Lauren Bell knew from her own family how painful chronic skin diseases are. Her brother, Rhys, has suffered from dermatitis, a chronic inflammatory skin condition also known as eczema, since he was three years old. The upper layers of skin become inflamed and those affected suffer from severe itching.
Lauren Bell was looking for a way to help her brother – and found it through her studies. The Welshwoman studied design at university and developed a device for her final project that is intended to provide relief to those affected by dermatitis. It is a star-shaped object with knobs that resemble the shape of fingernails. If you run it over the inflamed areas, both the shape and the cooling effect of the meal are said to relieve the itching.
“Anyone with eczema or psoriasis knows that it’s really difficult not to scratch when you have a skin condition,” Lauren Bell told BBC Radio Wales. Scratching the skin can lead to infection and make the condition worse. Her brother looked at times as if he was suffering from severe burns. As a child, her parents had to tie his hands so that he wouldn’t scratch himself. His illness was so severe that he said he was unable to work for a year and a half and even did not leave the house for a year.
“It felt like I was dying. Like being on fire 24/7 or getting stabbed all over my body,” says Rhys Bell, describing his ordeal. At least every three days he had to resort to steroid creams, which are often used to treat eczema. The device that his sister designed helped him get the itching under better control.
“I wanted to create something that would give him relief without causing harm,” explains Lauren, who herself suffered from the disease in her childhood. So she developed the “Cooling Scratch Star,” which is supposed to simulate scratching. Her invention is now also being mass-produced and sold. According to the manufacturer, the device should be stored in the refrigerator; the cool feeling on the skin should then “make the itching disappear naturally.”
Quellen: BBC Radio Wales / Wales Online / MSD Manuals / Cosi Care
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