Many skin ailments can appear differently in more melanated skin.
In fact, most images featured in dermatologic textbooks focused on patients with only fair skin.
This drastically limited the number of dermatologists who felt comfortable treating conditions in those with more pigmented skin tones.
“Additionally, more and more training programs have developed skin of color centers to address disparities in care.
But that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy herself.
Her KP developed early in childhood, when it was treated with steroid creams.
As a child, I [was] teased about my KP, she recalls.
I often forget about my KP until someone says something horrible, says Lartey.
The dermatologist knew exactly what they were looking at, from just looking at my finger, Rodriguez says.
“I remember them looking down and saying, ‘Yup, that’s vitiligo.'”
At the time of her diagnosis, she wasn’t aware of the effects vitiligo would have.
Vitiligo has impacted Rodriguez both internally and externally.
But Rodriguez says having vitiligo has also impacted her emotions positively.
“I love meeting and connecting other people with vitiligo, she says.
There’s a certain punch in of connection and camaraderie you feel.
I couldn’t put my finger on the root of the issue foryears,“she recalls.
But a doctor’s prescription can only do so much; treatment required work on her mental health too.
Barcelona felt that acne had tainted her membership in the community of “beautiful people.”
She explains, I had to navigate social interactions, romantic relationships, and self-reflection with a new face.
Acne created a mental and spiritual wound that was very painful and uncomfortable to wear every day.
It blinded me to who I really was.
Then, one day, Barcelona continues, “I decided to be brave.
I was exhausted from trying to hide and feeling shame about how I looked.
I told myself that I wasn’t going to torture myself like this anymore.
I was beautiful before the acne, and I’ll continue to be beautiful with it.”
This shift resulted in Barcelona changing her idea of what beauty really is.
Acne truly was a blessing in disguise.
It never went away, even after treating it with products like Vaseline.
A pediatrician determined it was eczema and prescribed an over-the-counter corticosteroid cream for Matz.
But at age 13, Matz’s eczema took a turn for the worse.
I’m not sure what triggered it, but it became a nuisance, she recalls.
“It started to spread throughout my entire body, with emphasis on my hands and face.”
“My skin condition caused me so much anxiety and I suffered from horrible self-esteem issues.
I simply did not want to exist at some points,” Matz says.
I felt so seen, she remembers.
“That was something I had never experienced before.
I no longer was alone in the world.
One of the biggest issues that I overcame was wearing what I wanted to wear, she says.
She visited a doctor as a child in Zimbabwe, prior to moving to the United Kingdom.
Being the only member of her family to struggle with psoriasis didn’t help matters.
At times she felt alone in her discomfort and pain, without anyone to relate to.
“Psoriasis works on my mental health.
On harder days I find myself in this constant loop of ‘why me?’
and comparing myself to beauty standards that are not even attainable,” says Nyasha.
But I always remind myself that tomorrow is coming.
Even though today is terrible, tomorrow is coming, and that is another chance to retry.”
You go to extreme lengths to cover yourself up so that nobody ever sees,” Nyasha explains.
But she’s hoping those with and without psoriasis know the importance of acceptance and self-love.
Loving me for me and not for who I think others want me to be.
Making peace with who you are diagnosis or no diagnosis frees you in ways you never imagined possible.”
Those hard bumps werekeloid scars, raised scar tissue that occurs more commonly in people with dark skin.
Lawrence knew her acne spots weren’t like the acne spots shown in modern media.
Before her diagnosis, she spent a lot of time questioning what the issue was.
I was curious and just wanted them to disappear,” she recalls.
“I just wanted normal skin, like other girls who I was around at school.
I wore turtleneck jumpers in summer.
I never wore my hair up.
Anyone who wants to contact Lawrence can do so via Instagram@keloidsupport.
Read more stories from The Melanin Edit:
Now watch Alicia Key’s quick and easy beauty routine:
