A 32-year-old man from London shared photos of his incredible transformation ever since he tried out a new method that helped him clear up his severe eczema.
LAD Bible shared how Jonathan Rowe started developing eczema on his face when he was 18 years old and was prescribed a steroid-based cream to treat it. This helped with his skin condition only temporarily as his eczema returned shortly after.
Topical steroid creams are often prescribed to eczema patients as it helps to reduce inflammation on the skin, but it does not heal the skin condition completely.
As for Jonathan, his eczema kept on getting worse and in each visit to the doctor, he was prescribed a stronger steroid cream. However, none of it worked in keeping the eczema under control and by the time he was 24, his whole body was covered with eczema.
Jonathan stopped using steroids for a while, but this only made his eczema come back worse. He then resorted to taking an oral immunosuppressant – normally used for transplant patients – which did not completely clear his eczema, but kept it under control.
But living a life dependent on medication was not the life Jonathan wanted, so after two years, he stopped taking the oral immunosuppressant as he was warned that it could cause cancer.
In his last attempt in healing his inflamed skin, Jonathan decided to try Protopic – a drug that decreases cell activity in the body’s immune system which helps to slow down the growth of eczema on your skin.
Jonathan said that the cream would burn his skin for 12 hours and clear his eczema for a short while, only to have it return after a few days. He realised that his eczema was getting worse and worse as he increased the quantity of cream he applied and knew he needed to find a better solution for his uncontrollable skin condition.
In 2018, he came across articles that talked about topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) and believed that he was suffering from it.
“I realised I was addicted to steroids and Protopic and if I stopped using the creams then my skin would flare out of control,” he said.
“I visited a consultant dermatologist and they said topical steroid addiction was not a real thing and I should carry on with the steroids. I told him that I’d been researching TSW and I disagreed with him so I wouldn’t be following his treatment recommendation.”
“I just felt disappointed that he was so close-minded and he couldn’t even see it as a possibility. There could be thousands of other people with this, but the dermatologists don’t think it’s a real thing. I had a mentality that I was going to show him that I could get better without the creams.”
So, Jonathan stopped all steroid treatments in April 2018. For eight months, he saw little to no improvement and had all of the symptoms mentioned above until he stumbled upon a research by a Japanese doctor who has been treating TSW with his ground-breaking approach of No Moisture Therapy (NMT).
NMT is a technique where you stop all forms of moisturising and follow a set of strict rules to allow the skin to dry and boost the body’s own healing powers. This helps the body learn how to regulate itself and not drag out the TSW journey any longer.
Jonathan tried out NMT after eight months of stopping steroid medication and noticed amazing results.
“I drink a maximum of one litre of water a day, no moisturiser, I limit showers to one per week for two minutes, no baths, no water after 7pm, and I eat more protein to counteract the loss of protein. Effectively, you’re treating TSW by completely drying out your skin,” he said.
“My skin has never been better than it is now and it does not affect me in my daily life. I never apply anything to my skin anymore, especially not moisturiser.”
Look at Jonathan’s transformation!
People often associate eczema with having dry and flaky skin, therefore, moisturising seems like the logical thing to do. However, this actually makes it worse.
If you’re interested in NMT, here are some steps you can follow:
- Limit showering and bathing – once or twice a week, around a minute long. Keep water cool, not hot
- Use no moisturisers, either applied to skin or natural moisture inducers such as heavy blankets and clothing
- Limit fluid intake to around 1 litre (depending on your weight); this reduces ooze, avoiding losing too much protein through the skin
- Ensure you are eating enough protein for skin repair
- Exercise for 30 minutes a day; this boosts your metabolism and accelerates skin regeneration
- Go to sleep at 9:30pm to get sleep between 10pm-2am which is when growth hormones are at work
Hopefully you found this information useful! If you have eczema or know someone who’s suffering from it, share this article with them and let them know of this new technique!
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