A former Ex on the Beach star and bikini model has warned of the devastating side effects she experienced after using a common skin cream – which she says left her “looking like Freddy Krueger”.
Laura-Alicia Summers previously spent a whopping £381,250 on a huge list of plastic surgeries – including numerous boob jobs, nose jobs, BBLs, two ‘designer vagina’ procedures, and even work on her ear lobes – to achieve her goal of becoming a model.
But devastatingly, amidst a thriving career of glamour and bikini modelling, as well as her stint on reality TV, she started to suffer adverse effects from a steroid cream she was using to treat eczema.
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The 42-year-old’s health rapidly deteriorated as she developed ‘red skin syndrome’ – a severe, intense burning reaction that happens after ceasing use of topical steroids.
Her entire body has been affected, and Laura-Alicia had been hospitalised and even housebound at times due to the pain.
“To watch the face and body I worked so hard to build be affected by what I believe was a preventable condition has been devastating,” the model, from Nottingham, told Need To Know.
“I know some people may view it as shallow, but my appearance has always been important to me.
“Before this illness, “I had an amazing life that I had worked incredibly hard to build, and overnight it felt like everything I had worked for had been taken away.
“Much of my career and identity revolved around my appearance – watching that be stripped away has been one of the most painful aspects of this journey.
“I don’t recognise myself anymore.
“Some days I see a burnt tomato staring back at me.
“Other days I feel like I look reptilian, and at my worst I joke that I resemble Freddie Krueger – except this isn’t a horror film, this is my real life.
“I’ve gained over two stone, which obviously is very dramatic when you’re a size 6-8.
“I can’t go to the gym or work out because as soon as I start getting hot my skin sweats and feels like it’s acid running down it.”
During a severe flare, Laura can become bedbound for weeks at a time.
She said: “It isn’t just about how my skin looks; my body struggles to regulate its temperature, so I constantly feel as though I have the flu.
“My skin burns, oozes and cracks, and every movement feels like someone is giving me thousands of paper cuts across my arms, neck and legs.
“I get intense burning and stinging pain, as though my skin is on fire.
“It feels like living with a ticking time bomb because I never know when the next flare will happen.
“I have identified a few triggers, but despite years of investigations and countless medical tests – including travelling to America for specialist testing – we still haven’t found the cause.
“My life has done a total 180.
“Every aspect of it has changed – and not for the better.”
Laura-Alicia’s career took off at 18 after her first nose job, when she started doing bikini and glamour modelling.
She has invested heavily in her looks, with £261,000 spent on plastic surgeries [full list below], £19,500 on filler across her face, as well as her nipples, bottom, hands, neck and chest, £27,300 on Botox, and £73,200 on countless other beauty treatments.
At the height of her success, she appeared in Playboy magazine and visited the mansion, travelled “50 times a year”, and starred in the 2015 Ex on the Beach celebrity special.
She said: “My confidence was amazing.”
It was while in Mexico filming the show that her skin issue – which she now knows is called Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) – first appeared on her hands.
She added: “I can remember missing two days of filming as I needed to go to the hospital to get treatment.
“My skin had gotten really bad.”
Back home, she says doctors insisted it was simply eczema – and continued to prescribe the creams, increasing their strength – but the model began to suspect something worse was at play.
Eventually, the steroids stopped having any effect at all four years ago – and Laura has since been left to ride out withdrawal symptoms that have had a devastating impact on her health.
The severe response to quitting steroid creams after a long period of use has led to hospitalisations due to extreme pain and a massive decrease in Laura-Alicia’s quality of life.
It’s even part of the reason she hasn’t been able to start a family of her own.
Laura-Alicia, who was using steroid creams since childhood, said: “Living with a condition like this makes dating and maintaining relationships incredibly difficult, and that loss has weighed heavily on me.
“I can’t truly put into words how it feels to have had my life paused for the last four to six years because of this condition.
“I hardly have a social life anymore, and I feel like a shadow of the person I used to be.”
