The TCM treatment of severe atopic dermatitis will take a long time, six to 12 months,  sometimes longer. Persistence and patience are paramount as the herbal treatment gradually unravels the knots of heat, dampness and toxins that have accumulated over decades, guides them out of the body, and then restores proper blood nourishment to the damaged skin. Herbal formulas are taken internally, in the form pills or boiled herb teas, and the treatment proceeds in stages, as follows:

1) Clearing Damp-Heat and Deep Toxins – We begin by flushing away the accumulations of deep heat, dampness and toxins. We deploy a variety of strong, often bitter, herbs that reach deeply into the blood, expelling damp toxins through the bowels and urine. Gentian root, scutellaria root, dictamnus bark, gardenia fruit, dandelion and common violet are good choices at this stage. They will help take care of the tendency of the skin to ooze, crust and form secondary bacterial infection.

2) Cooling – When the skin is no longer weepy, bitter herbs are replaced by sweet and cooling medicinals, which help cool and moisten the desiccated blood, and lighter anti-toxin herbs that help "float" the toxins out to the surface. Examples of some good cooling and anti-toxin herbs at this stage are rhemannia root, scrophularia root, lonicera flower, campsis flower and moutan bark.

3) Nourishing – This is a later stage of treatment which employs moistening, nourishing herbs to restore the blood to a rich luxuriance in order to repair the skin. Nourishing herbs must be introduced gradually and cautiously, because they tend to aggravate any residual and deep-lying inflammatory heat, exactly as oil thrown on a fire. Nonetheless, they are essential at the end of treatment in order to consolidate the effect of the first stages and restore resiliency to the long-suffering skin.

4) Supporting digestion – At all stages of treatment, attention is paid to the gastrointestinal function in order to prevent further generation of the dampness and mucus that are often the byproduct of poor digestion. Herbs such as coix seed, atractylodis root, orange peel and poria mushroom play a key role at this stage, protecting the stomach from the prolonged use of cleansing herbs. Dietary recommendations are limited to the avoidance of confirmed food allergens, red wine, spicy food and shellfish.