Sharn says she has to vacuum up her skin every day
A woman who used steroid cream for years to tackle her painful eczema has been left with crusty ‘elephant skin’ that she has to vacuum up daily. Sharn Kahlon says her life has been ‘on hold’ for the past two years after she became engulfed in itchy, crusty skin that left her bedbound.
The 38-year-old says she first started experiencing the symptoms in early 2023, believed to be as a result of the steroid cream given to her as a six-year-old to treat her eczema. Sharn claims her skin was withdrawing from the medication she’d relied on for 30 years – a condition known as topical steroid withdrawal (TSW).
But Sharn says her life completely changed when she began experiencing oozing rashes, a ‘bone-deep’ itch, hair loss and painful cracking skin. Sharn says the condition has left her housebound and unable to complete everyday tasks including brushing her teeth, and says she is forced to hoover her mattress daily because she sheds so much skin.
She says the condition has ‘ruined her life’ and is now raising money for an alternative treatment. Sharn, from Thurrock, Essex, said: “I had eczema from when I was about three months old to 14 years old. I only used steroids around the age of six or seven but it was very moderately used by my parents.
“I grew out of the eczema by the time I was 14. I would have the odd patch here or there, which I would patch up with steroid cream, but it would go after two or three days and I would be fine again.
“But then a couple of years ago I was having little patches on my neck, my eyelid and my upper lip. I would use a steroid [cream] there and then I started to get really strange symptoms like swelling, burning and redness. t was like the steroids were making things worse at that point.
“My symptoms were getting more severe and the burning sensation was getting worse – it felt like my skin was on fire.”
The symptoms continued to worsen until Sharn says she was left with oozing skin, which sheds so much that she’s forced to hoover her mattress daily. Sharn said: “[My symptoms include] oozing skin – I stick to my bed sheets and my clothes, it’s awful. I get nerve pain that feels like electric shocks all over my body and face.
“My skin peels but really profusely. I have to vacuum my bed with the mattress hoover every single day. It’s really awful, it’s disgusting to deal with but so much skin just sheds off. [I get] a bone-deep itch, which is really bad because nothing satisfies it. Also hair loss and swelling – I couldn’t open my eyes some days because they were so swollen.”
After ditching the steroid creams in January 2025, Sharn was later diagnosed with TSW by her dermatologist in July 2025. Sharn said: “It was almost like my body eventually started to reject them and they weren’t as effective. It looked like eczema, but not like what I was familiar with from having it as a child.
“The burning, the oozing and the severe flushing redness wasn’t typical of what I knew.”
Sharn says the condition has left her ‘housebound’ and unable to complete everyday tasks. Sharn said: “If my lips and mouth are inflamed I can’t open my mouth enough to brush my teeth or eat, or even talk sometimes. The elephant skin makes me feel quite self-conscious.
“I’ve had to change everything about my life. I’ve developed quite bad anxiety as well because of how it looks. I don’t leave my house much and I needed a carer at one point because I was bedbound. I couldn’t move because every time I moved my skin would crack open.
“It’s literally ruined my life, my life has been on hold for two years.”
Now, Sharn is fundraising for Cold Atmospheric Plasma therapy (CAP) to help treat her debilitating condition. Sharn said: “I’m hoping that I could just start to get my life back, even just going to the shops, meeting family and friends again, maybe getting back to the gym.”
To make a donation, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-sharns-fight-to-heal-from-tsw
