Why My Eczema Wouldn’t Go Away

For years, I tried to manage my eczema the only way I knew how - from the outside.

The herbal tea I received in Chinatown did provide a reprieve, but it didn’t last. Before long, I was back on the same cycle: some good weeks, some bad weeks, and no clear understanding of why.

Doctors gave me topical creams. I tried different oils and moisturizers. I switched to fragrance-free detergents; I experimented with cold showers and even sun exposure.

At times, these approaches helped manage the symptoms, but nothing ever truly solved the problem.

The flare-ups always came back. I was trying to solve my eczema externally when the issue was happening internally.

Sometimes I would close my eyes, and it felt like parts of my body were burning from the inside - around my eyes, my neck, and inside my arms.

Years passed like this, then in July of 2023, something changed....

I went in for my annual physical and the results showed elevated cholesterol, increased visceral fat, and something that immediately caught my wife’s attention - I was now showing pre-diabetic markers.

The A1C test reflects your average blood sugar over the prior 2–3 months. What we were looking at was my baseline - and it was elevated.

The next day, my wife made a decision.

❌ No more sugar

❌ No more eating out

That was the moment everything changed - we committed to cooking every meal at home: breakfast, lunch, and dinner - simple, fully plant-based, no shortcuts.

The goal was simple - bend the curve. We knew that with the right eating and exercise, it would realistically take the next 6–9 months to bring those numbers down.

At the time, I thought this was about my weight, my cholesterol, and my long-term health. I didn’t realize it would also have a big impact on my eczema.

In the next post, I’ll share what happened when we completely changed my diet and how it finally stopped my eczema flare-ups after more than 20 years.

-- Coach GC

My 20-Year Struggle with Eczema (And the Advice That Stayed with Me)

For more than twenty years I struggled with eczema. The flare-ups started in my late teens and followed me well into adulthood. Doctors told me this was simply something I would have to live with. They prescribed topical creams to help manage the flare-ups, but the underlying issue never seemed to improve. Some of my symptoms included red rashes around my eyes and neck, scaly skin, dark patches on my back and legs, and intense itching that often affected my sleep.

So, what exactly is eczema? According to the Cleveland Clinic, it is a type of dermatitis - a group of conditions that cause skin inflammation. Approximately 31 million Americans are impacted. The good news is that about half of all infants diagnosed with eczema eventually outgrow the condition or see significant improvement as they get older.

Well, I was not part of that lucky half.

As the years passed, I remember feeling demoralized watching my skin gradually get worse. I kept trying to rationalize why things seemed to be going backwards. Was it because I was getting older? Was it stress? Was it something I was eating? Or maybe environmental allergens? It was difficult to find the root cause because I would have stretches of good weeks followed by terrible weeks. There was no predictable pattern.

An Early Clue I Didn't Understand

Let’s go back in time for a minute.

In mid-2004 I took a trip to Los Angeles, my hometown, and visited Chinatown. At that point my eczema was completely out of control. I had a dark patch covering almost 40% of my back and shoulders.

Eastern alternatives were not exactly mainstream in the early 2000s, but I was willing to try anything to relieve my flare-ups.

I walked into an herbal medicine store on North Broadway where they sold and prescribed all kinds of teas and remedies. The store owner directed me to the back of the shop where I met an older gentleman who described himself as a doctor.

I explained my symptoms and showed him my skin. He examined it briefly and then said something very simple: “You need to cool your body down from the inside — it’s too hot.”

He prepared a tea package and instructed me to drink it for the next 14 days. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what he meant. The tea did provide a reprieve, but it didn’t last long. Eventually the flare-ups returned, and I found myself back on the same roller coaster of good weeks and bad weeks.

What he said stayed with me, but it wouldn’t fully make sense until many years later when I had access to more information and began learning about inflammation, nutrition, and how the body actually works.

For years I continued searching for answers.

In my next post, I’ll explain why none of the treatments I was trying were actually solving my eczema — and how I eventually realized the problem might not have been on the outside at all.

-- Coach GC

We will change jobs, friends or even the city we live in before we think about changing our food practice

Food was the last lever I pulled — and it changed everything.

In my last post I talked about the moment when everything started to break down…

As I was on my journey confronting my shadow self (i.e. my ego), I was searching for answers and food was the last place I looked to change - we will change jobs, friends or even the city we live in before we think about changing our food practice! I realized for many years I had overlooked my eating practice – letting my ego make decisions for me “I can run this off and go back to eating whatever you want”. This time it was different. Years of compounding had caught up, and my body was no longer responding the way it once did. Weight was not coming off as easy, I was tired and moody all the time, and I was internalizing my frustration – I was using the wrong kind of food as my safety blanket. The thing I love most - exercising: basketball, weightlifting, sprinting - I could no longer do at a high level.  

For most of my life I viewed food as comfort, entertainment, and community — but never as a tool.

When we use the right tools, the body responds. Attention sharpens, energy improves, and strength begins to return. But when we fuel ourselves with the wrong tools, the opposite happens: we feel sluggish, motivation fades, and even simple decisions begin to require more effort.

As you read this, my story may not be that different from yours, athlete, non-athlete, teacher, business owner, husband, wife – it doesn’t really matter. We face the same challenge when it comes to what we choose to eat each day. Here is the piece that resonated with me and I believe will resonate as well: when we commit to changing the food we put into our bodies, we begin resetting the feedback loop between the body and the mind. The body responds, the mind becomes clearer, and over time the two begin working together instead of against each other.

Start simple. Consistent improvements compound over time. Because the moment you choose your health, you begin reclaiming your power.

-- Coach GC