Eczema: Will wrapping my skin in steroids cure me?

This blog is a response to several emails in the “Comments” section of our website regarding Dr. Aron, a South African dermatologist, who asserts that the cure for RSS is wrapping all patients in wet wraps after applying varying amounts of steroids and antibiotics on their skin, then reducing the amount of steroids over time.

Dr. Aron strongly advocates the utilization of steroids and the tapering down approach in his treatment of eczema and RSS patients in his video presentation on his website.

They who are engrossed in the rapid realization of an extravagant hope tend to view fact as something base and unclean. Facts are counter revolutionary.

Eric Hoffer

The logic to the stepping down approach is that the normal functioning body will “recover” from disease and medication problems in a safe manner. This logic is faulty, unproven, and unsafe when applied to Red Skin Syndrome.

The stepping down, tapering, homeopathic approach has been used in varying forms for over 50 years with continuing failure particularly in cases of RSS. Instead of improving the skin, the continued steroid use and false hopes have resulted in more severe rebound of redness and increased emotional and physical suffering.

I have seen treated scores of these patients and the only cure comes with complete cessation of steroids.

By Dr Marvin Rapaport, MD|2021-10-19T03:16:56-07:00August 15th, 2015|RSS The Disease, What Is Eczema|Comments Off

About the Author: Dr Marvin Rapaport, MD

In 1978 I initiated and set up the contact and photo dermatitis clinic at UCLA. There was a need to evaluate a large group of patients who exhibited severe eczematoid rashes, especially on the face. Patients were referred from all over Southern California. All patients underwent a lengthy history and examination. Further evaluations included blood studies, allergy patch testing, special sunlight (photo) testing and skin biopsies. From the start it was apparent that most patients experienced a mild dermatitis on various parts of the body that progressively worsened. Their histories always included numerous doctor visits, multiple physicians, and therapy consisting of an increasing amount of corticosteroids. My testing failed to reveal any specific culprit chemicals, cosmetics, perfumes, workplace or recreational exposures. It became increasingly clear that the physician’s therapy, the corticosteroids, was invariably causing the problem. I wrote 7 scientific articles that were published in the most august peer-reviewed dermatologic journals and I gave many lectures at various dermatology meetings. To this day an unfortunate reluctance exists on the part of most physicians to accept this simple concept.