He turned into Papa Smurf.

Feeling Blue: Man's Skin Changes Colour

A man in the US has been left looking and feeling blue after using silver extract to treat a skin condition.

Paul Karason

Paul Karason was fair skinned and freckled 14 years ago - before he developed a bad case of dermatitis caused by stress.

When it got so bad that the skin on his face began to peel and crack he started using a substance called colloidal silver.

The product is reportedly made by extracting silver from metal into water with an electrical current and it is then taken as a drink.

But the 57-year-old has said drinking the potion did not cause his skin to discolour - the change in hue happened when he rubbed he potion directly onto his face.

"The change was so gradual that I didn't perceive it and other people around me likewise," he said.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1297781,00.html?f=rss