WATCH as a woman with a massive keloid protruding from her neck finally gets the skin growth removed.

Olivia, a 28-year-old nurse, grappled with the growing keloid over the course of four years.

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Starting out as a spot, it gradually swelled to the size of a satsuma and left Olivia feeling increasingly self conscious.

“It can be exhausting, trying to constantly be brave, and trying to hide it,” she said.

“It’s my face, this is what everyone sees!

“Often at the end of the day the tears may come, it makes you sad,” an emotional Olivia reflected.

Not only that, the nurse was constantly catching her seat belt or face mask on the growth, which at times became unbearably itchy.

After years of emotional and physical discomfort, Olivia decided to visit consultant dermatologist Dr Emma Craythorne about finally having the keloid removed.

The nurse’s story features in a brand new episode of The Bad Skin Clinic, as the first instalment of the seventh series airs tonight.

The new series will see Dr Craythorne help patients with a number of growths and skin ailments.

“When a skin disease affects the face it can be devastating,” the dermatologist said.

“Not just physically, but also emotionally and socially.”

Though Olivia was desperate to have her keloid removed to improve her self-confidence, the specialist nurse also visited Dr Craythorne for practical reasons.

The growth had gotten so large it has started to impact her work supporting patients with learning disabilities, as well as her everyday activities.

“My keloid… it really does get in the way. I often get my seatbelt rubbing on it.

“If I’m trying to wear masks or PPE at work, I’m quite uncomfortable with it,” the nurse explained.

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Olivia’s keloid also got unbearably itchy at times, leaving her in a frenzy of scratching.

“I’m always rubbing it,” she said.

“It’s like an itch and I can’t stop doing it.”

In an initial consultation at the clinic, Dr Craythorne confirmed that Olivia’s growth was indeed a keloid.

To Olivia’s surprise, Dr Craythorne pointed out that the growth could have been triggered by something as inconspicuous as a small acne spot on her neck.

“Essentially the cells that we have responsible for making a scar are called ‘fibroblasts’,” she explained.

“If you cut yourself, or you have an injury, they start repairing that wound, and then once the injury is healed over, it stops repairing.

“But in somebody who has a tendency to keloids, those fibroblasts don’t stop making scar tissue. So in your case this a genetically-inherited tendency.

“I suspect you might have even had a spot, like an acne spot or something like that. Something really little, and that’s been enough to provoke this response.”

Olivia got yet another surprise when the dermatologist revealed that she would be able to remove through surgery that very same day.

“I know you don’t want it there, but it’s grown in such a beautiful way and does not seem to be going deep into the skin nearby,” Dr Craythorne told the nurse.

“This is a really nice keloid that should get a good outcome from surgery.”

Not expecting to go into surgery that day, Olivia was happy at the idea having the keloid removed and at the same time anxious about the surgery.

“I’m sh****** myself,” she told the dermatologist as she arrived at the theatre, prepped and ready for her op.

QUICK WORK

After injecting the keloid to numb it, Dr Craythorne started making slow and precisely incisions to the keloid with her scalped, which she told Olivia was “fairly superficial”.

“We’re not having to really dig deep down into the skin to find all the roots of it,” the dermatologist explained.

“This is where my yoga and Pilates comes into play,” she joked as she manoeuvred herself around Olivia to get to the keloid from different angles.

Dr Craythorne sliced the little “spud” all the way off before long and stitched up Olivia’s neck, asking the nurse to move her chin to make sure the skin wouldn’t pull.

“Welcome to your new face,” she told a beaming Olivia, handing her a mirror.

Following the op, Dr Craythorne reflected: “When somebody has something that’s different about their face, it has an effect on them.

“Our face is so important to us in terms of communication, in terms of breathing, in terms of speaking, in terms of touch, all of these things.

“But also crucially, it’s a point of contact that people look at, so it’s not the same as having a lump growing somewhere else.

“When it’s right in the middle of your face, it has an impact in all of those ways.”

CONFIDENCE BOOST

Olivia was back at the London clinic two weeks post-op for a check-in.

“I’m just looking forward to showing Dr Emma how my face is getting on.

