The picture above shows the arm of Angelo Kennedy.
The 26-year-old from Uxbridge has suffered with eczema like this for most of his life, with the pain getting so bad at some points that he’d wear up to seven pairs of socks to keep himself from itching his skin.
It’s a situation many people with eczema can relate to, with the condition often leaving people distressed and uncomfortable.
However, for Angelo, things were even harder, as his verbal skills mean he struggles to communicate the pain he often feels.
Angelo’s mum Anna Kennedy OBE, 59, says: ‘Angelo is profoundly affected by his autism and his sensory difficulties and minimal verbal skills mean that his eczema is all the more distressing for him. It’s triggered by very hot or very cold weather, so the heatwave this summer was a struggle.
‘He’s suffered from it his whole life, ever since he was a baby and had cradle cap on his scalp. At the time, someone recommended I use olive oil to soften the skin, but it made his hair fall out! To this day he still has a little patch where his hair never grew back.
‘As he got older, he needed the labels cutting out of his clothes and he’d wear layers and layers of socks everyday so that the pressure would alleviate the itching on the backs of his knees. Now, the eczema has followed him into adulthood and we’ve tried everything to help sooth it, but so far nothing had helped.’
It was then that Anna, who is an educator and charity chair who has worked to provide improved education facilities for children with autism spectrum disorders, turned to her Twitter followers for help.
Among her large Twitter following was businesswoman Deborah Meaden, who recommended a £4 moisturiser by family toiletries brand, Good Bubble, which she partnered with after founder Amy Wordsworth appeared on Dragon’s Den.
Anna said: ‘I thought I might as well give it a go, so I tried both the moisturiser and the bubble bath.’
‘Within a few days of using it on Angelo’s skin, I noticed that it had really soothed the eczema and calmed it down. It looked so much better! There was less inflammation, Angelo wasn’t scratching anymore and overall, he was far more settled.’
We’re often seeing so-called ‘miracle cures’ for eczema, and we always caveat this with the fact that there is currently no ‘cure’ for it, but there are products that might help clear up symptoms.
For Angelo, it was the mix of cottonseed and aloe vera in Good Bubble’s baby moisturiser, which is normally used on children, but works on everyone.
Amy Wordsworth, founder of Good Bubble, added: ‘Eczema can be distressing at the best of times, so I can’t imagine what it must’ve been like for Angelo not being able to communicate his frustrations.
‘I’m so thrilled our baby moisturiser has helped him to better cope with his sensitive skin and that we’ve been able to help Anna’s family after all the amazing things she’s done to raise awareness of autism spectrum disorders.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/10/25/autistic-man-unable-communicate-distressing-eczema-finds-relief-4-moisturiser-10981518/
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