Woman who lived as a recluse after her nose DOUBLED in size due has the skin ...

A woman who lived as a recluse after her nose doubled in size due to a rare condition is finally leading a normal life - after having the skin burned off.

Adrianna Ely, 39, from Texas, was concerned when the tip of her nose turned red and bulbous in 2013. 

It continued to grow so big that she had to open her nostrils with a finger in order to breathe freely, she claims.

The problem destroyed her confidence and she began to avoid any situation where she would have to meet new people, fearing they would stare.

Three years later she was diagnosed with rhinophyma, a skin condition in which the sebaceous glands overgrow, causing the nose to appear enlarged, red and nodular.

Drastic measures: Adrianna Ely, from Texas, pictured recovering after literally having 3mm of skin from her nose burned off with a CO2 laser

Drastic measures: Adrianna Ely, from Texas, pictured recovering after literally having 3mm of skin from her nose burned off with a CO2 laser

Ta-dah! The 39-year-old is much happier after successfully resolving her case of  rhinophyma

Ta-dah! The 39-year-old is much happier after successfully resolving her case of  rhinophyma

She then underwent a procedure to burn off 3mm of skin from her nose with a laser, and says the treatment has changed her life.

Ms Ely, a HR manager, who lives in Seabrook, said: 'It's [rhinophyma] a condition which causes the skin on the nose to morph and grow. 

'I started to notice significant changes in 2013. The tip of my nose began to thicken and bulge. 

'Before this happened, my nose was so drastically different. It got to a point where it didn't even feel like a nose anymore. It felt like a blob without structure.

'My nose was changing so much that I didn't even recognise myself. I was really conscious and worried about it but it was difficult to get an official diagnosis.

'I thought it might be linked to a rhinoplasty I had in 2008, so I flew to California where I was eventually diagnosed. 

'At night I started to struggle with breathing and I would put my finger under the tip of my nose just so I could hold my nostril open.' 

Feeling disfigured: Adrianna Ely (left) is seen here when her nose was at its most bulbous 

Feeling disfigured: Adrianna Ely (left) is seen here when her nose was at its most bulbous 

Ouch: 'My skin was charred and oozing. It was black, green and raw. I had just put blind faith in someone to burn my skin off. I just prayed and prayed that it would grow back,' she said

Ouch: 'My skin was charred and oozing. It was black, green and raw. I had just put blind faith in someone to burn my skin off. I just prayed and prayed that it would grow back,' she said

Naturally, she felt hugely self-conscious and even likened herself to a freak.  

'I felt like that guy in the documentary Elephant Man. I felt like this growth was just taking over my whole face,' she added.

'The condition completely changed how I felt about myself. It made me a recluse. I avoided any situation where I might have to meet new people.

'No one I knew was ever unkind to me, but I worried about stares or having to meet new people who didn't know my story.'

Ms Ely said doctors offered little guidance for treatment of the condition, which rarely affects women or people under the age of 60.

It wasn't until she saw a segment about rhinophyma on daytime TV in 2017 that she was finally offered hope.

Healing process: Slowly, the skin began to heal and she started to feel more like herself  

Healing process: Slowly, the skin began to heal and she started to feel more like herself  

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