Day 246 Important Information About Healing Times

Topical steroid withdrawal is an odd beast, and has us all confused.

This week on the itsan forum, I read a post from a man who was 5 years into withdrawals. His skin had improved tremendously in that time, but wasn't fully healed. I think it got many of us wondering how long this process is actually going to take. The same week, we heard from a lady who is about 10 months in and almost completely healed. It is not uncommon to see people suddenly flaring again after many months of withdrawals and calm skin.

The trouble is, there are so many variables at play here. Firstly, there is the amount of time that steroids were used. Some people have been using steroids all their lives and have 40 or more years of application of steroid creams. This has to affect healing times. Then there are other factors, such as age, skin type, diet, etc. A lady on the forum of African descent healed very quickly and I wonder if this was due to her skin type. Another factor is climate and weather. ITSAN has members all over the world. Some of us live in Australia, I'm in the UK and others live in the US, in areas as diverse as Florida, California, Michigan and New York. We have members in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Tunisia. Does the sun help or hinder healing times? What about humidity levels? We are trying to collate our information in a spreadsheet to see if any patterns emerge.

In his papers, Dr Fukaya estimates that healing takes 10-30% of the time that steroid creams were used. In that case, a person who has used steroid for 30 years could, in a worst case scenario, take 9 years to heal completely. It is a scary thought. I used creams for 15 years, so at best I'm looking at just under 2 years and at worst, it could be 5 years. One thing is certain. I will never use steroid creams again.

As for me, 8 months off the creams and I would say I'm 80-90% healed. I have normal skin on my arms and most of my legs, my back and torso. My face is nearly normal colour. My current problem area is my chest, just above my bra-line. Unbelievably, I have started oozing again in this area, which is a real downer for me. I thought the oozing stage was over with. To get it in context though, my skin is pretty good. I'm hoping it will stay that way! It is quite scary to think that a flare could still come at any time. It is a bit like sitting on a time bomb.