Do you know what is the largest organ of the body? It’s not your heart, liver, or even the lungs–it’s your skin. Skin is not only our largest organ, it happens to be the most vulnerable and visible organ. Why so many people experience worsening skin conditions during the winter time?
Interestingly, in China, eczema is called “skin asthma,” due to the fact that many of the children with eczema will also develop, or already have, asthma. So, what’s the relationship between the skin and asthma?
In Chinese medicine, skin is directly controlled by the lungs. During the winter season, our lungs are so busy in protecting us from the external evil, i.e., cold and harsh outside weather, that the lungs can’t keep up with dealing with internal evils trapped somewhere in the body. In most cases, people with chronic skin conditions tend to have weak lungs to being with. Those who suffer from eczema, psoriasis, or even severe acnes have a lot of “damp heat” in the body. These skin problems are nothing but the body dumping toxic heat onto the skin. During the cold season, their skin conditions tend to exacerbate because their lung Qi is simply too weak to deal with attacks from outside as well as toxic heat created internally. There are many other issues to consider, but in a nutshell, dry & itchy skins are primarily caused by weak lung Qi.