A 39-year-old Texas woman said that she had skin burned off of her nose to treat a rare condition that caused her nose to double in size.
Doctors used a laser to burn off 3 millimeters from her nose, freeing Adrianna Ely to finally breathe normally again for the first time since 2013.
That was the year when the tip of her nose turned red and bulbous. Soon, she had to use her fingers to open her nostrils if she wanted to breathe through her nose.
Ely said the condition destroyed her confidence and she struggled to go out at all, worried that people would stare at her nose.
Ely was diagnosed with rhinophyma.
HR worker whose nose DOUBLED in size can finally have a social life again after ‘bulbous’ skin is burned off https://t.co/ef7jfpQrmd
— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) March 7, 2019
“It’s a condition which causes the skin on the nose to morph and grow. My nose was so drastically different. It got to a point where it didn’t even feel like a nose anymore. It felt like a blob without structure,” Ely told SWNS. “My nose was changing so much that I didn’t even recognize myself. I was really conscious and worried about it but it was difficult to get an official diagnosis.”
According to Mount Sinai, rhinophyma is a large, red-colored nose with a bulb shape.
“Rhinophyma was once thought to be caused by heavy alcohol use. This is not correct. Rhinophyma occurs equally in people who do not use alcohol and in those who drink heavily. The problem is much more common in men than in women. The cause of rhinophyma is unknown. It may be a severe form of a skin disease called rosacea. It is an uncommon disorder,” it stated.
Symptoms include a thickening of the skin, a waxy surface, and a bulb-like shape. The condition can be treated with surgery, which may be done with a laser, scalpel, or rotating brush; after surgery, the condition can return.
Ely said no one was unkind to her but she still felt self-conscious.
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“I worried about stares or having to meet new people who didn’t know my story,” she said. Doctors had little to say because the condition rarely affects women or anyone under the age of 60.
She finally saw a solution when she watched a TV segment on the condition in 2017.
She approached Dr. Daniel Friedmann of Westlake Dermatology Clinical Research Center in Austin and they devised the laser method.
The laser procedure took two hours.
“It smelled awful, basically he burned my skin off with an aggressive laser. My doctor prepared me for how it would look when it was done but I when I took off my mask and looked in the mirror at home I was shocked,” Ely said.
Fractionated carbon dioxide laser resurfacing as an ideal treatment option for severe rhinophyma: a case report and discussion https://t.co/NaxSflnZXs pic.twitter.com/tGazyqmXqF
— JCAD (@JCADermatology) January 22, 2019
“My skin was charred and oozing. It was black, green and raw. I had just put blind faith in someone to burn my skin off. I just prayed and prayed that it would grow back,” she added.
Ely had to go back to the clinic on a weekly basis for more laser treatments, which gradually reshaped her nose.
The skin eventually healed and Ely is speaking out about what she went through.
“There’s been a drastic and incredible difference from that first day until now. I think the whole experience has been a life changer for me. I can hardly even put it into words,” Ely said. “I think this experience opened me up to what others go through and made me more sensitive and compassionate toward other people.”
