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Woman Makes Incredible Eczema Recovery After Ditching Steroid Creams And Showers

Joanna Freedman

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Woman Makes Incredible Eczema Recovery After Ditching Steroid Creams And Showers

Featured Image Credit: Media Drum World

A woman who suffered from chronic eczema claims to have cured herself of the painful condition by cutting out moisture.

Holly Broome, 24, from Gloucestershire, was born with atopic dermatitis - a condition that makes your skin sore, red and itchy - and it only got worse as she grew up.

But after years of being prescribed steroids - which she claims only made her condition worse - the graphic designer's skin is now the healthiest it's ever been.

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Throughout her life, Holly was prescribed oral steroids for her eczema, but it was only when she ditched steroid creams for good that she finally found herself getting better.

In her childhood, Holly's "red" and "burning hot" skin was already giving her grief, and at one point grew so troublesome that she was even hospitalised and wet wrapped in bandages to stop her from scratching.

While it looked like the eczema had cleared up on its own in her teens, she then noticed in adulthood that her symptoms were flaring up during periods of stress, particularly in 2017 when she was at university.

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Despite her concerns, at the time, doctors simply told Holly her eczema wasn't "that bad" and prescribed her a stronger topical steroid to try.

However, Holly's skin progressively got worse, until her face, arms and torso were covered.

Holly's eczema has troubled her for years (Credit: Media Drum World)
Holly's eczema has troubled her for years (Credit: Media Drum World)

She kept returning to the doctors, who continued to prescribe more steroids, until as much as 70 per cent of her body was covered - but she felt as if doctors were offering no solution.

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"I was moisturising twice a day, applying steroids once a day, and taking the usual precautions such as cool showers, but apparently this wasn't enough," she said.

It was only when Holly came across topical steroid addiction during her research that she stumbled across what she believes was the cause of her woes.

Holly was bed bound with pain (Credit: Media Drum World)
Holly was bed bound with pain (Credit: Media Drum World)

At first, she suffered topical steroid withdrawal so badly that she was oozing yellow puss onto her bed sheets, it was too painful to shower and her boyfriend had to hoover her flaky skin from the flat every day.

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Eventually, she was forced to move home to Gloucestershire and live with her parents.

It was too painful for Holly to shower (Credit: Media Drum World)
It was too painful for Holly to shower (Credit: Media Drum World)

For Holly, the painful period came to an end after she came across a new little known solution, known as the no moisture treatment, which is basically ceasing the use of any moisturiser, reducing showers to once or twice a week, moderate exercise and reducing water intake.

According to Atopicdermatitis.net, the treatment can work by "giving the adrenal glands a chance to produce their own cortisol again".

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And it seemed to work, as Holly finally began seeing an improvement in her skin, and was even doing well enough to move back to London, where she lived before returning home.

"Since then my skin has been constantly healing," she said. "It still flares every now and then, but I just leave it alone and within days it's back to normal.

Cutting out moisture has improved Holly's skin (Credit: Media Drum World)
Cutting out moisture has improved Holly's skin (Credit: Media Drum World)

"I no longer moisturise, and my skin is less dry than when I was moisturising. I stick to one or two cool showers a week and my skin is thanking me for it."

In the UK, topical steroids are still used to treat eczema patients, and for many, they work well.

The National Eczema Association explain: "Topical corticosteroids, or topical steroids, have been used in treating eczema and atopic dermatitis for more than 50 years and remain among the most effective and widely used drugs in dermatology.

"They work directly with the natural system in the body to reduce inflammation, and are closely related to corticosteroids made daily by the adrenal glands."

Holly's boyfriend was a great support (Credit: Media Drum World)
Holly's boyfriend was a great support (Credit: Media Drum World)

However, topical steroid withdrawal is yet to be officially acknowledged by many practitioners in the UK.

Holly has now made online friends who also suffer with the condition, and created a campaign named Scratch That, to help give it the recognition it deserves.

The aim is to campaign to get the prescription of topical steroids more controlled and to get topical steroid addiction diagnosed and treated properly," she said.

You can visit the Scratch That page here, or Holly's profile here.

Topics: eczema, Real, Skin, Real Life, Health

Joanna Freedman
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