Amy Winehouse Impetigo Skin Condition

From WhatRumors: The Celebrity Gossip Wiki

Amy Winehouse displaying a disturbing skin condition, explained as impetigo, but rumored to be caused by excessive drug use.

In early March 2008, just after the harsh sentence handed down to her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, tons of pictures surfaced of Amy Winehouse out and about with a horrible skin condition on her face. It looked like a combination of acne and flesh-eating bacteria. Her rep told the press that it was "Impetigo" but few believed the convenient, yet medically implausible explanation. The speculation around it was rivaled only by the curious condition itself. The images show a house of horror look with open sores covered with a thick spackling of makeup. It also shows severe discoloration, flaking skin and blotchiness. Some scabs are even a blackish color, giving them the appearance of cadaver rot, or gangrene.

She was prescribed antibiotics for the condition, but as of August 2008, it persisted. With Imeptigo and any type of open sore or wound, scratching or touching the sores causes the infection to spread to other parts of the body and is communicable to other people. In multiple photographs, she is shown to have dirty, black fingernails, likely from drug use, specifically heroin residue. Because she is not likely to be taking care of the condition properly, it has undoubtedly affected the rest of her body.

Due to Amy's previous and highly visible drug addiction problems, many assumed that the condition was either caused by or a symptom of heroin use.