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The Skin Condition That Doesn’t Exist... But Everyone Could Suffer From - When Beauty Turns Ugly

James Welsh

123,186 views

Instagram - james_s_welsh
Unboxing Channel - @JaymesPlays1

Thank you so much to James for joining me today and sharing his experience. Check out his content:

Instagram: Instagram: james_r_atkinson
Tiktok: TikTok: james_r_atkinson

What if the biggest skincare issue people are struggling with... isn’t even a real diagnosis?

If you’ve been on skincare TikTok recently, you’ve probably seen people talking about Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW), a painful and life-changing condition that many claim develops after long-term use of topical steroid creams. But despite thousands of real stories and years of patient reports, many doctors still don’t recognise it as a medical diagnosis.

In today’s video, i'm diving into the truth behind Topical Steroid Withdrawal, what it is, why it happens, and why it’s so controversial. And why the medical community remains divided over whether TSW officially exists at all.

I also sat down with friend and fellow skincare creator James Atkinson who has been living with TSW and documenting his journey online, to talk about his experience. From how it started, to the impact it’s had on his physical and mental health, and why so many people with this condition feel unheard or dismissed by the healthcare system.

Timestamps:
00:00 – Trigger Warning
00:25 – Intro / Why TSW is suddenly everywhere
02:05 – What is Topical Steroid Withdrawal?
03:14 – The many names of TSW
03:38 – Symptoms beyond eczema
04:14 – How TSW starts: widespread steroid use & OTC access
05:04 – Interview begins: James’ eczema history & access to derm care
09:34 – How it starts
12:05 – Managing flare ups
14:01 – Barrier care, stress reduction, feeling “healed”
21:01 – Living with TSW
23:07 – First signs of TSW
32:26 – Why doctors are skeptical
34:02 – The clinical dilemma
43:19 – Coping & care
48:11 – The toll
56:13 – Studies & updates
1:05:01 – Final thoughts & James’ advice
1:07:32 – Outro

#TopicalSteroidWithdrawal #TSW #RedSkinSyndrome #SkincareAwareness #Eczema #SteroidCream #SkinHealth #BeautyCommentary

20 Comments

@ToastedNups 11 months ago

It's so bizarre that people see skin conditions as 'cosmetic' problems when it is the largest organ we have as humans and is literally wrapped around us to protect everything inside. I can only hope that this does get taken more seriously and hope it doesn't have to come to dire consequences for that to happen.

@sofiadrewniany6571 11 months ago

Rest in peace to my ex's little sister. She had an extreme case of eczema and was in a constant state of pain from it or side effects from cremes and meds. She couldn't play with animals because of it, she was very isolated. She ended her life at 16. We need to take these things seriously. 😢

@sallyholdstock8495 11 months ago

Absolutely. Skin conditions and hair loss are seen as cosmetic and not ‘serious’ conditions when actually, they can be debilitating mentally and physically. The bottom line is if you need to see a derm in the uk, pay to go private, which the majority of people can’t afford.

@psychcjs 11 months ago

I wish more people understood this is not JUST a skin issue. It is a manifestation of an overactive immune system. The skin condition develops from the innate immune response to something it recognizes as toxic or a foreign body. This is why pts have flare ups when they’re stressed. Stress weakens the immune system. The wetness is from the inflammation response. Unfortunately, this condition has been so misunderstood and discounted by general practitioners. I hope everyone finds a practitioner willing to listen and are up to date with latest treatments and alternatives. As with any medication the body adapts to, cold turkey is highly discouraged. Tapering with medical monitoring is the best course of action. But with a system overwhelmed and understaffed and not exactly up to date….🤦🏽‍♀️

@crimsonpeony13 11 months ago

As someone who has been on immunosupressants for 10 years and will be for the rest of my life because of an inflammatory disease i understand the struggle to balance the fear and bad effects it brings but it's the only thing allowing me to have any kind of "normal" life.. i wouldn't survive my symptoms otherwise but it's awful to know your body is constantly weakened and at risk because of the medication

@jocewaitwhat 11 months ago

Okay but Caroline Hirons telling a person with a skin condition to 'get some sun' is insane and 10000% the worst advice from a skin perspective. From a mental health perspective sure, but I hope he wore good sunscreen.

