herbs.

New research results, presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, suggest that traditional Chinese herbal treatments may be helpful in the treatment of both children and adults.

In order to evaluate concerns about whether such an approach works, and is safe to use, medical researcher Julia Wisniewski, MD, of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York undertook studies on 14 young people who were suffering from eczema and were treated with traditional Chinese medicine between August 2006 and May 2008.

All of the children drank Erka Shizheng Herbal Tea twice daily, took a herbal bath for at least 20 minutes, and applied a herbal cream to their skin throughout the day. They also were treated using acupuncture.

At the beginning of the study, more than half had severe eczema symptoms; after 8 months of this regime, the majority had only mild symptoms. The children also required less medication, such as antibiotics and steriods, after only three months of being treated.

As for adult eczema, a group of researchers in Japan learned that grown ups can also reap the benefits of Chinese medicine. Their work involved 274 adults who had suffered with eczema for around 12 years on average. About a third had symptoms that could be classified as severe.

After three to four months of treatment with herbal remedies which had been chosen and administered based on the patient’s symptoms, around 85% were free from eczema symptoms. A further 12% were said to be much better.

Therefore, while more studies are needed, these studies offer promising results and suggest that, as an eczema sufferer, it’s time to consider using Chinese treatments and healing herbs.