Sometimes our bodies can go wrong in the most horrific ways. While pregnant with her son, a woman developed a disease that causes her skin to feel like it is constantly burning, making her life a living hell.
Initially, Rachel Bradford went to the doctor with an itchy rash developing on her skin. It was dismissed as a symptom linked to being pregnant. She was 24 weeks into it at this point, and sometimes odd side effects will occur.
The rash had become extraordinarily itchy, and eventually began to feel like it was burning. To add to the pain, the skin would often blister, and she experienced spasms. Numbness would also spread across her limbs. Despite her concerns, the doctors still dismissed it as a symptom of her pregnancy.
The pain was becoming excruciating, often feeling as though she was burning all over her skin. “They told us it was nothing to worry about, and we were sent away,” Her husband told The Independent. “We were still being told it could go after pregnancy, it was just sort of brushed off.”
Burning Skin Becomes a Burden
But once Rachel had given birth, the condition only worsened. Her skin felt like it was constantly on fire, and the burning pain had become excruciating. To make things worse, her spasms were worsening, and the patches around her body would constantly change.
“Her skin goes black, blue, red, and blotchy. Her skin is boiling hot to the touch. She feels like she is burning alive all day, every day. She has spasms, loses feeling in her feet, toes, hands, and legs, which means she loses use of those limbs for a certain amount of time every day; she has no control over this,” her husband explained on a GoFundMe page.
Finally, she was diagnosed with the worst case of erythromelalgia in the UK. This is a rare condition that causes extreme heat, changes in the color of the skin on the bottom of the feet, such as redness or darkening of the skin.
Speaking to the Independent, she explained how it has affected her life. “This condition has taken everything away from me, pregnancy and motherhood, my job, my mobility, my independence – I can’t even play with my son.”
There is little that the hospitals have been able to do. Their only suggestion was to put some socks on.