@crystalBall9287 11 months ago

I have eczema too and sometimes it is so bad. One thing I've noticed with all the stories is that they either ignored the warning or were never told how to properly use topical steroids. I had great dermatologists, thankfully. They all stressed barrier care back in literally 2006. Use topicals ONLY to small patches.

@JessNess84 11 months ago

One of my sisters suffers horribly from eczema, meds, painful side effects, being teased bullied at work,and she's been fired for 'being unhygienic " 🤬 no, she's got skin issues and now worse mental health troubles as well.thanks for bringing awareness to this 💜

@nixingaming1558 11 months ago

Oh my, currently in hospital due to it. My pain is insanity.
Thank you so much for sharing .

@sigasaurusrex 11 months ago

Joanna Cedia was the one I'd first learned about this from and I hadn't realized how horrible it must have been. I've always been so thankful for such good skin genetics and I always will be. Having your biggest organ fighting you AND the one that's exposed to the air, bacteria, allergens, EVERYTHING. This needs better solutions urgently

@akoifeesh1805 11 months ago

Just to not confuse people: though you may very well have both at the same time and both are caused by over reactive immune systems; allergies are distinct from autoimmune disorders. In an allergy your immune system attacks a benign,but foreign stimuli like a food or chemical. In an autoimmune disease the thing your immune system attacks and reacts to is “SELF” aka your body’s own cells/ chemical messengers. The interplay with these two things is complicated and having one makes you more likely to have the other but allergies do not cause autoimmune disease.

@Lanajoy376 11 months ago (edited)

This story is so relatable. I don’t have a skin condition but I deal with chronic illness and pain. For YEARS, so many professionals denied my pain and symptoms. When James said he isn’t control of his body, that’s exactly how I feel some days living with a connective tissue disorder. I believe in the medical community there needs to be a shift for professionals having requirements to be up to date on research in many areas, dermatology included. I believe some sort of system where they have to go through a license renewal with professional Continued learning with proof would be beneficial. In my journey I have found alot of old school thinking in medicine and lack of knowledge in updated research.

@willowtdog6449 11 months ago

In the US, you see a general practitioner who will often try their best to treat derm issues because it takes forever to get a specialist appointment, unless you’re really wealthy. It’s not 3 years for an appointment, but it’s many, many months between appointments even once you’re their patient, generally. Healthcare everywhere needs better triaging. And dermatology needs to be taken much more seriously.

@johannachan9685 11 months ago

I know people struggle to get diagnoses for all kinds of issues, but it seems skin is one of the most difficult. And it is such a visible organ that it can really wreck havoc on your mental health. 💜

@Bootlegpunkclem 11 months ago

This reminds me of Harlequin syndrome to a degree. The amount of suffering that comes with conditions of the skin is horrendous. I live with chronic pain, and routinely say I prefer that to being eternally itchy

@costcochurros 11 months ago

I think a lot of doctors don't like the idea that they're wrong about something or aren't knowledgeable. It is difficult to see a derm in Europe, which makes it so much harder when you are dealing with serious skin issues. It does make sense that dermatological research is cosmetically-focused because that drives a market; there's no money in curing people. It sounds so tinfoil hatty, but the reality is that a retinoid is going to make more money than a cream for psoriasis. Everyone ages, not everyone has serious skin conditions.

@hijegeueu 11 months ago

My sister has it. Thankfully the height of hers hit during COVID, so she didn't have to go out in public. She would just lay naked on her bed, sometimes on a towel, all day. If she needed anything, I would go out to run errands.

@morgianasartre6709 11 months ago

Thank you for these videos, I'm a dermatology provider who routinely prescribes topical steroids and it is useful to be reminded of these possible side effects. It is unfortunate he wasn't informed about the importance of barrier care, where I live we drill into people that medications are only for flare ups, the mainstay of therapy is moisturising and other barrier care modalities.

@Jane-yg3vz 11 months ago

My brother had really bad eczema his whole life. One day, my mother mentioned that he had to be fed goat's milk when he was a baby because he had a reaction to cow's milk. She thought he had just grown out of it. He stopped drinking cow's milk and he hasn't had a problem since.

@arsonist127 11 months ago

I'm from Finland and one good thing is, that I was told many times to do 1-2 weeks, or a few days of my Locoid 1% hydrocortisone, and then have at least the same amount of break days from it. The healthcare system is not as good as it's claimed to be, but at least everyone has made sure I know to do breaks from hydrocortisone.