The first sign of psoriasis on my body was when I hit puberty. My mum took me to a dermatologist that first thought I had ringworm.
It spread like wildfire covering my elbows, knees and scalp. Like my changing body wasn’t enough to cope with I was now covered in silver scales and sore, red patches. Add to that the constant taunts from school kids and I felt pretty shit throughout my teenage years. Actually, often adults were the worst with their stares and grimacing.
Normal things like swimming and choosing an outfit to hide my scaly skin became a nightmare. People would glare, some would ask if I’d been burnt, literally hundreds would tell me their tales of someone they knew who had it and what they’d used to clear it up. Fast forward 35 years and I’ve had pretty much every topical treatment on the planet but now add to that the arthritis and rosacea that came to join the party! Oh the joys of auto-immune disease.
My nose is constantly red with rosacea. If one more person asks me if I’ve burnt it, I won’t be responsible for my actions. Some days (especially in winter) my face feels like it’s on fire if I even put moisturiser on it. Some days I can barely sit still because the arthritis burning deep in my hips hurts so much. Who would have thought my psoriasis, rosacea and arthritis could all be linked? But they are. So do you know what I do? I wear fabulous foundation to hide the redness (Clarins Everlasting foundation to be exact), take pain relief when I need to, ignore stupid comments and wear what the hell I like and it’s working a treat!
Sufferers – I share your pain!
Love Julie
‘No gimmicks, no nonsense, just beautiful, bespoke treatments.’
