A new mum has claimed rubbing her hands in her own breast milk every day has cured her "painful" skin condition.
Ashley LeMieux, 36, from Phoenix, Arizona, US, has revealed how pouring breast milk on her hands for just four days healed them of her chronic psoriasis.
The author's skin condition, which she had been battling for the last two years, suffered even more during pregnancy and felt "like a million needles.'"
It also affected her ability to move her fingers, leaving her struggling to write.
And when a nurse described her as having "old lady hands", the mum of an eight-month-old baby girl was left feeling too "embarrassed" to even shake hands with people.
After sharing her struggles online, many fans of the viral mental health and wellness expert flooded to her inbox to suggest using her own breast milk to soothe her "cracked" hands.
Now, convinced of breast milk's 'amazing healing properties', Ashley has created a daily lotion which she applies to her hands every day and even shares with her husband Mike LeMieux so that he has soft skin too.
However she admits they have to add lavender essential oil to the mix as "the breast milk doesn't smell too good".
Ashley said: "Breast milk is amazing.
"I'd been talking about having psoriasis on my Instagram stories and so many people responded and told me to put breast milk on my hands.
"They said it would heal the cuts and help the inflammation so I thought 'why not?'.
"I used it [breast milk] for a week and within four days my hands looked better than they have in two years. I thought 'oh my god wow, this is amazing'.
"I was putting it on every morning and night. I'd pour it over my hands then soak them in a bowl a little bit and let it sit on them.
"I used frozen breast milk and I'd thaw it so when it went on it was really cold. It felt really smooth.
"Immediately after I put it on my hands, they just felt so much softer.
"The texture of the breast milk was really soothing. It took the redness and inflammation down almost immediately.
"It's completely cleared it up now, which is amazing.
"Psoriasis actually runs in my family I got it a couple of years ago and then it got worse during pregnancy.
"It kept getting worse and then the past couple of months were really bad, I could hardly bend my fingers which is a problem as I'm writer.
"When I was pregnant, during an ultrasound, the ultrasound tech grabbed my hands and said 'oh my gosh your hands look just like old lady hands'.
"I'm only in my 30s but my hands were very cracked, wrinkly, and rough. They were hard.
"Anytime I'd try to wash them, it felt like a million needles. My hands always hurt.
"I was always really embarrassed too because I'd be going to LA for work meetings and people would want to shake hands.
"I'd always have to figure out a way where I didn't have to shake them because I didn't want them to see it. It'd hurt if they touched my hands too. I felt very, very embarrassed.
"At this point I had nothing to lose, so it was worth a shot."
After posting a video on TikTok pouring the breast milk over her hands, many suggested in the comments she turn it into a lotion.
Now, Ashley has been applying it once a day in a formula mixed with beeswax and coconut oil, and has even frozen some of it into a silicone ice roller which she's been using to 'de-puff' her face in the morning.
Her husband Mike also decided to try it on his hands as they were feeling dried out by the cold - now finding them to be the 'softest' they'd ever been.
Ashley said: "I looked up a recipe, and now I have it in a lotion.
"It has beeswax and coconut oil melted together and then I added a few drops of vitamin E oil and three ounces of breast milk.
"The breast milk doesn't smell too good so I also add in a few drops of lavender essential oil. It makes it smell better.
"I mixed it all together and now the breastmilk lotion has hardened up and I keep it in little jars.
"I'm applying the lotion once a day.
"I don't know the science behind it but I just know that the milk is full of so many healing properties.
"My husband thinks it's really cool. He doesn't have psoriasis but his hands get a little bit dry because it's winter, so he asked to try it.
"He's been using it on his hands and said it's the softest his hands have ever been.
"Throughout the whole process he just keeps saying 'women's bodies are just so amazing'.
"Three days ago, I started freezing it into an ice roller. You usually use ice rollers with water to help your face when it's puffy in the morning when you wake up.
"So, I bought my own silicone mould for a face roller and I froze my breast milk in it.
"I've been putting it on my face morning and night.
"It's meant to help with acne, dry skin, puffiness when you're tired - which I am as a new mom.
"A doctor said to me 'look what it's done for your hands - now picture what it does to the inside of your baby. I thought it makes so much sense to me.
"When I put it on in the morning it helps my redness and puffiness go down pretty quickly.
"I've noticed the effects just from the last two days. It's just really cool."
