The horrifying condition that leaves sufferers ‘ripping their own skin off’
A HORRIFYING condition left a woman “picking at” her skin after lesions spread across her face, doctors have warned.
The 70-year-old was diagnosed with trigeminal trophic syndrome — a rare condition caused by patients ripping at their own skin after a nerve injury leaves them in agonising pain.
She was hospitalised in Olsztyn, Poland, in October 2021 after first suffering scabby growths on her cheek and above her upper lip in 2017, following a stroke in 2016.
Dr Joanna Rybak-d′Obyrn, of the University of Warmia and Mazury, said: “The patient has admitted to frequently touching and ‘picking at’ the lesions due to the sensation of a sudden cold wave or numbness of the affected skin area.
“The affected skin area gradually expanded to the entire right side of the face, the [outer ear], and the scalp.”
By the time she was hospitalised, her right nostril had collapsed and she was left with agonising damage across the right side of her face.
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The scabs spread up to 4cm (1.5in) on her scalp and the skin and eyelids were swollen.
She was also suffering conjunctivitis caused by an infection, causing her eye to weep pus.
Medics diagnosed her with trigeminal trophic syndrome and gave her antibiotic cream and anaesthetic ointments to soothe her inflamed skin.
Doctors told her not to continue picking at her skin and gradually the lesions started to disappear on her face after a month.
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'Worst pain imaginable'
Trigeminal trophic syndrome is a rare condition that is more common in women and the elderly.
It can be triggered by trigeminal neuralgia — nerve damage that causes sudden, severe facial pain described as like having an electric shock in the jaw, teeth or gums.
Dr Andrew Grande, a neurosurgeon at M Health Fairview in Minnesota, the US, said: “People describe it as the worst pain imaginable.”
The pain can lead to people scratching at their face to relieve the symptoms, resulting in lesions, ulcers and infections in some cases.
Dr Rybak-d′Obyrn said: “Decreased sensation with burning, itching, tickling, or crawling leads to disfigurement from repetitive painless picking and consequent development of persistent skin ulcers in particular facial areas.
“The reason for this unusual predilection is unclear.”
Patients can be treated with drugs — including anaesthetic creams to ease the pain — as well as surgery in some cases.
Medics recommend people wear gloves as often as possible, trim their nails and covering their face during the night to prevent more scratching.