Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
A man who was addicted to cocaine for 25 years revealed the impact it had on his body, after admitting to spending £400 a week to fuel his habit.
Drugs can be difficult things to move away from once you’ve been doing them for so long.
This is particularly true if you got hooked as a teen, as the longer you do a substance, the harder it can be to break that cycle.
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But for Ian Higginson, his wake-up call came in the form of a startling side-effect for the cocaine he was snorting.
The man, who hails from Wythenshawe near Manchester, admitted to snorting about eight grams of the drug every week, leading to his nose to practically fall off.
You read that right.
Higgins was just under a year clean from the drug when he opened up about how the over two decades of cocaine use had 'destroyed' his nose and caused 'lumps of flesh' to fall off.
Taking to Facebook, he wrote of his health problems, revealing that his habit had ‘done me absolutely no favours at all'.
He explained that ‘it's only once you stop that you see it for yourself.'
According to the UK Addiction Treatment Centres website, 'coke nose' - when the nose disintegrates due to excessive cocaine use - can occur due to a variety of things.
From cocaine restricting blood flow through the nasal blood vessels, to the chemical toxicity of the cocaine, using coke regularly can cause the nose to begin to break down.
This can happen in either the bridge of the nose, leading to a flat looking nose, or in the septum area, which can then look like there is no separation between a person's nostrils.
He told The Manchester Evening News that his addiction really took off when he became an air steward and flew to the Caribbean, where he claims cocaine was 'everywhere', turning him into a 'complete slave to it'.
For Higgins, it was mostly around the septum, as his addiction took off after working in security.
He said: “When I was in the UK, I'd spend my days off working the doors as a bouncer, earning more cash, taking cocaine while working to keep me awake.
"I was spending three, four hundred pounds a week on it, easy, sometimes even £1,000.
"I'd set up a few businesses which were successful, but all the money from them went on drugs.”
But even after taking up an office job, Higgins called himself a ‘functional user’, until he was hospitalised in 2016 for suspected cancer.
He said: "When I blew my nose lumps of flesh would come out.
"I was disgusting. The pain was so bad, but I'd still put coke up it to try and stop it. I ended up really poorly in hospital, they said it was a brain infection and thought there may be cancer, but my nose was too badly destroyed to tell if it was carcinogenic or not."
After two biopsies, his nose collapsed, and Higgins was told something shocking: he had an allergy to cocaine.
But still, he continued to use it, even after a stint in rehab.
He explained it was only after reminding himself of all the reasons why he shouldn’t do it that he was able to get clean, including that he had put the drug before those he loves.
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week
Britt Jones