Dr. Erikson is participating at this years Integrative Dermatology symposium in San Diego.

Hi everyone,

At the beginning of October I will be participating in this years Integrative Dermatology Symposium (IDS) and I am really looking forward to the experience. There will be physicians there from a wide range of medical backgrounds, including Western allopathic medicine, Naturopathic medicine, Ayurvedic medicine and, of course, Chinese medicine, who are all keen to learn and be inspired from each other.

Even my own dermatology mentor, Dr. Mazin Al Khafaji, will be lecturing at the symposium and, considering the caliber of his lifework, which has inspired many hundreds of physicians the world over, as well as helped many thousands of patients over the past 30+ years working in his clinic in Hove, UK, I am greatly honoured and humbled to be presenting on the very same stage as him. Quite wonderful.

The topics they have asked me to participate on are all very important and good.

On the first day of the symposium, I will be one of a few doctors, all from different backgrounds, contributing to a Case Based Panel Discussion pertaining to the treatment of Atopic Dermatitis. This will be lead be Dr. Peter Lio, MD who is considered one of the leading experts in the medical world on Atopic eczema. Again, I am totally honoured, and humbled, to participate in such a discussion, especially with a western doctor of his caliber.

I absolutely LOVE how the world is opening up to a more integrative understanding of stubborn diseases such as eczema!

The next day, I will be presenting my work on the Chinese medicine treatment of Topical Steroid Withdrawal, which is an important topic to share. Gratefully, two of my patients have agreed to share their story, including before and after pictures, as a means to educate other health care providers that herbal medicines, when prescribed properly, can be excellent for the management of inflammatory skin disease – including even severe cases (which I will be presenting) – especially when topical steroids may no longer be an option.

Lastly, I will be co-presenting a workshop on how to write herbal formulas for skin disease, both from a Chinese medicine and an Ayurvedic perspective. The other lecturers will be Dr. Raja Sivamani, MD, who is a broad certified western dermatologist, who also happens to be trained in Ayurvedic medicine, and Amy Branum, AHP, who is a trained Ayurvedic medicine practitioner. Together we will present different skin disease cases from our own clinical practices, showing how we constructed the different herbal formulas for each case. There will also be some herbal medicines on display for the different attendees to smell, touch and taste, as it is common to both medical modalities, Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, that the taste of an herb helps dictate its action.

Should be a fun and interesting symposium, indeed!