Woman says medications don't help.
48-year-old Lara Awalt from the United States lives with erythromelalgia, an ultra-rare disease causing burning pain, redness and heat of the skin, most often on the face, feet and hands. This happened after she had her ear cartilage pierced.
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For two years, Lara is unable to leave the house and can only eat cold food, as any small amount of heat or stress causes her face to turn red.
Lara is now from South Carolina, USA, and is an advocate for raising awareness of erythromelalgia.
She says: “I've tried dozens of medications and absolutely nothing helps. I'm completely at a loss.”
In April 2022, Lara had a cartilage piercing in her right ear. Two days later, the ear became red, warm to the touch, and swollen.
Lara explains: “I thought it might be an infection, so I went to the emergency room. But the doctors told me it wasn't an infection.”
Over the next days, the redness spread to Lara’s cheek, and two weeks later it covered her entire face, neck and left ear. The woman says the pain was unbearable.
“I felt like I was burning alive, as if my face was in front of an oven,” the woman recalls.
For a long time, doctors could not diagnose Lara and prescribed various antibiotics, which did not help her at all.
In September 2022, Lara was referred to a dermatologist at the Medical University of South Carolina. There she was diagnosed with erythromelalgia. Despite the diagnosis, doctors were only able to offer Lara a list of medications, including blood pressure medications, antidepressants and anticonvulsants.
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