Mum whose hands resembled ‘raw red meat’ due to psoriasis could not wear wedding ring until she found £11 ‘magic’ cream

A mother whose psoriasis made her hands resemble “pieces of raw red meat” and who could not wear her wedding ring due to the pain has since found a natural “magic cream” which has “changed (her) life”.

Robyn Brain, a 33-year-old a call centre adviser who lives in Leeds, West Yorkshire, has been suffering with severe psoriasis – a skin condition which causes flaky patches of skin – on her hands for nearly a decade.

It started in her mid-20s, when she suddenly noticed patches of red, blistered skin on her fingers, and this “morphed into covering the majority of her hands”.

“My hands literally turned into what looked like pieces of raw red meat… my skin was super angry, red and cracked,” Robyn told PA Real Life.

She visited the doctor around five times, tried prescription creams and over-the-counter remedies, along with a plant-based diet, but nothing alleviated her symptoms.

She was at her “wits’ end” and thought she would have the symptoms “forever” until she saw a Facebook advert for Oregon Rescue Serum – made from a plant called Oregon grape root – and decided to give it a try.

Within two weeks of using the cream, Robyn said she saw a marked improvement, describing the before and after results as “like night and day” – and she will continue using the product for the foreseeable future.

She said: “You don’t see very many people with (psoriasis).

“It’s not something you’re going to boast about when you walk into a room, saying ‘Look at my hands’, but you just feel like you’re the only person suffering with it.

“You’re at a loss, thinking ‘What do I do? Where do I go? Is this going to be something that goes on forever?’

“But I’m hoping that, by speaking out, other people can see that there are products out there that do work and can make a difference.”

Robyn lives with her 33-year-old husband, Kieren, a retail manager, whom she describes as her “childhood sweetheart”, and they have two children – Aliyah, 15, and Noah, four.

She said she had patches of dry skin on the back of her legs in previous years, but this did not “cause major concern”.

It was only in her mid-20s that the psoriasis “kicked off”, as she suddenly noticed dry, red patches and blistering on her hands – and she believes this was triggered by work stress.

“With it being on your hands, it’s awful because it’s one of your more prominent features,” she said.

Robyn resorted to wearing long jumpers and clothing to hide her hands and visited her GP, desperate for answers.

She was given prescription steroid creams, but these “wouldn’t even touch the surface sometimes”, and she was therefore “back and forth” to her GP for several months.

“I had five doctor’s appointments, maybe a few more, and I tried about three or four creams,” she said.

“I ended up on one of the strongest steroid creams, which took the edge off a little bit, but it was still flaring up every now and then.”

Given that her psoriasis covered both hands, this meant daily tasks – such as washing the dishes – were incredibly difficult and painful.

She even had to take her wedding ring off because it irritated her skin too much.

“With washing the dishes, it was just too sore to be dipping my hands in and out of the water all the time,” Robyn said.

“My husband and I got married (in 2021) and I couldn’t even wear my wedding ring, which was heartbreaking.

“We’d been together for ages, forever, so it was the one thing I wanted to be wearing all the time and I couldn’t.

“My skin was just so irritated and agitated putting it on.”

Describing the pain as being “nine out of 10”, Robyn said day-to-day life was “awful” – but she almost became immune to the symptoms because she could not find a remedy.

She even tried a plant-based diet but, although this improved her symptoms slightly, she still “suffered with it”.

“You feel like you’re in a hopeless situation when nothing’s working, and you almost become immune to it,” she said.

“You build up a pain threshold… and you have to get on with it.

“I was wearing bigger jumpers with longer sleeves to hide my arms, but the pain was enough to make anybody cry at the best of times.”

One night, around four months ago, Robyn came across a Facebook advertisement for Oregon Rescue Serum, which costs £10.95, and she “wanted to know more about it”.

“Because I was at my wits’ end, I was willing to try anything and everything,” she said.

She ordered the serum, praying it would work, and within two weeks she started to notice a difference – the redness reduced and she could move her hands more freely.

Robyn liked the fact the product contained natural ingredients and said it has now become part of her daily “skincare routine”.

Although she still experiences “the odd flare-up”, she said the product has “changed (her) life” – and she is thrilled to be wearing her wedding ring again.

“When I say it’s magic, I’m not beating around the bush. It’s magic cream, that’s the only way I can describe it,” she said.

“I was more willing to try it because it had natural ingredients in it and, as you get older and you read more, you start to take more notice in what you’re putting on your body.

“There’s a lot to be said for natural ingredients, and the proof is in the pudding with me because it transformed my hands. It’s just brilliant.”

To find out more, visit: oregonskincare.co.uk.