A TV reporter has opened up about how treatment for a skin breakout left her with terrible acne.
Frances Wang, a 27-year-old anchor and reporter at WFOR-CBS4, was diagnosed with perioral dermatitis this year shortly after moving to Miami, Florida.
Before moving, Wang hoped the Miami humidity would clear up the slight eczema she has had for years.
She tried covering the itchy, dry patches on her face with makeup when she went on air, but the problem persisted so she sought out a dermatologist.
Wang said she was prescribed a topical steroid cream for her eczema, which initially worked – then made her face breakout worse than ever.
She said she didn’t realize there were steroids in the skin cream. She took a sick day after the breakout and was prescribed more steroids, which only made matters worse.
‘My face blew up. It looked like a giant rash, like I had a crazy allergic reaction with acne on top of it,’ she said, according to the Miami Herald.
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She spent months trying to hide her skin problems at her on-air job. She tried dozens of treatments and medications. She stopped wearing makeup, tried different diets, and even drank celery juice every morning for three weeks – but nothing worked.
‘Whenever I could see myself for too long in the peripheral screen, my heart would start racing, my palms were sweaty and I was so nervous,’ she said.
‘There was a time in July when I felt like I was doing such a horrible job I was reconsidering my whole career…And only in hindsight did I realize it was coming from the insecurity of my face.’
The condition left Wang in serious pain. Doctors diagnosed her with perioral dermatitis, a rash around the mouth that makes talking or eating painful, which usually starts after using topical steroid creams.
Wang decided to share her story in Instagram in September and went off the air in October to ‘heal’ and give her face a break from TV makeup.
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She is now set to return to her job even though her skin has not completely cleared.
Wang said: ‘I’m not fully healed. It’s going to take time – I’m not sure how long. So, I’m hoping people are more forgiving and more kind now that I’ve been so public with what’s going on.’
