At 22 years old, Alayna, a hairstylist at the Collective Hair Studio in Bryan, Texas, found her dream career. Working in a salon meant helping people feel confident and beautiful every day, but behind the chair, she was fighting a daily battle with atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema.
For millions of Americans living with eczema, the impact is often more than skin deep. The relentless itch, visible flares, disrupted sleep, and emotional toll can affect nearly every part of daily life.1,2 For Alayna, those challenges became impossible to ignore as she began working with hair products, water, heat tools, and color treatments all day long.
At the end of a long day of cutting and coloring hair, Alayna used to fantasize about taking her hands off for relief: “I’d be like, ‘Can I just give these to somebody else for a while?’”
Hours of constant exposure to water, shampoo, conditioner, and dye—plus the heat of a blow dryer or flat iron—would send her eczema into the worst flares she’d ever experienced. Her hands were often left dry and painful, and the discomfort didn’t stop when she left the salon. On the drive home, she’d drag her hands against the seams of her steering wheel just to get a moment of relief. She began to wonder if things would ever get better.
It took years of trial and error before Alayna found NEMLUVIO® (nemolizumab-ilto) that helped her manage her eczema and thrive in the career she loves. Now she wants other people facing similar struggles to hear what she wishes someone had told her sooner: Eczema doesn’t define you and you’re not alone. “It’s so much more normal in adults than people think,” Alayna says. “And even if you feel like you’re never going to see any improvements, there is help.”
From Mild Annoyances to Daily Struggles
Alayna’s eczema (known clinically as atopic dermatitis) started small in high school. When dry, red patches would show up on her cheeks and around her eyes, she chalked it up to seasonal changes or stress. The flares came and went, so she didn’t think much of it. “I would just put a little makeup on, and it didn’t affect my confidence,” she says. Her mom felt differently and eventually talked her into seeing a dermatologist, who prescribed topicals.
“I knew that by the end of the day, I was going to be in so much pain.”
The topical medications helped until Alayna got to college and patches started creeping onto her fingers. “I still wasn’t super bothered by it,” she says. “But when I started cosmetology school shortly after, that’s when it really took over and made my life hell.”
During her nine-month program, the chemicals in the hair products she handled all day triggered her eczema. “People would ask, ‘Have you been crying all night?’ It was so embarrassing,” she says. “I couldn’t touch my eyes or wear makeup, because the patches oozed. I felt like there was nothing I could do to hide it.”
Searching For Relief
As Alayna transitioned to full-time work, her hands bore the brunt of it. They cracked, bled, and swelled. She tried bandaging them and wearing one or two pairs of gloves—anything to get through a cut and color without wincing.
None of it worked, and it got in the way of her job. “You don’t realize how big of a toll not being able to use your hands normally takes on you,” she says. “Working was a nightmare. I knew that by the end of the day, I was going to be in so much pain.”
“I felt like a lost cause, like nothing would ever help, because the eczema kept coming back.”
She’d drive home scratching her hands, wishing that she could just swap them out for a new pair. At night, she’d slather her hands in petroleum jelly or a thick hand mask, pull on gloves, and tape them around her wrists to keep them on and hydrate her inflamed skin while she slept, only to wake in the middle of the night to discover everything had fallen off and her bed was a greasy mess. “I just wanted the eczema gone,” she says.
After trying topicals, her dermatologist prescribed a new medication that externally cleared her skin, but the internal itchy sensations persisted. “I stopped after two treatments,” she says. “I felt like a lost cause, like nothing would ever help, because the eczema kept coming back.”
Still, some part of her refused to give up. “Even in the hardest moments, I was hopeful that something would work eventually and that this wasn’t going to be forever,” she says.
Then came a turning point.
A Treatment That Finally Helped
In 2025, Alayna found a new dermatologist whose empathy made all the difference. “She was super encouraging and told me, ‘It’s not your fault. There’s nothing you’re doing wrong that’s causing this,’” Alayna says. “That made me feel so seen.”
When the provider suggested NEMLUVIO (nemolizumab), a prescription biologic, Alayna was skeptical.3 However, the dermatologist explained how it works differently from what she’d tried before: NEMLUVIO helps stop IL-31 signaling, a key driver of itch, scratching, inflammation and rashes caused by eczema, and is the first and only approved neuroimmune-targeted treatment to directly target IL-31 this way.3,4 Rather than only treating the surface, it addresses a root cause of eczema symptoms, and by easing the itch and reducing the urge to scratch, it can allow skin to clear. “At that point, I was willing to try anything,” she says.
Taken once a month from the start, NEMLUVIO offers relief to some patients in as little as 48 hours,* helping people scratch less, heal faster and enjoy better days and nights.†3,5-7
*Results were achieved at 48 hours in 10.7% of patients with NEMLUVIO + TCS/TCI vs 2.9% with placebo + TCS/TCI. Data are from pooled post-hoc analysis of daily itch improvement reported in Phase 3 clinical studies. Itch improvement was defined as ≥4‑point improvement from baseline (PP‑NRS scale). Do not make conclusions based on these results. Individual results may vary.
