A woman in China was left with mysterious stripes all over her skin after using a tincture she bought online—leaving doctors baffled.
The woman, 40, known by the pseudonym Tingting, was admitted to Zhongda Hospital Southeast University in Nanjing last month, report the South China Morning Post (SCMP).
The SCMP claims hat Tingting turned to the cream after she developed red spots and itching on her lower right leg ten years ago, with lesions spreading over her body.
As her itchiness worsened she became desperate for relief, but rather than seeking professional medical help she turned to the internet to try and find a solution, where she came across a widely promoted skin cream.
While the name of the product wasn’t disclosed, the seller claimed it was made from ‘pure traditional Chinese medicine’ and ‘could cure all kinds of skin disease’ which was enough to convince Tingting.
She purchased the cream and used it religiously for the past 10 years, spending over 100,000 yuan, equivalent to approximately £10,500 ($13,900).
‘When I first started using it, the anti-itch effect was remarkable. I thought I had finally found the right medicine,’ she said. But while it initially appeared to stabilise her condition, she says her health has recently declined.
This began with her presenting with alarming symptoms that saw her entire body covered in what appeared to be a pattern of snake-like, purplish-red fissures.
A woman in China has reportedly developed a snake-like pattern after lesions spread across her body
Worryingly, alongside this, she began to suffer other unpleasant symptoms such as swelling in her lower limbs, nausea, vomiting and numbness in her hands.
At the hospital, Wang Fei, the chief dermatologist at Zhongda Hospital Southeast University in Nanjing Jiangsu province discovered her cortisol levels were significantly low and diagnosed her with secondary adrenocortical insufficiency.
This is a disorder that sees the pituitary gland—a pea sized hormone that releases hormones such as the stress hormone cortisol—not release enough of the essential hormones.
It is similar to Addison’s disease, which is an insufficiency of the hormone cortisol that can be life-threatening, but it is caused by a problem with the pituitary gland rather than the adrenal glands.
Symptoms of secondary adrenal insufficiency include fatigue, weakness, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and in extreme cases adrenal crisis—which if not treated immediately can be life-threatening.
Fortunately, in Tingting’s case, after medical intervention her condition is showing signs of improvement, reports the news site. It adds that it remains unclear if she will seek legal compensation.
Dr Wang, who said cases like this are not uncommon in her department, told the Yangtse Evening Post: ‘Many so-called “pure herbal and hormone-free’ skin ointments sold online are secretly laced with powerful steroids.
The cream, which’s name has not been disclosed’ was allegedly purchased from a seller she found on the internet
‘Steroids can indeed provide rapid relief from itching, redness and other skin symptoms. However, prolonged topical use leads to skin dependence. Once discontinued, symptoms may rebound.
‘Worse still, steroids can be absorbed through the skin and accumulate in the body over time, triggering effects, suppressing adrenal function and causing irreversible damage.
‘Skin medications are no trivial matter – especially hormone – based drugs, which must be used properly under a doctor’s supervision’.
While it remains unclear what type of cream that Tingting used, in the UK you can buy some mild steroid creams over-the-counter in pharmacies, but strong ones are only available on prescription.
The NHS says the creams also known as topical steroids or corticosteroids are used to treat skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis – an autoimmune condition – and lichen planus – an inflammatory condition.
However, many users have found while it provides relief for their initial condition it is difficult to stop using the creams because quitting them can trigger a debilitating condition called topical steroid withdrawal.
Christine Vyse, from Perth previously told the Daily Mail that when she ditched them for the first time in 35 years it caused horrifically painful, red and raw skin, that cost her everything to fix.
