{"id":612,"date":"2018-10-03T09:09:04","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T09:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/case-study\/april-ball\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T08:06:51","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T08:06:51","slug":"april-ball","status":"publish","type":"reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/case-study\/april-ball\/","title":{"rendered":"April Ball"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>\u201cI am really looking forward to carrying on the diet, trying new recipes and my skin improving even more!\u201d<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Receptionist April Ball suffered with facial urticaria for over three years<\/li>\n<li>Alongside her urticaria, she had also suffered from the debilitating skin condition eczema, since she was a baby<\/li>\n<li>April\u2019s confidence was knocked during her flare-ups due to the nature of her job dealing with clients on a day-to-day basis<\/li>\n<li>The receptionist sought advice from her doctor and was prescribed steroid cream to reduce her flare-ups. However, she was conscious of the side effects of this medication<\/li>\n<li>April\u2019s anxiety of the condition worsened when she got engaged to her partner and became increasingly worried about suffering a breakout on her wedding day<\/li>\n<li>The test revealed she was intolerant to gluten, cashew, cow\u2019s milk and eggs<\/li>\n<li>After eliminating her trigger foods from her diet, her urticaria has vastly improved in a short space of time and she\u2019s now \u201clooking forward to carrying on the diet [and] trying new recipes\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Receptionist April Ball had suffered from urticaria for the <strong>past three years<\/strong>. \u201cI remember the day I woke up and my whole face was swollen and red. I could <strong>barely open my eyes<\/strong>,\u201d April recalls.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/April-Ball-Before-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/>\u201cMy boyfriend took me to the doctors as it was <strong>so sore<\/strong> and started to <strong>weep<\/strong>. This is where I found out I had urticaria\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately for April, she had to battle another skin condition alongside her urticaria. \u201cSince growing up, I have always suffered with really <strong>bad eczema<\/strong> which was on my body. I was able to hide [it] but having a condition on my face was <strong>totally different<\/strong>,\u201d April says.<\/p>\n<p>Trying to manage <strong>two skin conditions<\/strong> left April feeling self-conscious and her confidence suffered as a result. \u201cI wasn\u2019t able to wear make-up. I work in private healthcare meeting patients, consultants and visitors all day. I was <strong>so self-conscious<\/strong> the first time it happened, I called in sick \u2013 luckily work was <strong>really supportive<\/strong> and understanding, and put me in contact with a private dermatologist,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>The receptionist sought advice from her newly-referred dermatologist and was prescribed steroid cream to knock down her flare-ups. \u201cI reluctantly use [it] to this day, as I worry that the <strong>cream will thin my skin<\/strong>. I asked my doctor if there were any allergy\/intolerance testing I could have but, due to the cost, he wasn\u2019t able to provide this, but did say it could be beneficial for me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Reluctant to use her steroid <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/April-Ball-Before-1-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/>cream, April\u2019s self-esteemed was lowered when she got engaged to her partner. What is meant to be one of the most exciting times in her life, April began to <strong>worry<\/strong> about the <strong>outlook and prognosis<\/strong> of her urticaria.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI [was] worried that on the day of the wedding, I will have a<strong> breakout of urticaria<\/strong> and that my make-up wouldn\u2019t cover it,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n<p>Keen to find out the underlying trigger, April decided to take a food sensitivity<em>\u2020 <\/em>test\u00a0after a recommendation from Wellness International.<\/p>\n<p>The home-to-lab food sensitivity<em>\u2020 <\/em>test, which involves sending a finger-prick blood sample to the company\u2019s laboratories, revealed that April was intolerant to <a href=\"\/us\/intolerance\/gluten\/\">gluten<\/a>, <a href=\"\/us\/intolerance\/egg\/\">egg white<\/a>, <a href=\"\/us\/intolerance\/nut\/\">cashew<\/a> and <a href=\"\/us\/intolerance\/dairy\/\">cow\u2019s milk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>April says: \u201cwhen I first got the results, I was a little overwhelmed at how regularly I would usually eat these things\u201d. More <strong>determined<\/strong> than ever, April\u2019s next step was to <strong>eliminate<\/strong> her trigger foods.<\/p>\n<p>After starting her elimination diet, she has seen a <strong>drastic reduction<\/strong> in her urticaria. \u201cI have seen a huge improvement in my skin, as you can see from the pictures, and it\u2019s only been a short space of time,\u201d she announces.<\/p>\n<p>Three months later, April is committed to her new diet more than ever before, no longer feels self-conscious and is <strong>positive<\/strong> about her <strong>future<\/strong> <strong>health<\/strong>. \u201cI am really looking forward to carrying on the diet, trying new recipes and my <strong>skin<\/strong> <strong>improving<\/strong> even more!\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" title=\"April Ball After 3\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/April-Ball-After-3-nwz5x10ucpx1dhxbc414a3ktg0u4ffc08rbh4m90ks.jpg\" alt=\"April Ball After 3\" \/> <img decoding=\"async\" title=\"April Ball After 2\" src=\"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/app\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/April-Ball-After-2-nwz5wskan7lgh09lpidh5npo3jzti5ef7lg3t4lk4s.jpg\" alt=\"April Ball After 2\" \/><\/p>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>YorkTest advise that you consult with your doctor first if you are experiencing the types of symptoms mentioned in this testimonial.<\/em><\/h6>\n<h6 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u2020 YorkTest define food intolerance as a food-specific IgG reaction<\/em><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I am really looking forward to carrying on the diet, trying new recipes and my skin improving even more<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":614,"template":"","review_category":[161],"class_list":["post-612","reviews","type-reviews","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","review_category-skin-conditions"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reviews"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"review_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorktest.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_category?post=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}