THE INDEPENDENT – Bethany Gamble, from Birmingham, has used topical corticosteroid cream to treat eczema on her face and body since the age of two.
While the creams initially relieved her symptoms, they became less effective as she grew older and at 18, Bethany began experiencing extreme flare-ups, described as a burning itch “deep inside the nerves”, “oozing” wounds and hair loss so severe she shaved her head.
The debilitating symptoms, including insomnia and being bedbound, forced her to drop out of university in 2023.
Gamble believes she is suffering from TSW, a suspected extreme reaction to prolonged steroid cream use, after finding others with similar experiences on TikTok.
But while Bethany is convinced this is the cause of her pain, doctors have refused to officially diagnose her and instead stated the condition is just extreme eczema.
Bethany said she struggled to maintain her eczema as she got older (Collect/PA Real Life)
She recently joined a group of TSW sufferers to deliver a petition to Downing Street, calling on the medical community to “acknowledge” the condition – for which experts have said there is an “urgent need for high-quality research”.
“It burns a lot, it feels like your skin is on fire, like hundreds of pieces of glass are sticking into your skin,” Bethany said.
“I would do anything to have my eczema back – I would rather have my original eczema for the rest of my life than TSW for one day.
