A well-meaning friend asked me that the other day. They exhausted conventional treatments; nothing has helped.
I wish I had a simple answer for her.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, particularly not when you're looking for a holistic solution.
When it comes to skin issues, even conventional medicine needs to look deeper.
Skin issues can stem from parasites, allergies, bacterial or fungal infections, or combination of these. (For example, bacterial infections are often secondary to allergic skin disease.) Skin and coat will also reflect problems with diet, problems with the immune system, or problems with the digestive system or endocrine organs.
One needs to keep in mind, that a body is a system where all things need to work together in tandem.
When one area doesn't work properly, one way or another it will affect the rest of the system also. The problem you're looking at can be quite a ways from the underlying cause.
A thorough investigation might lead you all the way to a bad tile on your roof. Unless you fix the roof, you can spend the rest of your life running around trying to deal with the mold itself.
The skin is part of the immune system. It is the largest organ and it's affected by factors both outside and inside the body. A thorough investigation of both is a must.
You cannot effectively treat something without knowing exactly what you're treating.
You might try to alleviate some of the symptoms but you cannot remove the problem without identifying it first.
I wish I had a simple answer for my friend.
A holistic solution has to start with a holistic assessment. Cause and effect. It's the cause you want to treat.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, particularly not when you're looking for a holistic solution.
When it comes to skin issues, even conventional medicine needs to look deeper.
Skin issues can stem from parasites, allergies, bacterial or fungal infections, or combination of these. (For example, bacterial infections are often secondary to allergic skin disease.) Skin and coat will also reflect problems with diet, problems with the immune system, or problems with the digestive system or endocrine organs.
One needs to keep in mind, that a body is a system where all things need to work together in tandem.
When one area doesn't work properly, one way or another it will affect the rest of the system also. The problem you're looking at can be quite a ways from the underlying cause.
It's like when you find mold on your living room wall.
A thorough investigation might lead you all the way to a bad tile on your roof. Unless you fix the roof, you can spend the rest of your life running around trying to deal with the mold itself.
The skin is part of the immune system. It is the largest organ and it's affected by factors both outside and inside the body. A thorough investigation of both is a must.
You cannot effectively treat something without knowing exactly what you're treating.
You might try to alleviate some of the symptoms but you cannot remove the problem without identifying it first.
I wish I had a simple answer for my friend.
A holistic solution has to start with a holistic assessment. Cause and effect. It's the cause you want to treat.
Hi Jana, it's been a while!
ReplyDeleteI saw the title of your post and thought I might find an answer here to Georgia's chronic skin issue here. We're heading off to a holistic assessment the next time her skin flares up. After almost 3 years of conservative care, antibiotics, antihistemines and bacterial washes, it's time to find the broken roof tile, or at least try :)
hope you're having a great weekend x
So sorry, hon. You kind of did ... just not the one you were hoping for.
DeleteThere just simply cannot be a "one size fits all" answer in a holistic approach. You can have two dogs with same visible problem, yet the underlying cause can be different in each case.
Truly, gotta find the bad roof tile, or whatever else the cause is.
I believe that any generic treatment advise can only serve to help dealing with the symptoms, or hit-and-miss sort of thing. If you want an answer right on the target, it need to come from an individual assessment of the individual dog.
Best of luck (((hugs)))
Jana
Great analogy Jana!
ReplyDelete