It only seems like magic.
But for glam rocker Eddie Houston, lead guitarist in ’70s-era band Pilot, the new psoriasis treatment he bankrolled is nothing short of a miracle.
Houston sunk more than $800,000 of his own money into finding a treatment for the debilitating skin condition that left him a near hermit.
Houston was stricken with the skin disorder when he suffered a severe electric shock in March 1977 picking up an ungrounded microphone.
The shock nearly killed Houston, and the jolt to his immune system left his skin covered with a “disgusting crust.”
“I was too embarrassed to perform in front of a live audience. In fact, I was too self-conscious to go anywhere where I would meet people,” Houston said.
As bad as the condition was – painful lesions and flaking skin – the treatments were worse.
“It was like something from the Dark Ages. You had to cover your entire body in this foul-smelling, black coal tar,” he said.
Fed up, Houston hired a scientist to develop a skin-care regimen. And after seven years, Dermasins, a line of psoriasis relief medicine, was created.
“It was a selfish thing,” Houston admits. “But the best thing is it works.”
The products, available as a cream, an aerosol spray, a shampoo and a body wash, showed a 63 percent success rate in trials, Houston said. The products have no smell, do not require a prescription and are free of steroids.
“Dermasins doesn’t cure psoriasis, but it takes away the symptoms,” he said.