I was only 14 years old when my family moved to another part of the country, it was a very distressing time for me as all my friends were left behind. I began to notice dry scaly patches all over my body, under my nails and on my head, behind my ears and all over my limbs, although my face was not affected. I covered up but felt dirty scratching my body all the time. People would stare and I could hear nasty comments - you feel isolated being a teenager with something wrong with
My doctor would give me a cream, but that didn’t work it just made the patches look red raw and unacceptable for others to look at. The medical profession would ask if I had a history of this complaint in my family and I would whisper that I was adopted and feel even more of an outcast. Slowly, as the years went by, it became less noticeable. I even tried to be les self-conscious as I got older. The sun helped but you cannot rely on that in this country.