Update Time: EDT [19: 06, June 9, 2008 [
Headkennaway, 51, is one of thousands of Britons with psoriasis, an embarrassing and weak skin condition.
Like many patients, he did not have a cure but took various remedies.
Here Guy describes how he found a treatment that was really helpful
Almost 20 years after his first appearance.
My sister had a birthmark on her right cheek when she was born. A bluey-
Brown spots, slightly raised.
This is considered a blessing in my home.
This is because my mom told us that Emma's birthmark "made her more attractive" and gave her face "features "--
Obviously a good thing.
This is how our family is;
Even if something is as common as the nose on your face, it may be denied that it does not exist.
The Kennaway emergency kit was empty, but there was a piece of paper saying, "Don't make a fuss and move on.
When I had a rash in the middle
When I was in my 20 s, I took the family route and just denied that there was any problem.
The first time I saw the red spots around my mouth and nostrils, I didn't know I fell into hell.
I declared them "reckless shaving ".
It sounds Manly and I hope it's almost enviable.
The treatment rubbed my face with hot water.
I was taught from an early age that my body was something to be beaten and punished for obedience. The marks -
No bigger red patch than a stampcame and went;
I don't like them, but I get used to them.
I did things like drinking red wine and parties late at night, my skin didn't approve and would wait in the morning to refute me at the bloodiest time.
Psoriasis has made many choices for me.
Instead of letting me swim, it lets me start scuba diving with its hidden clothes, masks and skiing.
This made me feel sorry for other people with bad skin.
I ended up marrying a woman with acne.
This was the first time I had "shaved" for two years before I went to see a doctor.
He comforted me by saying that it was nothing to worry about, but a part of dermatitis.
This is the first of many names I have been named for my skin condition.
I took my Betnovate prescription to the chemist, a loose trade name that will be my eternal companion for the next eight years.
The spots on my face still come and go and disappear from time to time on my torso, even though I now think it's cream that makes them disappear.
When I went back to see a doctor, I wanted to give him good news that he cured me but the fact was that his ointment did not control the "skin ".
I worked out each prescription as long as I could to postpone going back to morale --
Smoking check
Over the years, I became obsessed with my skin condition.
When my skin is not as angry as usual, a good day becomes a day;
When I saw it, a bad day became one of them --
In the mirror, in the cutlery, on any reflective surface I can find --a red-
Face me, face me.
The only way I can feel any happiness is to improve my skin.
Even on the day my beautiful son was born, I remember seeing myself sitting on the plate in the delivery room and feeling that all the joy slipped through and left me empty.
I quit the world and just went out once in a while.
At a rare party, I sat next to a friend and talked about people's nicknames.
A stranger sat next to us and joined in.
Who is the man everyone calls lizard? ' he said.
"I don't know," I replied. "I 've never heard of him.
He smiled at my friend and said, "Obviously he is peeling all over the place . " He was slowly looking down at his feet. The Lizard. Me.
On the subway home, I looked at the reflection on the glass and was desperate.
Where's my face?
Where did I go?
Where did my life go?
There are three levels of routine treatment for psoriasis.
The first is local, including ointment applied to the skin.
The second is UV therapy and the third is systemic, including tablets or injections.
A frustrating fact is that psoriasis is resistant to all treatments.
When traditional medicine disappointed me, I started looking for alternative therapies.
But I have not found any herbs, mineral extracts, tonic, strange diet, acupuncture, hypnosis, magnetic field therapy, oxygen therapy or any other that matches the smartest of them
But I try again from time to time, so I find myself in a hotel on Israel's barren shores of the Dead Sea, in the most incredible collection of splendor, penetration, stripes, the skins and cracked skins I have seen.
Now officially announced: I am a member of the ugliest community in the world.
Sunlight is renamed for its benefit to the skin
But the sun is said to be unique.
Apparently, the Dead Sea has its own ozone layer that filters out more destructive light that causes skin cancer, burns, and aging.
This, in turn, enables people to get the benefits of the sun much longer than normal.
I had a brief consultation with a frustrated Russian doctor but he did not prescribe any medication.
All treatments include sunbathing on the roof of the hotel.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed that the guys looked primitive as if they were soaked in boiling oil.
On the fourth day, I found some changes.
A place for a long time
Dry skin has been formed under my eyes, on my cheeks and on my nose, and new healthy shiny skin has appeared.
Please do not think that I am about to claim that this treatment is a treatment to some extent.
But for me and some of my inmates
You can't call their guests in that place.
There are obvious improvements.
This is not only my skin but also my opinion of myself.
At the Dead Sea Hotel, we were all rejected, and during the long and hot hours on the roof, we talked about many disappointment and humiliation in life and tasted each other's victories.
It was at a hot midday meeting, Fritz, who gave me a master in the face of Germans and weird guys --
Class with moisturizer.
I received a plastic tub with a yucalin cream that I thought would last for about two months. 'Nein, nein! ' called Fritz.
Use three fingers to extract the cream.
"It's too much," I said loudly.
Zat may be enough with one leg. One pot -
One day, says Fritz. 'Understand?
Then I used the whole pot and my skin went in.
It consumes ridiculous volumes, and in a week it goes from paper to fragile to soft and fresh.
At home, months have passed and I am ecstatic now without the signs of our old friends showing up again.
I thought I had just recovered. I thought I was beautiful.
But I'm worried that my situation is still not right.
It's hard to describe what's going on in my head.
Maybe it's because I 've been denying any fun with my appearance for so long, so I'm going to the other end of the scale now.
It can be said that my stupid prank is devastating.
I try to drink my mixed drinks and drugs
The mood is high, but there is no effect.
For ten years my wife has raised our children, supported me, helped me, and loved me in a beautiful and brilliant way.
But one afternoon the weight of everything was pressing on me.
Two weeks later, I drove along the desert road to the rehabilitation center Meadows in Arizona.
The treatment of grass includes finding the root cause of my emotional problems and learning new techniques to deal with them.
I also realized that psoriasis is part of me.
If I can accept its imperfections and not see it as a disease that has to be overcome, then I can heal.
It's not psoriasis, it's my war with the skin and myself.
Guy Kennaway was taken from Naked sunbathing in Naked Kennaway, which was published in June 26 for £ 10. 99 (c)
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