“Colleagues have mentioned how great things are looking, I even had someone at the chip shop say ‘ooh your thing’s gone!’,” the nurse said.

“Honestly, I feel like people are actually looking at me and talking to me as opposed to looking down at my neck,” Olivia told the dermatologist.

“My lanyard, it’s not getting stuck, it’s just sliding on…seatbelts… even like a bag, I can wear it on this side.

“Before I could never wear a bag this way. All these kinds of things, I’m so so happy,” Olivia went on.

Olivia’s surgery also boosted her self-confidence.

“I feel so pretty,” she said.

“Having it gone is literally life-changing for me. I’m so much more confident, I’m not conscious when I’m taking pictures or even when I’m walking around.

“I’m not really trying to cover my face anymore.

“My life now is amazing. I’m feeling great, really confident, really happy. Just excited for the future!”

The Bad Skin Clinic airs on Really on Tuesdays at 9pm and is available to stream on discovery+.

A NEW smartphone app can tell you if you’re at risk of heart disease, stroke or diabetes, experts say.

MyBVI is an at-home body scan tool that analyses your health in as little as 30 seconds.

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It uses two photos to reveal your body fat, visceral fat, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio and waist circumference – without the need for a tape measure.

Using artificial intelligence (AI) and taking into account your age and gender, this then produces a body volume index (BVI) figure from zero to 20, which determines your likelihood of future health problems.

Generally, the higher the number, the higher your chances of falling ill.

A BVI score below 13 is considered low risk, while figures above 13 indicate an increased risk.

The technology is 23 per cent more accurate than body mass index (BMI) which relies on weight and height alone, scientists claim.

Inventor Richard Barnes said: “With MyBVI, users simply take two images with their smartphone or tablet from the comfort of their home, and within seconds, they receive their measurements.

“It considers where fat is distributed on the body, and how that impacts health, rather than just on total weight.

“Anyone can do it. And the images are never stored or used, ensuring complete privacy.

“BVI is a predictive risk indicator for three of the most significant diseases in global healthcare – diabetes, cardiovascular disease (which encompasses heart disease and stroke) and high blood pressure.”

Developer Select Research hopes it can help ease the burden on medical staff by allowing patients to submit images from home, eliminating the need for GP or other clinic visits.

Those deemed high-risk can then be monitored, “enabling cost-effective preventive care and earlier diagnosis”.

It should also reduce the chances of ‘false positives’ for obesity, particularly in patients with muscular builds, ethnic minorities and women, according to the team.

Richard said: “The government now has an opportunity to fulfil its promise of creating a future-ready NHS by adopting a more accurate understanding of body composition and its impact on health.

“BVI accurately identifies more than four out of five patients who might be at risk of heart disease, stroke or type 2 diabetes – marking a 23 per cent improvement over BMI and outperforming manual measurements.

“These findings indicate that BVI is a more effective risk indicator than BMI, which was created in 1835 and is outdated and inaccurate when assessing individual health.

“After 18 years of development, we’ve created an app that offers more comprehensive body measurements that lowers the cost of entry and could become a new medical standard.

“It offers a more comprehensive approach, with detailed data on total body fat, visceral fat, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, waist circumference and BVI.

“Maintaining good health is important for everyone, so it’s crucial that people have access to accurate tools like MyBVI to make the right decisions about their health.”

It could serve as a powerful screening tool for identifying metabolic syndrome

Researchers

MyBVI is free to download but requires a £3.99-a-month subscription to unlock “premium benefits”.

It presents data on a graph to help users understand how their body changes over time.

The app predicts someone’s metabolic syndrome risk and severity.

A study published in the European Heart Journal – Digital Health found it to be more accurate than BMI.

“The tool offers a more precise alternative to other measures of disease risk, like BMI and waist-to-hip ratio,” the researchers said.

“It could serve as a powerful screening tool for identifying metabolic syndrome.”

Metabolic syndrome can lead to a heart attack, stroke, diabetes, liver disease, and other serious health problems.

People with metabolic syndrome typically have apple-shaped bodies, meaning they carry a lot of their weight around their middle.