A WOMAN who felt "dirty" and unlovable for 45 years has praised a "magic" product she swears has finally cleared her eczema.
Judith Stephens, 66, has suffered with the itchy skin condition over her entire body since she was just a few months old.
The retired medical secretary, from Kent, spent years battling "scabs and scales", getting funny looks from classmates and colleagues, and feeling as though she would never find a partner who understood her problems.
During some of her worst flare-ups, her fingers would split and bleed, she would get open sores on her legs, and her face would become almost unrecognisable.
At one stage she said she felt so low she wanted to "cut her skin off with a carving knife".
But Judith has finally discovered her "secret weapon" – Fludroxycortide Tape – which she describes as "magic tape".
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It's a transparent medicated surgical tape which is only available on prescription, for £9.65 for those that pay.
"It's turned my life around," Judith said. "It's my secret weapon."
She simply wears it over her fingers overnight to stop any itchiness or redness, seal up the splits and calm down the scaling.
"It's much easier to use than the lotions, emollients and gels I have had for eczema in the past," she added.
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"It really is magic. The eczema on my hands disappears overnight. It's incredible.
"I even used it on a big patch on my leg once and it was better in 24 hours.
"It's so easy to use. You just cut it to the size you need. And it's waterproof so I can shower wearing it, pop creams over it and even apply make-up over it if I get a facial flare-up."
Judith, who was adopted, was first hospitalised due to her eczema a few months after she was born.
"My mum desperately wanted to help me but no one really knew what was wrong with me," she said.
With little knowledge of the condition, Judith was sent home, but returned again aged two.
Over the next 15 years, she saw "hundreds of doctors" and said she said she felt "dirty, nasty and never really happy".
The pensioner added: "People would often stare or even give me dirty looks and my brother would tell them off in an effort to protect me, but it was tough, really tough.
"Other children could be really mean – laughing and calling me names like 'leper'.
"One boy, who was really good at art, even did a really ugly picture that was meant to be me and stuck it on my back.
"It stayed there all day and I didn’t realise while everyone laughed at me. I didn't want to go to school."
I got so low because of it I wanted to take a carving knife and cut my skin off.
For most of her life, Judith went in and out of GP surgeries and hospitals trying to find a solution but nothing seemed to work.
"It felt like I tried everything available – I was willing to give every pill, potion and promise of relief a go," she said.
"I gratefully accepted every prescription with renewed hope. I even went down the route of natural remedies.
"I tried Manuka honey, homeopathic therapies, but nothing ever made a significant long-term difference."
Unsurprisingly, it impacted her work, social life and attempts at finding love.
"Most people don’t realise that eczema isn’t just itchy – it’s not just a mild inconvenience, it can be very painful and unsightly and really consume your life," she said.
"Eczema was in my mind constantly one way or another. 'How does it look? How can I hide it? Are they staring? Does he think I’m dirty? Is she worried she’ll catch some from me?'
"It’s incredibly stressful and demoralising, then stress and anxiety make the eczema worse and my mood plummets further.
"The itch is something that no one else can fully appreciate unless they have felt it. It’s relentless, unbearable."
'I'M A DIFFERENT PERSON'
But that all changed when she met her husband Andy on a blind date 20 years ago.
She said: "Before that, I had only had two serious relationships and eczema played a significant part in why they didn’t work out.
"Andy loved me completely, just as I was. However, eczema nearly sabotaged that.
"I got so low because of it I wanted to take a carving knife and cut my skin off.
"I wrote to Andy and told him I would understand if it was all too much for him to handle.
"It felt too much for me to handle, let alone someone who had the option of walking away.
"But lucky for me, I had found a goodun and he didn’t leave. His understanding and acceptance are everything to me."
Judith said now her eczema has calmed down, she has never been more content.
"Thanks to the Fludroxycortide Tape from Typharm, I’m a different person," she added.
"If I scored my happiness and quality of life before, it was a 2/10, now it’s a 10 or maybe a 9 on a bad day thanks to my magic tape."
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GP and skincare specialist, Dr Nisa Aslam from Typharm's Skin Life Sciences Foundation, said: "The emotional impact of skin issues can harm every aspect of a patient’s life, from relationships, to work, to home and family life — there is no part of life that is not affected in some way.
"But there really is no need to suffer in silence as there are a variety of prescribed skin treatment options from ointments, creams to the development of formats like medicated tapes such as Fludroxycortide."
What is eczema?
ATOPIC eczema is the most common form of the long-term condition.
It causes the skin to become itchy, dry, cracked and sore.
Some sufferers have small patches over their body, while others experience widespread inflammation.
Eczema is most commonly found on the hands, inside of the elbows, backs of the knees and the face and scalp in children.
The exact cause is unknown, but experts say it is not down to one thing.
It often occurs in people who get allergies and can run in families alongside other conditions like asthma and hay fever.
Other triggers can include soaps, detergents, stress and the weather.
While there is no cure, treatments, including emollients, topical corticosteroids and reducing scratching, can help control symptoms.
Source: NHS
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