‘My psoriasis was so bad I had to scoop and hoover flakes of my skin off the floor – one thing changed my life’

A young woman whose skin condition was so extreme she was left 'scooping and hoovering' flakes of skin off the floor has spoken out after a 'miracle product' changed her life.

Nicole Carter, a 24-year-old administrator from Lichfield, first noticed signs of the skin condition, which causes flaky patches of skin, when she was 16 but initially denied it.

It began as a small spot in her hairline, but quickly spread across her scalp and down her neck, eventually covering her stomach, back, forehead, legs, and ears. At its worst, her skin would split, causing flakes to fall onto her shoulders and floor, a sensation she likened to lemon juice being squeezed into a papercut.

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Despite trying various creams, ointments, and topical steroids, nothing provided lasting results until her sister spotted an advert for a consumer trial with Oregon Skincare on Facebook. After just one week of using their products, Nicole noticed a significant improvement and within two months, her psoriasis had almost completely disappeared.

Speaking about the impact of these "miracle" products, she told PA Real Life: "The skin wasn't pulling, it wasn't splitting, I wasn't flaking either. Honestly, I just felt happy and I didn't have to vacuum.

"I've definitely had more confidence, my mood has been boosted, and I've been wearing more short sleeves and open back tops. I even wore shorts this summer.

"Ultimately, I'm happier... I would say they're miracle products."

Nicole first noticed a raised spot in her hairline at the back of her neck when she was 16 years old. At that time, she didn't think much of it, but when she accidentally "knocked the head off that spot" while brushing her hair, it began to spread across her scalp and down her neck.

Given Nicole was studying for her GCSEs at the time she said she was "stressed" and "self-conscious", and she tried to conceal the affected areas by wearing her hair in a low ponytail.

"I was just expecting it to clear up on its own, I didn't think it was anything serious," she said.

Nicole initially thought it was a rash or dry skin, so she purchased moisturisers to alleviate any discomfort, but these only provided temporary relief.

As the pain intensified and her skin "started splitting" which she compared to someone squeezing lemon juice into a papercut she then considered visiting her GP.

"When it gets worse, you feel really constricted because the skin gets really tight," she said. "Then, if you stretch to the point where it splits, it stings and it takes a while for the skin to recover from that."

Nicole's psoriasis resulted in her skin appearing red, raised, and flaky, feeling tight and "tender". As the condition worsened, she became the target of cruel comments from her schoolmates.

They would call her "disgusting", accuse her of having dandruff and suggest she should "get Head & Shoulders" products. Nicole admitted that these remarks made her feel "low".

"I was just trying to hide it and I was conscious of my movement because any time I'd move, I'd have flakes dropping onto my shoulders," Nicole shared.

The first doctor she consulted diagnosed her with psoriasis and prescribed creams and ointments, but these only provided temporary relief. She revealed that she tried 10 different creams and ointments before eventually being referred to a dermatologist, who prescribed her a topical steroid.

Nicole was apprehensive about using this, as she was warned that excessive usage could thin her skin, leading to "more splitting". However, at this point, she felt desperate enough to think: "I'll try anything." While she did notice an initial improvement, within a week she said the psoriasis would return.

"It made me reach the point of, why am I even using this? Eventually I did just stop because it seemed pointless to me," she said.

Over time, Nicole's psoriasis "got worse and more frequent" and spread to more parts of her body.

Despite her attempts to manage the condition with moisturisers, she said her "worst flare-up" occurred earlier this year, with her psoriasis covering her stomach, back, neck, forehead, legs, and ears. Moreover, she revealed that her skin began to flake excessively, to the extent that she could "scoop" the flakes from the floor.

She recounted: "It was honestly torture, I couldn't move freely without my skin pulling or splitting. I tried to just ignore it, but when I noticed all the flakes on the floor and I had to vacuum every day, it gets to you."

Feeling like "nothing's working", Nicole admitted she attempted to "maintain her pain levels and get on with life", though it proved challenging. She recalled a moment at work when a colleague sympathetically referred to her as "you poor thing", and another time when she was questioned about the contagiousness of her condition.

She detailed: "My manager at the time had served a patient with psoriasis, and as she was showing that person out, she touched a patch and asked me if it was contagious. After I confirmed it wasn't contagious, she still went and washed her hands in front of me."

Nicole, who suffers from vitiligo a long-term skin condition characterized by pale white patches confessed she had "basically given up" hope of finding a remedy. However, everything changed when Nicole's sister came across a Facebook ad for Oregon Skincare, which was seeking participants with psoriasis for a consumer trial.

Desperate for a solution, Nicole began with their Intensive Serum and later switched to the Maintenance Cream. To her amazement, within a week, she observed a noticeable improvement in her skin condition.

Continuing to pay after her trial period, she hailed it as "one of the best decisions (she has) made" and within two months, her psoriasis had almost completely cleared up.

Nicole plans to keep using these "miracle" products, including the company's shampoo and conditioner, allowing her to move and stretch without pain and wear clothing that doesn't cover her skin.

On her advice to others, Nicole said: "I'd say don't give up. There's something out there that will help you, you just might have to go digging for it."

For more information about Oregon Skincare, head over to skinshop.co.uk.