Back in the early days of TSW, I used to do a lot of research. I have slacked off a bit recently.
However, I recently uncovered a lot of information on the internet from India, where steroid creams, particularly unregulated ones, are causing a huge problem because people use them as fairness creams to lighten their skin.
I found a document with shocking pictures of the damage that unregulated, potent steroids have done to the faces of innocent people. It is so sad to see, but it is a very useful document to print off and show doctors who don't believe that this is a real condition.
In India, they call the condition TSDF, or Topical Steroid Damaged Face.
If you are interested in the subject, Googling the term will bring to to several more interesting articles, as well as a Facebook page dedicated to stopping the use of these creams.
I also found a sad article about a little baby only 6 months old who had been prescribed a potent steroid by a quack doctor. I hope the baby is ok now.
The group publicising this information have their own petition, asking that the sale of OTC steroids in India be stopped. You can sign the petition here. They have 850 signatures, so if all of the itsan people can get behind them too, we could make a real difference.
Thursday, 28 August 2014
Monday, 25 August 2014
Happy Anniversary Itsan Forum!
Did you realise that the Itsan forum is nearly a year old?
The forum, as we know it, went live at the beginning of September 2013.
It maybe feels longer for me because I was a member of the Google group that preceded it. The google group was relatively small, with only a handful of people and the forum didn't really work too well in that many of the threads got buried and mixed up. When we had a new forum last September, it was a breath of fresh air, as it allowed us to handle the large volume of people coming to Itsan, as well as organising different threads better.
The admin asked me to be a Global Moderator from day 1. I was unsure at first as it felt like a huge responsibility and I was worried I would spend hours every day tied to the computer. Luckily, it hasn't been like that. It was easy to pick things up and these days the forum tends to run itself. I can go on holiday and leave the forum for a week and know that things will be OK. Members tend to moderate each other anyway and if someone says something that the others don't agree with, they will soon put them right! Likewise, when new folk join the forum looking for help and encouragement, by the time I have logged on to welcome them, many people will have already taken the newbie under their wing and given them a warm welcome. I really appreciate this. It makes life much easier for the mods.
We have had to learn "on the job" and some decisions have been harder than others. The decision to delete a post or warn a member is always incredibly difficult, but luckily is a very rare occurrence. One of the biggest changes we made in the early days was to add an "experimental treatments" board. Whilst Itsan official line is that nothing heals but time, the admin appreciate that many people like to try different therapies and methods as they go through TSW and this has led to some really interesting discussions. My personal view is that nothing speeds up TSW, but I totally respect those who disagree and secretly hope that they are right, because it would be brilliant to find something that does speed this thing up!
The forum is always incredibly busy and I've been working hard lately trying to file away some of the posts that get dumped in the "general section" to make them more visible to users. Certain topics are very popular, so I hope at some point to merge similar threads together.
We are getting about 5 new members a day, which is just fantastic. Some of them lurk, some post occasionally and some are regular posters, but all are most welcome, however they choose to use the forum.
As of today, the current stats are:
Members: 1768
Posts: 25363
Topics: 2562
Categories: 8
Boards: 89
Most Online at Same Time: 201
It would be really cool to hit the 2000 members mark before September 1, but it is still a drop in the ocean compared to the millions worldwide who still use steroid cream.
So a BIG thank you to everyone who makes the forum such a great place to be. We have laughed together, cried together and comforted each other. I feel privileged to know such a great bunch of people.
Here's hoping that the forum will be even bigger and better in the coming year and that more people find healing upon cessation of topical steroids.
The forum, as we know it, went live at the beginning of September 2013.
It maybe feels longer for me because I was a member of the Google group that preceded it. The google group was relatively small, with only a handful of people and the forum didn't really work too well in that many of the threads got buried and mixed up. When we had a new forum last September, it was a breath of fresh air, as it allowed us to handle the large volume of people coming to Itsan, as well as organising different threads better.
The admin asked me to be a Global Moderator from day 1. I was unsure at first as it felt like a huge responsibility and I was worried I would spend hours every day tied to the computer. Luckily, it hasn't been like that. It was easy to pick things up and these days the forum tends to run itself. I can go on holiday and leave the forum for a week and know that things will be OK. Members tend to moderate each other anyway and if someone says something that the others don't agree with, they will soon put them right! Likewise, when new folk join the forum looking for help and encouragement, by the time I have logged on to welcome them, many people will have already taken the newbie under their wing and given them a warm welcome. I really appreciate this. It makes life much easier for the mods.
We have had to learn "on the job" and some decisions have been harder than others. The decision to delete a post or warn a member is always incredibly difficult, but luckily is a very rare occurrence. One of the biggest changes we made in the early days was to add an "experimental treatments" board. Whilst Itsan official line is that nothing heals but time, the admin appreciate that many people like to try different therapies and methods as they go through TSW and this has led to some really interesting discussions. My personal view is that nothing speeds up TSW, but I totally respect those who disagree and secretly hope that they are right, because it would be brilliant to find something that does speed this thing up!
The forum is always incredibly busy and I've been working hard lately trying to file away some of the posts that get dumped in the "general section" to make them more visible to users. Certain topics are very popular, so I hope at some point to merge similar threads together.
We are getting about 5 new members a day, which is just fantastic. Some of them lurk, some post occasionally and some are regular posters, but all are most welcome, however they choose to use the forum.
As of today, the current stats are:
Members: 1768
Posts: 25363
Topics: 2562
Categories: 8
Boards: 89
Most Online at Same Time: 201
It would be really cool to hit the 2000 members mark before September 1, but it is still a drop in the ocean compared to the millions worldwide who still use steroid cream.
So a BIG thank you to everyone who makes the forum such a great place to be. We have laughed together, cried together and comforted each other. I feel privileged to know such a great bunch of people.
Here's hoping that the forum will be even bigger and better in the coming year and that more people find healing upon cessation of topical steroids.
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