A navy veteran who stopped leaving his house in daytime because of a huge growth on the end of his nose has had his life transformed.
Ian Arthur, 64, first developed large red bumps on his nose more than 10 years ago and was diagnosed with rosacea, a skin condition causing redness and sensitivity, but his nose continued to expand. Prior to the Covid lockdowns, Ian sought treatment a second time and was prescribed an ointment and a chemical scrub which also did not help.
By 2022 he started isolating himself because of the size of his nose and only left his house to ride his motorcycle - when his face was hidden by his helmet. In desperation he went private, and was diagnosed with nasal deformity rhinophyma. Now it has been lasered off and his life was transformed.
His face has been transformed by the operation (Ever Clinic / SWNS)Ian, who served in the Navy for 32 years, told Manchester Evening News: “It became much worse and much more noticeable until, by two years ago, I started to feel like a freak. In my isolation, I called my nose John, after John Merrick in The Elephant Man.
"It was a huge carbuncle, which people could not avoid looking at. During Covid, I began to withdraw from society and, when it ended, I just couldn't face meeting people. I wound down my business, because I felt clients were just staring at my nose.
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"I even began shopping late in the evening, when there were fewer people about. The last time I was out in public was when I rode my motorcycle around northern Europe, but that was only because I could wear a full-face helmet, and no one could see me. That was bliss."
Ian was desperate for his situation to change - and his daughter insisted he take action. He discovered aesthetic doctor Cormac Convery, at Glasgow's Ever Clinic - and saw that they had successfully treated a more severe case of rhinophyma.
Ian, originally from Manchester, underwent a two-hour CO2 laser treatment to remove excess skin tissue around the nose, which he described as "like stripping layers of wallpaper". Dr. Convery then used a pulsed mode laser to restore the original shape of Ian's nose, followed by a controlled full ablation to avoid obvious scarring.
Ian added: “Eventually my daughter insisted I had to do something about the condition, and I began looking for solutions. I thought about going to Turkey, on cost grounds, but I thought that with my luck I would probably get a dodgy doctor and my nose would fall off on the way home.
“At last, I discovered the Ever Clinic, virtually on my doorstep. I saw pictures of what they had done with another poor soul who was, if anything, worse than me. The cost was affordable. I was dealt with in a single treatment of two and a half hours and, yes, it has changed my life.
“You must understand, I am a basically a working class, northern lad and I felt very nervous and out of place in a private clinic. But the staff were brilliant and Dr Convery was utterly superb. I am so thankful. Now it has gone, a huge weight has been lifted from me."
Ian now has a new lease on life, and plans to make up for his time in isolation by travelling the world on his motorbike and has so far visited Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Gibraltar.
He joked: “I'm just going to follow my nose.”
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