Being sick for so long has meant Laura-Alicia hasn’t been able to work in her previous industry.
She said: “I have lost dream job opportunities and thousands of pounds in income, and so much of the social life I once enjoyed.
“I should be in Malibu living in a mansion, not worrying about where my next meal is coming from.”
Laura-Alicia now believes stronger warnings are needed on the steroid creams, and says she feels “let down” by the NHS because of her repeat prescriptions being issued without reviewing the long-term potential risks.
She added: “I genuinely feel as though I’ve been poisoned by something that was meant to help me, and I believe much of this could have been prevented.”
Laura-Alicia has even been hospitalised on three occasions – twice for swelling of the face, neck and throat which left her struggling to breathe and swallow, and once for a painful skin infection.
She added: “The mental and physical toll has been exhausting beyond words.
“But, despite everything, I try very hard not to see myself as a victim.
“I have always considered myself a fighter and a survivor.
“I have spent my life approaching challenges with positivity, resilience, and determination – but I would be lying if I said this journey hasn’t tested me in ways I never imagined possible.
“More than anything, I want to share my story to help others.
“If speaking out can prevent even one person from going through what I have endured, then it will be worth it.
“As for my previous career, I sadly believe that chapter of my life has now closed, which has been incredibly difficult to accept.
“However, I still believe I can build a fulfilling future doing something I genuinely enjoy.
“I now work as a removal consultant, helping people organise and coordinate their house moves.
“It’s a little like being a wedding planner, except instead of planning weddings, I help people through one of the biggest transitions in their lives – and I’m really enjoying this new chapter.
“I’m determined to find purpose again, continue raising awareness of TSW, and hopefully one day find love and have the opportunity to build the life I’ve always dreamed of.”
LIST OF SURGERIES AND TREATMENTS LAURA-ALICIA HAS UNDERGONE, TOTAL: £381,250
- Breast enlargements x4 £47,000
- Breast reduction x4 £52,000
- Areola reduction x3 £24,000
- Ears pinned back x2 £3,200
- Ear lobe reduction £2,400
- Chin and jaw reduction and contouring x2 £25,000
- Laser eye surgery £5,000
- Nose job x8 £62,000
- ‘Designer vagina’ x2 £8,000
- Eyelid upper blephoplasty x2 £8,000
- Fat transfer to breasts (£2,000)
- Brazilian bum lift x4 (£20,000)
- Neck laser and tightening £1,000
- Lipo tummy tightening £2,000
- Chin filler x2 £600
- Filler in temples x4 £1,300
- Tear trough filler x5 £3,000
- Filler dissolved x2 £300
- Lip filler x6 £2,700
- Nose filler x2 £1,250
- Cheek filler x7 £1,750
- Nipple filler x2 £850
- Bum filler £5,000
- Profhilo on back of hands, neck and chest £2,400
- Full face of Botox (over 12 years, 3 times a year) £24,000
- Arm pit Botox x6 £2,300
- Neck Botox x4 £1,000
- Teeth straightened, composite bonded, whitened and Invisalign £8,000
- Eyebrow tattooing x5 £1,450
- Acne laser treatments £2,000
- Tattoo laser removal £750
- Laser hair removal full body £3,000
- Fat freeze, cavitation and radio frequency tightening treatments £2,500
- Specialist brown contact lenses [her eyes are blue] (£70 per pair) £5,600
- Vampire facials x10 £1,200
- Hair line tattoo £3,600
- 24 crowns top and bottom teeth £30,000
- Under eyes and top eyelids plasma pen £2,000
- PRP for hairline £4,000
- Profhilo collagen treatments £3,600
- Lip tattooing x2 £600
- Fat dissolving radio frequency and cavitation to stomach x16 £1,300
- Plasma pen under eyes and face x2 £3,600
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My niece in Sweden had Topical Steroid Withdrawal. She got Cold Plasma Therapy from a beauty clinic in Sweden. It helped a lot.