A South Carolina woman has been left unable to shower due to a debilitating water allergy, which causes her to experience excruciating itchiness upon contact with H2O.
“It’s been difficult to navigate as a young woman,” Loren Montefusco, 22, told Caters News Agency of her condition.
The Southerner specifically suffers from aquagenic urticaria, a variant of hives that causes a rash to break out following exposure to water. This affliction is extremely rare with only 37 recorded cases in medical literature.
When Montefusco showers or otherwise comes into contact with water, she experiences intense itching, which can last for up to an hour.
“It feels like the itch is deep below the surface of my skin,” described the poor gal. “I try my hardest not to itch, but I can’t help it.”
To make matters worse, there is reportedly no way to alleviate the agony. “I just have to ride it out,” described Montefusco. “I claw at my skin to put myself in more pain so I don’t feel it irritation of the itching.”
Read the full story at the New York Post.
