Last updated 17:36, Tuesday, 16 September 2008

Almost everyone is unhappy with something about their appearance, whether it’s a mole, a receding hairline, fat thighs or crow’s feet around the eyes.

• Photos: more pictures of Sara

Sara Middleton

The clinics offer treatments for a range of conditions. Specially selected creams and powders are applied, tailored to each person’s skin colour, to disguise or lessen the impact of marks. Not all can be covered completely but most can at least be reduced.

For most of us these can be tackled with cosmetics, exercise, a different hairstyle or plastic surgery – if they matter that much.

But many people have far more serious problems with their appearance, ones that can ruin their lives. Scars, birthmarks, certain skin conditions and even ill-advised tattoos are often enough to cause loss of confidence, low self-esteem, depression and in some cases even mental illness.

This is what a new clinic in Carlisle has been set up to tackle.

The Red Cross has just opened a free skin camouflage service at Cooper Way, Kingstown, to offer treatment to people living in the city and the north of the county who have serious skin blemishes or disfigurements affecting their lives.

The clinic has a range of creams that can conceal various marks on the skin for up to 48 hours at a time.

Sue Coole, the Red Cross’s skin camouflage co-ordinator, said: “Nearly one third of the population has some form of skin condition or scar which disfigures their appearance.

“For many this will not affect their lives, but for some it has devastating consequences.”

For the past 33 years the Red Cross has been running similar clinics in other parts of the country, but up until now north Cumbria did not have one of its own, and Cumbria services manager Bronwen Lewis said: “We have decided that we now have to fill that gap.”

Previously, the nearest skin camouflage clinics were in Newcastle upon Tyne and Kendal, and until now many north Cumbrians had to attend one of those if they wanted treatment, so Ms Coole said: “We know there’s a demand for a clinic in Carlisle. We are so pleased that patients won’t have to travel so far any more.”

Having a local clinic will also allow them to help more patients, by raising the profile of their work. She added: “We are meeting so many people who say: ‘We wish we’d known about the service before.’”

One of the most common conditions treated is vitilago, in which white patches appear on the skin.

Scars from burns or accidents are the next most common complaint and rosacea, where the face gets very red, and port wine stains, which are purple-coloured birthmarks, are also common.

“We can treat port wine stains really successfully,” Ms Lewis said. “Dark tattoos we can cover to some extent – we can make them look like a very small bruise – but we can’t cover them completely.

“If somebody has been self-harming they may have a lot of scars on their arm. Again, we can cover them to some extent but we can’t make them go away.”

The clinics are open to both men and women but 90 per cent of those who attend are female, and Ms Lewis said they were keen to encourage more men to come forward.

She said men’s general reluctance to seek help, and the greater pressure on women to look good, could account for the imbalance.

“It’s easier to get women through the door than men,” she said. “Men tend to avoid going to the doctor, and some of them say: ‘I’m not putting make-up on.’

“We have to explain to them that the creams aren’t make-up.”

The Red Cross works with the National Health Service to provide the clinics, and patients have to be referred by a GP or consultant to attend.

Within eight weeks of being referred they will have a session with a practitioner at the clinic.

Pauline Bibby, one of the practitioners, explained the format.

She said: “We start by asking what the problem is, what they would like help with.

“Then matching a cream is an important part.”

The clinics have a range of 150 different creams for covering marks, each a slightly different colour to match different skin tones.

Ms Bibby said: “We use a transparent spatula to hold the cream against the skin and see whether it’s right or not.

“Then I use a very, very tiny paintbrush to apply a little bit to the skin, and you can see very quickly if we have the right match.”

By trial and error, and by blending creams, a perfect match for each patient is eventually found.

Ms Bibby then applies the cream, explaining to her patients how it is done so that they can apply it themselves in the future. They can then buy the cream either privately or by prescription and can always return for a follow-up session if necessary.

Ms Bibby said working there was very rewarding.

“This morning I’ve seen two ladies, and both went away absolutely delighted because we’ve hidden blemishes that had been bothering them for a very long time. It is wonderful, because you a making such a difference to someone’s life.”

Sara's story: DOCTORS had tried to remove Sara Middleton’s port wine stain birthmark with lasers. But the treatment hadn’t worked and she was taunted by other youngsters yelling “scarface”, “freak” or “elephant girl”.

“My looks frightened other kids,” recalled Sara, now 18. By her teens, when other girls her age began going on dates with boys, she was the only one who hadn’t been kissed.

It got so bad that Sara took to tearing at her face with her fingernails.

“I hated being me. Whenever I felt sad I tore at my face until it bled. Once I grabbed a compass from my pencil case and stuck it into my face. Then I dug it in hard.”

When she was 16 she heard about the Red Cross skin camouflage clinics and attended an appointment at one in Sunderland. A practitioner selected the appropriate cream and applied it over Sara’s birthmark.

“It was amazing,” she said. “It was like watching a magic spell. After 15 minutes it was flawless.”

She learned to apply the cream herself. “I went back to school and walked down the corridors with my head held high.” She has now had a boyfriend. “My world is so different. I have a great social life and loads of friends. I don’t worry about people looking at me any more.

For more information about the skin camouflage clinic call Sue Coole on 01539 721504.

SBlease@cngroup.co.uk