The failing of the healthcare system: Stories from my experiences

I write this blog today as my BLT starts to taste a little bit like falafel and a salad inside some brown bread and as I carry a heavy heart due to the unfortunate death of my beloved grandma, who was always so supportive of my creative and academic pursuits from as long as I can remember. Had I had more time with her, I would have asked for her thoughts about what the next best blog topic should have been but I have no doubt in my mind that she would have approved of this one so this goes out to her especially on this day and she is forever in my heart.

Today’s blog will definitely have a more serious energy and is definitely not for the faint hearted as I will be discussing some very bold claims and opinions that I hold in regard to the conduction of dermatology within the healthcare industry. With that in mind, please do read this subjectively with consideration for the fact that other experiences may drastically differ from mine and keep the importance of discretion in mind as you read along the mini article. I will now split my experience with my skin and the UK’s health care system into a small set of headings and sections below…

Being prescribed hydrocortisone in very high quantities at a young age:

The beginning of my story marks a decision that was both necessary and detrimental to the sudden and uncomfortable experience of childhood eczema which took over various areas on my face and body. As a child, I wasn’t particularly stressed and was more so on the opposite spectrum in terms of always being on cloud nine but when winter hit, I would feel the cold more than my family members and closest friends at the time and then I would start to notice dark, flaky patches of skin growing on top of my regular skin, almost as if it was forming a protective barrier to stop the cold from invading my body. When I could no longer take the reoccurring urge to want to scratch the irritated patches, I would proceed to physically peeling it off and causing myself more agony which forced the doctors responsible for me in my childhood to prescribe me with hydrocortisone cream as a way of soothing any inflammation, scabbing and scaring. The intention was to quell the overall urge to interfere with my skin in ways that a heavy duty, dimethicone cream may have been able to solve.

The use of hydrocortisone then became habitual and eventually lead to the overall effect of making my skin worse because the flippant pattern of scabbing, picking and scaring was too much for the hydrocortisone to be able to break down with just one weeks’ worth of the usage of the cream. This meant that my skin and my body became incredibly dependent on it but most notably my skin; as hydrocortisone is indeed a steroid which is responsible for thinning your skin and is definitely not wholly suitable for areas on your skin where the layering is very thin, notably, your face and the areas which do not necessarily stick out. It took me a long time to detach myself from the dependency of needing to utilise hydrocortisone but by the time I thought I had completed this vicious cycle of having irritable skin that would make me cry in agony, my problems had only really just begun…

Self-referring myself to a freelancing dermatologist at 18 so that I could determine what my actual skin problem was:

I had been battling with my skin for years, going through phases of being obsessed with certain skincare brands that are frequently sold in Boots or Superdrug but which have minimal benefit for my skin type in terms of skin problems and also ethnicity, an important factor to consider when it comes to selecting expensive and strenuous treatments that are advertised to remove layers of dead skin and restore one’s natural colour upon full dedication to the procedure. Let me be clear here that I am not saying that no person of colour should ever sit in the chair of an aesthetician or go to meet with a private dermatologist to discuss their skincare and health concerns, but that when offered to chance to enrol on certain skincare regiments, one should take more time to assess the different chemicals used in their treatment products to ascertain what may be highly unsuitable for skin of colour in particular.

My intention of going to see a dermatologist whom I had discovered online was to get clarity on what exactly my skin problem was because at that point I had already developed a skincare YouTube junkie addiction and thought that the second I knew what my exact problem was, the quicker I could try to reform my skin. Thankfully, I did get confirmation that what I was experiencing in regard to discomfort with my skin was in fact a combination of eczema and hyperpigmentation but that the fact that it was in certain areas of my face meant that the attack was more targeted as opposed to profoundly general, which would have probably encouraged me to enrol on the dermatologists treatment programme. The dermatologist wanted to sell me on a strenuous 6-month programme with chemical products that are actually banned in the UK and for me to pay a cost of £600 for the entire kit after taking a £20 deposit off of me to book a consultation. This was problematic not only because of her concerning product chemical and ingredient selection which produces a level of dependency similar to that of the usage of hydrocortisone but because of the fact that she provided me with minimal references and expressed anger when I expressed that I wasn’t comfortable with the treatment options available. She sent me away from her practice with a suggestion that I purchase skincare products from a brand who formulate their products with extremely high levels of alcohol and fragrance. That is when I knew that I had to take matters into my own hands to deal with my skin problems and consider changing everything from obtaining fraganceless skincare products to even reconsidering the type of food that I was eating.

Taking matters into my own hands, prioritising diet and stripped back skincare purchased from local drugstores, Deceim and Paula’s Choice:

I don’t wish for this section of the blog to be incredibly anticlimactic but am still massively aware that forcing any of you to purchase all of the same products that I use for my skin would be hindering to you as our skin types and problems are by no means 100% the same. I began learning and still continue to learn off of dermatologists on YouTube, doctors online and in real life, aestheticians and, skinfluencers, because although many tend to speak from personal experience, they review products from a more holistic perspective then one individual committed to mainly sharing his or her own personal experience may do. I want to help as many of you as possible by guiding you in the right direction to become more independent and take charge when it comes to dealing with your skin and health, not force you to buy what I do and do as I say and then express discomfort if it doesn’t work for you.

There will be times when you will purchase a product that is suitable in terms of affordability, hype and luscious, non-damaging ingredients listing, but you may only use it once and then when it’s finished, never buy it again. That is my experience with some of the most popular skincare brands which cater to people of colour and those with skin issues, more so than the average brand. However, what I keep in mind always is the importance of having a simple routine, a consistent routine and one which you understand and not just one which you have borrowed off someone else that may not be wholly effective for you. I would suggest considering how you feel after eating certain foods and also seeing if it contributes to any skin problems you may experience, however small. Then once you look up the most suitable product for dealing with problems as they arise, you can develop the confidence to more naturally combine good food and skincare habits to be able to protect your interior and exterior layers of skin and body as much as possible. I hope that this helps, I truly do but my favourite brand is probably Deceim which may make me more typical than helpful, but I am now venturing out into other brands to search for similar products that work best with my skin, focusing on obtaining more and more good cleansers and moisturisers at this current moment in time. So far, my skin has improved drastically within a short period of time and now fights the cold back, changes which I am massively grateful for and happy about.

I want to thank you all for taking the time to read my blog today, it means a lot and please spread the word about my site to your friends and family. I want to grow bigger and speak on some of the most debilitating problems within the skincare, health and beauty industry whilst also still giving you guys some suggestions and general hacks for dealing with matters as they arise or just for when you may be searching for general information and ideas. Once again, thank you so much and I hope to catch you again soon:)