Meditation Cures Atopy (Eczema)

Chi-young Park / Doctor of Oriental Medicine

Chi-young Park is a dermatological specialist and doctor of Oriental Medicine. His technique starts with listening to his patients carefully in order to comfort their minds as he’s come to understand that they have been dealing with this serious skin condition for a long time. Atopy – or eczema – is commonly known in Western medicine as a refractory, or unmanageable disease. Still, Park is convinced he can achieve a recovery rate of over 90% with a treatment known as ‘toxin subtraction.’ This is the story of curing skin conditions through meditation…

Curing Eczema through meditation

In order to fix a skin condition, first, you need to understand the patient. In what kind of environment have they lived? What are their working conditions? What kind of state of mind have they been living with? I often hear many of my patients tell me that they also suffer from depression and in some cases socio-phobias while suffering with this skin disease.

There seems to be more atopic patients these days. The itching is more difficult to tolerate than the pain because the itching is constant and happens daily. When I hear my patients’ stories, I really want to help them end this pain.

It takes a long time for this skin condition to heal. In some cases, it takes 6 months to a year. When the redness and inflammation slowly disappears and healthy skin emerges, I am very happy to see a smile on my patients’ faces.

Many aren’t aware, but, in Western medicine atopy is considered a chronic or incurable disease. I am convinced that it can be cured in over 90% of the cases I see. The principle of treatment is simple. It’s called ‘detoxing therapy.’ In other words, it can be called ‘subtraction treatment.’ It is sweating out internal inflammation or toxins caused by bad eating habits and lifestyles of modern people.

So, along with the prescription of Eastern medicine, bathing skin properly, exercise and diet are all important. I also recommend a temple exercise, which can be done in a small space. If you bow down for about 30 minutes, your toxins will be released as you sweat, and you will be able to manage your stress by losing your thoughts.

Getting toxins and stress out of your body is a shortcut to healing

The skin is like a mirror that reflects the health of the internal organs. In Donguibogam (PrinciplesandPracticeofEasternMedicine), there is a word “paejupimo,” which means that the lungs control the skin and hair. Atopy is a phenomenon of antophos (stagnant blood) caused by the imbalance of the whole body and is centered on the lungs and respiratory system. The basic treatment is performed through a method of balancing the organs which improves lung function so that heat or turbid energy generated by the body can be discharged.

The patient’s mind is also very important. Today, the cause of atopy is often from stress. The stresses of the mind, such as tension, depression, anger and anxiety that disturb blood flow in the body and stagnate the flow of blood, ultimately affecting the skin.

So, when you are under stress for a long time, your skin becomes dull. Therefore, when you get rid of stress, eat less of the bad things and get rid of toxins through exercise and good personal hygiene, your skin health will follow.

Principles of Oriental Medicine Treatment and Subtraction

It was through meditation that I came to understand ‘subtraction treatment’ and have a vision as an oriental medicine doctor. I began this meditation method in the second year of college, and the principle of meditation was really scientific and simple. If I remove the minds or thoughts which I have accumulated, the original mind will be revealed. In Oriental Medicine, people are referred to as a “micro universe.” When I actually subtract my mind, I realized that I was the Universe and all people were the Universe. Since that time, I began understanding Oriental medicine much better.

While serving as a public health doctor, I was lucky enough to meet an oriental medical doctor who had excellent know-how in treating skin diseases. His principle of treatment was subtraction. It was a great coincidence that I already came to know the importance of subtraction while practicing meditation. After being discharged from the public health service, I opened a clinic and began to see many patients having severe atopy, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, hives, acne etc. I became more convinced that all skin diseases could be healed better with the “principle of subtraction.”

Daily life with subtraction, and hope

I am grateful that I can live as a doctor who can give not only skin disease treatment but also the hope of life. Not that long ago, one of my patient sent a wedding invitation to me. This was a lady who had never had a relationship before because her skin condition was so severe. All of the methods she tried to use to get rid of her problems didn’t work. She came to my clinic as the last straw. She healed steadily for about a year and soon met someone and fell in love. I was so glad to hear that she was getting married. These kinds of results motivate me to study harder and dedicate myself even more.

One day, a patient asked me, “are you happy?” during a medical examination. I was surprised by this sudden question, but my answer was, “yes, I want for nothing,” came out without hesitation. I always seemed happy in this person’s eyes, so he wanted to ask. In fact, even though the job of oriental medicine looks good on the outside, many people say that they live in prisons without walls. It’s a job that can take its toll, listening to and seeing only those who are sick all day long. Fortunately, I subtracted my mind every day since I was a student, so I have more and more faith in the world and things have become easy.

Even now, I always look back and ask myself. “Did I do my best for the patients today? Did I treat each one of them preciously? Am I keeping my original mind? Who am I doing this for?”