225: Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW)- Is It Just A Waiting Game? w/ Dr. Julie Greenberg

Have you heard that if you're going through Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW), that you just have to wait it out?

"Just give it time... time is what heals."

But when you say that to someone who's years (3 or 5 or even 8 years) into TSW, that statement starts feeling like a bitter pill with no hope in sight.

Some practitioners (like myself) are finding that there are things you can do to better support your body as it goes on this journey. There's certainly no silver bullet solution as we still do not have enough research to know the best way forward.

But if you could help your system not be as reactive, that may be a win to make things more manageable for you.

My guest today, Dr. Julie Greenberg, is a licensed ND who specializes in integrative dermatology.

She is the founder of the Center for Integrative Dermatology, a holistic dermatology clinic that approaches skin problems by finding and treating the root cause.

Dr. Greenberg holds degrees from Northwestern University, Stanford University and Bastyr University, and received advanced clinical training at the Dermatology Clinic at the University of Washington Medical School and at the Pediatric Dermatology Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital.

She is also the Program Chair of the Naturopathic & Integrative Dermatology series on LearnSkin.com, a learning platform for integrative health care professionals.

Join us as we discuss whether TSW really is just a "waiting game" or if there are other things you can do that can help.

I'd love to know if you have tried any of the tips that Dr. Greenberg has shared in this episode -- Let me know in the comments!

In this episode:

• What is happening to someone going through Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW)?
• Testing that could be helpful for TSW
• Concerns over vastly different potencies of different types of steroid creams
• Is TSW the ONLY thing you need to worry about at the moment (if you're experiencing it)?
• Collagen supplementation for TSW
• Thoughts on adaptogenic herbs -- do they have a place to support your body through TSW?

Quotes

“You have to think if you put that hydrocortisone on 600 times, that's equivalent to one dose of betamethasone or clobetasol. Some of them are 150 times, so it depends on the strength of the steroids. The surface area that you're using on, how frequently and how long have you used it. And of course, one thing that we forget to mention is that we have higher systemic absorption of these topical steroids on compromised or broken skin.”

“We know that that red, inflamed skin is vasodilation. The vessels have been constricted for so long artificially with the topical whatever you're using and now they're also bouncing back. So we get vasodilation, which means that the blood vessels are over-expanded, over dilated. We get this blood influx, which is why they have that red, inflamed skin and moisture leaking out of their skin and they're oozing.”