Meet Louise. The 28-year-old is seeking the help of Dr. Emma Craythorne on TLC’s Save My Skin because of a skin condition that has taken over her life.
Louise used topical steroid creams for years to treat her eczema, but became anxious about how the continued use would affect her. She went cold turkey on the medication and her skin became so red, raw and painful that she stays in her house. Is she suffering from topical steroid withdrawal? That’s what Dr. Emma hopes to find out.
“Things are not as good as I thought they were going to be,” Louise explains in the exclusive clip above.
“It makes me feel really sad for her, that she’s put so much of her life on hold, for something that I know is not going to give her the results that she wants,” Dr. Emma says.
Dr. Emma knows there’s a challenge ahead of her because of Louise’s staunch resistance to using steroids. Now, the good doctor believes Louise’s eczema has become infected and is flaring—and she can fix it in two weeks of Louise goes along with her treatment plan. Louise isn’t ready to reintroduce the topical steroids.
“It just makes me feel really sad and really frustrated looking at her skin that is very severe, and we have all these things that we can use to help her. I just hope that she might start to open her mind to some of the more conventional ways of treating her eczema,” Dr. Emma says.
Louise is one of the first patients in TLC’s new series Save My Skin. The show follows Dr. Emma in her private practice as one of England’s top dermatologists.
“At TLC, audiences absolutely love our unmatched stories of transformation, where we showcase some of the best doctors in their fields improving lives, inside and out,” Howard Lee, president and GM of TLC, said in a statement. “Dr. Emma brings incredible humility, heart and humor to each of her cases and most importantly, gives patients their confidence back. I’m so excited for her to join our growing roster of amazing doctors on TLC.”
Save My Skin premieres with a special sneak peek on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 11 p.m. after My Feet Are Killing Me. The series moves to its normal slot on Thursdays, 9 p.m. on TLC on March 5.