Medication
The drugs page shows the drugs being prescribed for EF patients in descending frequency.
What patients say
Statistics collected from several hundred EF patients posting online show which treatments they CREDIT the most. But there have been no double-blind placebo-controlled trials to verify any drug or treatment. Some studies note that spontaneous recovery can occur without any treatment. This makes it easier for speculative treatments with low evidence to claim that they work.
Physical therapy
EF studies stress the importance of physical therapy [An Analysis of 63 Patients]. Patients posting online have also credited hydrotherapy (exercises in heated pools).
Exercise
The statistics obtained from EF patients posting online show that daily exercise generally correlates with faster recovery times. The more proactive the patient (therapies, exercises, diets) the better.
Lymphatic drainage
Light pressure is applied to the skin in sweeping brush strokes that coax the accumulated lymph fluid towards the lymph nodes. See: healthline
Myofascial release
This is a more firmly applied massage that aims to improve circulation and stimulate the muscles.
Diet
There are many EF patients saying that an anti-inflammatory diet has reduced their EF symptoms.
Remission
Doctors and patients have different ideas about what it means to be in remission. For doctors it may be when the symptoms stop getting worse. Patients are more inclined to say remission is when they no longer need treatment. Some patients have a long history with one or more relapses, the different patient histories are summarized here: PROGRESS.
Causes and triggers
There seems to be no consensus as to what causes this disease. Studies say “the underlying aetiology is unknown”. Some triggers have been suggested including insect bite, bacterial infection, physical trauma, and an unusual bout of exercise preceding the onset of symptoms. It seems likely there is a genetic predisposition because many EF patients have a history of auto-immune diseases in their family. There are examples of members of the same family being diagnosed with EF where there was no obvious common trigger: Eosinophilic Fasciitis in Families
Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome
An outbreak of Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS), was attributed to adulterated cooking oil in Spain in 1981. It was known as “Toxic Oil Syndrome”. A separate outbreak in New Mexico, USA, 1989
[Medscape] was linked to the ingestion of a contaminated batch of L-tryptophan (a dietary supplement). However the FDA lifted its ban on L-tryptophan products in 2005 with no further outbreaks of EMS attributed to it. This seems to confirm that
Eosinophilic fasciitis is not associated with L-tryptophan use.
[updated: 2025-07-05]