A woman who is allergic to water has spoken out about her condition and how it affects her life, as well as whether she's able to shower.
Abbie appeared on Truly's Born Different series to explain what her life is like when her skin has a reaction to water.
She has a condition called aquagenic urticaria, which causes hives to break out on the skin after coming into contact with water.
It's an extremely rare condition, with only a small amount of confirmed cases around the world.
Advert
It causes swelling, itching and burning on the skin when water makes contact with it.
Symptoms show after just a few minutes of being exposed to water and Abbie said her skin broke out in 'red, itchy hives' which she described as 'very painful'.
"The main question people ask me when I tell them about my condition is 'how do I shower' and 'do I shower', that's always the big question," she said of the thing people were most curious about when it came to aquagenic urticaria.
"I tell them I shower just like everybody else. I still shower normally every week but I do try to keep it down, you know, minimum time in the shower when washing so the flare ups aren't as bad.
Advert
"I can easily drink water, I'm not allergic internally. It's only externally, so I'm only allergic on my skin so I can drink water."
She explained that the temperature or pressure of the water didn't matter, it was just the constant stream of it on her back which was provoking a reaction.
Abbie explained that showering was the most likely activity to get a reaction from her skin.
"I first started experiencing symptoms in around October, November 2017. I was only I think 16 years old when it started to happen," she said of when the condition first emerged.
Advert
"Asked my mum if she knew why it was happening, my mum wasn't very sure either why my skin was flaring up.
"I think it was a bit difficult for my mum when I was going through the early symptoms, her daughter's going through something, she obviously doesn't want her to be in pain.
"We really didn't have a clue what was happening, I think it was quite hard for her to try and deal with it."
There are others with aquagenic urticaria and like Abbie they've said that even their own tears can be harmful to them.
Topics: Health
Joe Harker