Woman Develops 'Elephant Skin' After Stopping Steroid Cream for Eczema
A woman who relied on steroid cream for decades to manage her painful eczema has been left with a severe skin condition described as 'elephant skin', which she must vacuum up daily. Sharn Kahlon, 38, from Thurrock, Essex, says her life has been 'on hold' for the past two years due to the debilitating symptoms that have left her largely housebound.
Decades of Steroid Use Lead to Withdrawal Symptoms
Sharn first began using steroid creams at the age of six to treat eczema that started when she was just three months old. She reports that the medication was used moderately by her parents, and her eczema largely subsided by her teenage years, with only occasional flare-ups treated briefly with creams. However, in early 2023, she started experiencing unusual symptoms after applying steroids to small patches on her neck, eyelid, and upper lip.
These symptoms included swelling, burning, and redness, which seemed to worsen with steroid use. By January 2025, Sharn decided to stop using the creams altogether, and in July 2025, she was diagnosed with topical steroid withdrawal (TSW) by a dermatologist. TSW is a condition where the skin reacts severely after long-term steroid use is discontinued, leading to intense withdrawal effects.
Debilitating Symptoms and Daily Struggles
Sharn describes her symptoms as including oozing rashes, a 'bone-deep' itch that nothing can relieve, hair loss, painful cracking skin, and nerve pain that feels like electric shocks across her body and face. The skin sheds so profusely that she is forced to vacuum her mattress every day to clean up the flakes.
"I stick to my bed sheets and my clothes, it's awful," Sharn said. "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."
The condition has severely impacted her ability to perform everyday tasks. She notes that when her lips and mouth are inflamed, she cannot open her mouth enough to brush her teeth, eat, or even talk at times. The 'elephant skin' appearance has also caused her significant anxiety and self-consciousness, leading to social isolation.
Life on Hold and Fundraising for Treatment
Sharn says the condition has 'ruined her life', forcing her to become housebound and even requiring a carer at one point when she was bedbound due to skin cracking with movement. "I've had to change everything about my life," she explained. "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."
Now, Sharn is raising funds for Cold Atmospheric Plasma therapy (CAP), an alternative treatment she hopes will help alleviate her symptoms and allow her to regain some normalcy. "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," she said.
This case highlights the potential risks of long-term steroid use for skin conditions and the severe impact of topical steroid withdrawal on individuals' quality of life.
