A woman who was signed off work for five weeks after her severe eczema left customers refusing to let her touch their car keys has opened up about her experience with topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) and how a simple treatment transformed her life.
Decades of Suffering
Louise Wilde, 31, from Cheshire, has battled eczema since the age of four, with flare-ups appearing on the backs of her legs and the crooks of her arms. By the time she was six or seven, her eczema had cleared up following herbal supplements and she lived a normal life until she was 18, when she suddenly developed severe hay fever and her skin became increasingly sensitive.
Shortly afterwards, she began working in a cocktail bar where her hands were constantly exposed to moisture and she developed pompholyx eczema, a particularly aggressive form of the condition that triggers intensely itchy blisters across the hands.
On Christmas Day 2016, her hands became so inflamed, swollen and painful that she required hospital treatment. Every finger had split open, bleeding and weeping. She was unable to bend them or dress herself.
The Vicious Cycle of Steroids
Her GP prescribed oral steroids, which temporarily cleared the condition, but it returned almost immediately. From that moment, Louise found herself trapped in a vicious cycle. Steroid creams were repeatedly prescribed and the intervals between flare-ups grew progressively shorter. Without even realising it, she had developed topical steroid withdrawal.
"My skin had become dependent on steroids and could no longer function without them," she said. The most severe flare-up struck in early 2024. She awoke to find her skin worsening throughout the day. She suffered from chills, her skin was weeping and her eyes swelled so badly she could hardly see. The impact on her working life was devastating.
Impact on Work and Daily Life
Louise said: "I work in a client-facing role in the automotive industry and some customers would ask if my skin was contagious or refuse to let me handle their car keys for fear of catching something." Things deteriorated so severely that Louise was signed off work for five weeks as she simply couldn't cope physically or mentally.
Discovering Red Light Therapy
Desperate to find a lasting solution, she began searching for answers and discovered red light therapy. Louise said: "After my very first session using light therapy, which took just 20 minutes, the difference was genuinely immediate. My skin felt calm for the first time in years. My husband couldn't believe it, the redness had reduced, the itching had stopped, and that was the turning point for me."
Initially, Louise visited the clinic twice weekly and followed a strict no-moisture treatment programme for four months, giving her skin the chance to relearn how to function independently. "It was incredibly tough. My skin became dry, flaky and uncomfortable, but it stopped the constant weeping and allowed it to begin healing properly. Combined with the red light therapy, it sped up my recovery," she said.
Life After Steroids
Louise has now been entirely steroid-free for 790 days. She still encounters occasional flare-ups connected to hormones or particular foods, but sustains her results with a portable red light device at home and a straightforward skincare routine advised by the clinic. She is also a mother of two daughters - Edie, six, and Mabel, nine months old.
Louise said: "The impact this has had on my life is huge. Now, I feel like a weight has been lifted. I'm not constantly thinking about my skin or relying on steroids. I've got my confidence back and can enjoy life again, especially with my daughters. It's crazy to think that something as simple as red light therapy treatment has completely given me my life back."