Initially, Alayna tried not to get her hopes up. Years of setbacks had taught her to be cautious. But over time, she began noticing meaningful changes. Her hands cracked less often. The constant urge to scratch started to calm. The swelling around her eyes improved.
“My sleep is better, and my confidence is through the roof.8”
The most common side effects include headache, joint pain, hives (itchy red rash or wheals) and muscle aches.4 NEMLUVIO may not be right for everyone. If you’ve been diagnosed with moderate to severe eczema and are still struggling with symptoms, talk to your doctor to see if NEMLUVIO is right for you. For more details, see the Important Safety Information below.
More than a year later, Alayna is mostly clear.7
Everyday tasks like washing her hands, doing the dishes, and shampooing clients’ hair used to come with the expectation that her skin would flare. Now she can work a full day without dreading it, and she can sleep through the night without waking up to a mess of gloves and petroleum jelly. “My sleep is better, and my confidence is through the roof. I think back to how miserable I was, and it’s astonishing where I am right now,” she says.8
Even so, she wouldn’t trade the years it took to get here. “It was so hard for me for so long,” she says. “But I don’t think I’d be where I am right now if I hadn’t gone through all of it.”
Her message to others living with eczema is simple: don't lose hope. for years, she believed she might always feel defined by her condition. Instead, she discovered that finding the right care and continuing to advocate for herself—made all the difference. Today, she wants others facing similar struggles to know what she wishes she'd heard sooner: eczema doesn't define who you are, and help may be available.
If the constant itch of eczema has you scratching with whatever you can find, talk to your dermatologist about whether NEMLUVIO could be right for you. Learn more at NEMLUVIO.com.
†In clinical trials, adults and adolescents reported sleeping better while on treatment with NEMLUVIO for eczema.
References:
1. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Atopic dermatitis. Accessed October 24, 2024. https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/atopic-dermatitis.
2. National Eczema Association. Atopic dermatitis. Accessed October 29, 2024. https://nationaleczema.org/eczema/types-of-eczema/atopic-dermatitis/.
3. NEMLUVIO (nemolizumab-ilto) injection 30 mg Prescribing Information. Dallas, TX: Galderma Laboratories, L.P.
4. Nemmer JM, Kuchner M, Datsi A, et al. Interleukin-31 signaling bridges the gap between immune cells, the nervous system and epithelial tissues. Front Med (Lausanne). 2021;8:639097. doi:10.3389/fmed.2021.639097.
5. Ständer S, Elmariah SB, Kwatra SG, et al. Rapid improvement of itch with nemolizumab in atopic dermatitis and prurigo nodularis phase 3 studies. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2025;00:1–9. doi:10.1111/jdv.70250.
6. Galderma Laboratories, L.P.; data on file. Report body ARCADIA 1 RD.06.SRE.118161; September 2023.
7. Augustin M, Tauber M, Sidbury R, et al. Safety and efficacy of nemolizumab for atopic dermatitis up to 2 years in open-label extension study. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2026;40(5):841-855. doi:10.1111/jdv.70080.
8. Silverberg J, et al. Nemolizumab with concomitant topical therapy in adolescents and adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (ARCADIA 1 and ARCADIA 2): results from two replicate, double-blind, randomised controlled phase 3 trials. Lancet. 2024;404(10451):445-460.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
Indications: NEMLUVIO® (nemolizumab-ilto) is a prescription medicine used:
- to treat adults and children 12 years of age and older with moderate-to-severe eczema (atopic dermatitis or AD) in combination with prescription therapies used on the skin (topical) when the eczema is not well controlled by topical therapies alone. It is not known if NEMLUVIO is safe and effective in children with atopic dermatitis under 12 years of age.
- to treat adults with prurigo nodularis. It is not known if NEMLUVIO is safe and effective in children with prurigo nodularis under 18 years of age.
Do not take NEMLUVIO if you are allergic to nemolizumab-ilto or to any ingredients in NEMLUVIO. Before taking NEMLUVIO, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you:
- are scheduled to receive any vaccination. You should not receive a live vaccine right before or during treatment with NEMLUVIO.
- are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known whether NEMLUVIO will harm your unborn baby.
- are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known whether NEMLUVIO passes into your breast milk and if it can harm your baby.
Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements.
NEMLUVIO may cause serious side effects, including: allergic reactions (hypersensitivity). Stop using NEMLUVIO and tell your healthcare provider or get emergency help right away if you get any of the following symptoms:
- Breathing problems or wheezing
- Swelling of the face, lips, mouth, tongue, or throat
- Fainting, dizziness, feeling lightheaded
- Fast pulse
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Joint pain
- Fever
- Skin rash (red or rough skin)
- Nausea or vomiting
- General ill feeling
- Cramps in your stomach area
The most common side effects of NEMLUVIO include:
- Eczema: headache, joint pain, hives (itchy red rash or wheals), and muscle aches
- Prurigo Nodularis: headache and skin rashes: atopic dermatitis (a type of eczema), eczema, and eczema nummular (scattered circular patches)
These are not all of the possible side effects of NEMLUVIO.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800- FDA-1088.
Please see full Prescribing Information including Patient Information.
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