A 16-year-old girl in the UK has been diagnosed with an extremely rare condition that essentially allows her to use her body as a human notepad.
Lucy Pearce’s skin is so sensitive that even lightly scratching a simple itch will leave the area covered in hives in a matter of minutes.
When Lucy first started breaking out in hives—from anything as harmless as getting dressed or putting on makeup—a little more than three years ago, her parents, Jackie and John, immediately took her to see a doctor.
Even the most experienced medical professionals were completely baffled by Lucy’s strange symptoms and they had no idea what to do.
It wasn’t until she tested positive for a rare form of urticarial called dermatographia that Lucy finally understood what she was dealing with.
Dermographism, or “skin writing,” is thought to be caused when the cells right underneath the surface of the skin release histamines under even the lightest pressure, according to The Daily Mail.
While antihistamines may be able to soothe the itchy, red rash that dermatographia sufferers are constantly covered in, the rare condition currently has no cure.
At first, Lucy was embarrassed of her skin—which has pretty much turned her into a walking notepad—but after discovering a helpful support group on Facebook, she now loves how dermatographia makes her unique and special.
“At first I was really freaked out by what was happening to my body but now I've learned to love it because there are so many advantages,” she said.
More than anything, Lucy loves using her arm to take notes, especially right before an exam.
“It's really useful for learning important information, while revising for exams I write on my skin and find that I remember my notes much easier,” she revealed. “If I revised from books or my notepads the answers are right there in front of me but with my condition I can just jot down some keywords and carry on with my day, to see what I remember from that.”
The best part about the strange skin condition is that anything Lucy writes on her arms will typically disappear within 30 minutes.
“It's also quite handy if I need to pick something up from the shops, if I write it on my skin it's there for half an hour so I don't forget and then it fades away,” Lucy, who hopes to study dentistry once she attends university, said.
While Lucy enjoys taking advantage of her condition by writing notes with her fingers, she also knows how to avoid some of the telltale triggers that can make the rash worse.
“Since knowing I have dermatographia I've been able to learn some of my triggers like stress, hot environments or eating foods with histamine in them like chocolate - so I tend to avoid them,” she said.
