Volume 4, Number 1 | Spring 2009

Kampo Dermatology – Clinical Studies
Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis with Kampo – Infancy (5)Fumino Ninomiya
Aoki Clinic

One of the characteristics of infants and young
children is that they are in the immature state ofdevelopment. Their functions swing widely like apendulum for a rapid development so that thefunctional balance of yin and yang cannot bemaintained. As such, they have a lot of ups anddowns. Symptoms vary at short intervals andtreatments to respond to quick changes are required.
Infants and young children have a lot of body
water constituting more than 70% of their weight(elderly people contain about 55% water.) The
body water causes a big problem in atopic
dermatitis of infants and young children and thisatopic dermatitis easily and often becomesweeping eczema over a small matter. Thus, thetreatment focus needs to be on the removal ofwater moist.
Although dermatitis in infants and young children
starts affecting mostly from the head and face,
infantile seborrheic dermatitis often develops
because the head and face contains a lot of fat as wellas water (especially until six months after birth, thevolume of fat is as much as that in puberty) and thefat solidifies to form scales. To prevent the scale
formation, fat must be carefully washed.
The predominant symptom of seborrheic
dermatitis is water-dampness and needs thetreatment for removing it. Removing water-dampness
also removes fat. The Kampo prescriptions often used
for seborrheic dermatitis are “goreisan,” “ireito,” and“boiogito”.
Infants often present erythema and moisteningaround the mouth, and on the neck and bodytrunk. For these symptoms, “jizusoippo” or“shofusan” is chiefly used. Moreover, erythemaand moistening due to salivation are oftenpresented. Saliva is irritative once it comes out of
the mouth, often causing skin irritation. Thiscondition can often be observed in infants who

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show deficiency symptoms, especially spleen
deficiency – for this, usually “ninjinto” is used.
Compared to infants, skin inflammation in young
children tends to more easily spread to the wholebody. Dry skin inflammation spreads witherythma, rashes, partial moistening, lichen, anddesquamation. Similar conditions occur duringchildhood, older than young children. Behind this,
there lies spleen-stomach weakness, which ismore noticeable than in infancy. If there isspleen deficiency, spleen’s essential qi does not go
up, rather goes down causing to develop symptoms
such as diarrhea and a feeling of heaviness andsluggishness. Furthermore, since essential qi
cannot be delivered to the lung, defense qi also
cannot be produced sufficiently. As a result, thedefensive ability from external pathogen is
reduced and dermatitis spreads. Sometimes fever
may develop and the symptom of spontaneous
excessive sweating may appear. For the conditions,“hochuekkito” and “ogikenchuto” are used.
Various stress-related neurotic symptoms (forexample, night-time crying) appear anddermatitis is often aggravated due to reduced
defensive ability, for which “yokukansan”,“yokukansankachimpihange”, “kambakutaisoto,”and “saikoseikanto” are used.
Case 1: Infantile eczema, a warning of atopic
dermatitis
Male infant: The patient made the first visit fourmonths after birth.
Present symptoms: Generalized erythema withedema and partial moistening. The patient’s
parents have allergies.
Treatment and course:“Goreisan” 2.5g/day was administered for 14days.
Chlorpheniramine-syrup 2cc/day and glytar-pasta
were used in combination. At the time of visit oftwo weeks later, a 21 day dose of “goreisan”
2.5g/day was prescribed as previously.
The condition was significantly good. It was
found that the patient cried at night.

The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

Volume 4, Number 1 | Spring 2009

“Kambakutaisoto” 2.5g was administered for
14 days.
Dermatitis became aggravated by theintroduction of solid foods.
“Shokenchuto” 2.5g/day was administered for
16 weeks. Stool conditions, which were bad, weregradually becoming better. Instructions were
given to take time for the patient to get used tosolid foods. A skin cure was achieved.
The cream with a mixture of vaseline, pastaron,and hirudoid was externally used.

Before treatment - Face

Two weeks later - Face

She had also rhinitis.
Present conditions: Generalized erythroderma.
The patient’s face, neck, upper body, and upper
limbs were intensely affected with moistening byinfections, forming erosions. Itching sensation(+). Marked sleeplessness and irritability.

Treatment and course:“Shofusan” 5.0g/day was administered for 14days.
The skin redness disappeared
and moistening became dry.
Although the overall face skinbecame smooth, the patient could
not sleep due to pain, so that she
was intensely irritable.
“Kambakutaisoto”
5.0g/day,“inchingoreisan” 5.0g/day, andhydroxyzine (one capsule/day)were administered for 21 days.
Itchingsensation
wasBefore treatment - Abdomenconsiderably
alleviated.
The
patient became able to sleep.
However, in summer the patient
had dampness-heat with erosions,so that prescriptions were changed
to the following:“Hainosankyuto” 5.0g/day and“inchingoreisan” 5.0g/day wereadministered for 21 days.

Two weeks later - Abdomen

Case 2: Atopic dermatitis, asthma, and allergic
rhinitis
Female child: The patient made an initial visit
when she was 9 years old.
Current medical history: The initial onset of atopic
dermatitis was three month after birth. The
patient had treatments in pediatrics anddermatology. Now she was taking amitriptyline,hydroxyzine, epinastine, and “orengedokuto”.

Erosions caused by infections were resolved
and eczema became the predominant symptom.
The patient’s sleep was light.
“Kambakutaisoto” 5.0g/day and “eppikajutsuto”
5.0g/day were administered for 14 days.

The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)

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Volume 4, Number 1 | Spring 2009

Before treatment - Left side face

Before treatment - Front face

Before treatment - Right side face

After 3 weeks - Left side face

After 3 weeks - Front face

After 3 weeks - Right side faceIn summer, due to asthma, prescriptions werechanged to “bakumondoto”
5.0g/day and“saibokuto” 5.0g/day for a 14 day administration.
Asthma nearly recovered. The patient visitedus once in three months and it took three years toattain a cure.

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The Journal of Kampo, Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine (KAIM)