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By Melissa Fleur Afshar
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A woman's triumph over her painful, long-term battle with eczema has been celebrated by viewers online.
Saskia Potts, who had endured severe eczema for years, marked a miraculous transformation in time for her wedding after switching up how she treated the chronic condition.
The British woman had spent years in pain, taking more than two hours for her to soothe her skin before heading out to work in the mornings at the height of her flare-ups. Potts, who is known as @saskiataylorpotts on TikTok, recently shared a dramatic before-and-after video of her recovery, which has resonated with viewers and provided a beacon of hope for those suffering from chronic skin conditions.
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"Over the past 25 years, I've been prescribed a range of topical and oral steroids," Potts, who has had eczema since she was a toddler, told Newsweek. "For the most part, my condition has been manageable, with sporadic flares that were easily controlled by using topical steroids occasionally."
While she was able to get by early on in life without much difficulty, Potts' condition took a turn for the worse in 2022, when her eczema flares became increasingly aggressive and unmanageable.
Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a chronic condition that causes dry, itchy and inflamed skin. In more severe cases, like Potts', it can cause the dermis to weep fluid or even blood. More than 31 million Americans have some form of eczema, according to the National Eczema Association. Treatments vary for individuals suffering from the condition but tend to center around moisturizing emollients, changed self-care techniques and topical corticosteroids. The latter is what doctors thought would be the best fit for Potts.
"After applying steroid cream during these newer, more aggressive flares, my skin would clear up, but then flare again a week later," she said. "This latest flare-up would come back significantly worse and affect other areas of my body that had previously been clear.
"I would apply more steroid cream to calm the area, and it would clear, but then two days later come back, far, far worse, and this cycle continued to escalate with my symptoms becoming more severe."
Terrified and in chronic pain, Potts faced a critical decision. By December 2022, she and her doctor decided to stop using topical steroids altogether as they were no longer effective on her. Seeking relief, Potts planned a two-week trip to South Africa, hoping that the country's warmer, sunnier climate would heal her skin. While the sunlight significantly improved her condition and provided some mobility, the relief was short-lived upon her return to the U.K.
With her wedding approaching in mid-2024, and the relentless pain she battled making daily life unbearable, Potts struggled to maintain her physical and mental health.
"Morning routines before work took hours, just to get my skin to a place that was just about bearable," she said. "My mental health suffered as much as my physical health.
"By March and with my wedding on the horizon, I was struggling to deal with the constant chronic pain. I would often wake up with my skin stuck to my bed sheets because my skin had been oozing overnight."
The only time that Potts could find any relief was while soaking in a lukewarm bath with Dead Sea salts. Desperate for a solution, she and her doctor opted for the immunosuppressant methotrexate. Though she was apprehensive at first, the medication proved to be life-changing for the recent bride, and she has since dialed back her condition's intensity.
"Everyone has different experiences on any medication, but for me personally, it is the best thing to have happened to me and my skin," she said. "I am currently living pain-free for the first time in two and a half years and my side effects have been minimal."
Potts opened up about her journey on TikTok on September 17, after which her video quickly went viral, garnering more than 226,000 views in days. The video juxtaposes her transformation, showcasing a visibly happier and healthier Potts on her wedding day—a stark contrast to the periods of discomfort and distress caused by her condition.
Viewers online have rallied around Potts, who regularly shares skin positivity content, by celebrating her recovery and finding inspiration in her story. For many with chronic skin conditions, her journey offers a renewed sense of hope.
As the newlyweds embark on their new chapter, one that Potts can enjoy pain-free, she feels relief to have reclaimed her life from a debilitating condition.
"I'm taking each day as it comes," she said. "But I will never ever again take for granted how it feels to live without chronic pain."
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