A man who ‘became a hermit’ after waking up to find his face and body covered in red and scaly raindrop-sized patches is looking forward to celebrating Manchester Pride this weekend without feeling self-conscious after a lifestyle change cured his angry-looking skin.
Blessed with a clear complexion throughout his teens, Scot Cunningham, 27, began to suffer with mild psoriasis – a skin condition which causes flaky patches of often scaly skin – on his arms and torso when he turned 21.
Scot, from Salford, said using steroid creams helped to keep the mild flare-ups at bay. But in October last year when he woke up to find his entire body and face covered in unsightly and itchy red patches which would not budge.
He says his skin dented his confidence so badly that he stopped going out and seeing his friends. Scot, who works as an Arts Council officer, said he started to swap the steroid creams for a plant-based diet and an over-the-counter cream in April and began to see his skin improve.
“Seeing my face clearing made me tear up with happiness,” he explained. “I felt on top of the world and like my bubbly, funny, sassy self again.”
When Scot first started getting psoriasis in October 2017 while studying for his Masters in radio and TV script writing at The University of Salford, he thought little of it. He said: “I had just moved to my student accommodation and climbing out of the shower I noticed two or three red patches on my torso.
“I just assumed that it was the generally grimy environment that caused my skin to react.”
Heading to the GP, Scot was prescribed steroid creams to ease dry skin patches – which worked initially. He said: “The creams worked, but when I look back, I think they only masked the problem rather than actually dealing with it.
“I got into the same old cycle of using the steroid creams when my skin was bad for two weeks, watching the marks fade, then using normal moisturiser for two weeks. Then my skin would get bad and I’d use the creams again. It was a vicious cycle, but at that point, it was just a minor inconvenience.”
Scot added: “My skin didn’t cause me physical pain and you couldn’t see the patches with clothes on, so I could still work, socialise and date without feeling self-conscious."
But then, in October 2021, Scot, who is single, came down with a throat infection, only to wake up a few days later to find tiny, red, scaly patches across his entire body.
“It seemed to happen overnight,” he said. “There were dozens of these raindrop size pink scales all over me. I was really scared. I had no idea what had happened.”
Heading back to the GP, Scot was diagnosed with guttate psoriasis – a skin condition which causes small drop-shaped sores on the chest, arms, legs and scalp – and was prescribed more steroid creams.
But this time they did not work, according to Scot. He said: “The creams seemed to stop working, but whenever I saw anyone, they would just say they were my only option.
“I had always felt grateful of my youthful looks and I’ve always got attention on dating apps, but I started to lose all my confidence. I had this horrific sense of dread every time I looked in the mirror – I looked awful. I felt totally dejected and completely hopeless.”
When the sores started to spread to Scot’s face in March 2022, he stopped going out. He said: “I became a hermit. I turned off my camera during team meetings at work and I stopped organising to meet with friends, because I didn’t want them to see me.
“If I had to go to the supermarket, I could see all the kids staring at me and it made me feel awful.”
He added: “I went to a newsagent once and they asked me if I had a disease and I was mortified. I thought, ‘I’ll never buy my essentials from you again.'”
Heading to the urgent treatment centre at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Scot was recommended private light therapy – which is often used to treat psoriasis – but faced a 60-week waiting list on the NHS.
Prescribed another cream and antihistamines, which had no effect, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He said: “It got to April and I thought, ‘I can’t be dealing with this anymore.'”
Scot added: “I started researching guttate psoriasis for hours every evening – from 5:30pm after work to 2am – trying to understand the condition and how to make it better.”
Speaking with fellow sufferers on skin forums and digesting the research, Scot set himself a new regime – starting with his diet. He said: “Before I started this, I never ate much fruit or vegetables. I just lived off ready meals – mainly pasta and chicken dinner ones – and anything chocolatey I could get my hands on.
“I started with an apple, cucumber and celery juice cleanse from the natural skin care company, Hanna Sillitoe, for three days and then started making dairy-free, meat-free and gluten-free soups and dinners.”
He added: “I had things like apple and beetroot soup, parsnip and carrot soup or pea risotto and mushroom meatballs.”
At the same time, Scot started taking supplements including Vitamin D3, Zinc, Omega3 and magnesium, as well as exploring plastic-free moisturisers.
He said: “I found Balmonds Skin Salvation after reading recommendations and picked up the 120ml pot for £19.99 for my face and I gradually started to notice a difference. On my body, I started using another cream as well as putting coconut oil and turmeric essential oil on my body at night.”
He said: “I was warned that for the first few days, sometimes it can get worse before it gets better, which it did briefly. Then I hit about a month in and the patches were starting to finally get smaller and less red.”
Regaining some confidence, Scot decided to join friends on holiday in Gran Canaria in June, where he noticed a massive difference. He added: “Every day, I had been improving and being in the sea and taking time away, by the end of the 10 days, my face and body looked almost clear. I couldn’t believe it – I felt incredible.”
While allowing himself to reintroduce some white meat and fish back into his diet, Scot continued his new love of fruit and vegetables and kept up his strict new skincare regime – finally starting to fill his social calendar again as his improved complexion restored his confidence.
He said: “I went back out clubbing with friends in June and it was amazing, dancing the night away and feeling fabulous.”
He added: “I am back on the dating apps too and feel so much more confident. It has been life-changing.”
And with Manchester Pride coming up this August Bank Holiday weekend, Scott cannot wait to enjoy the celebration with friends without worrying about his skin. He said: “I can’t wait to be with friends and to just feel good in myself, knowing that I am healthier and happier inside and out.”
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