How Eczema Taught Me To Love Myself

Having eczema kind of sucks. It makes you feel gross. Your skin feels like a snake shedding its skin. It can also make you feel so uncomfortable that you begin to feel alienated by people. The flares can be excruciating, the burning can feel unending, the itching can be incredibly frustrating and the rash never looks pleasant. It’s just not great.

However, it’s done something I thought was almost impossible. Believe it or not, but it has taught me how to love myself. I feel almost insane saying that, especially with everything else I’ve said up until that point, but it’s true. Eczema has helped me become a better person and has truly taught me to love myself, and today I’ll be sharing how it taught me to love myself no matter what.

L

My eczema taught me how to LIVE better. It has taught me to live without fearing what other people think. I have learned how to live with a proper diet and to live with my disease. The fear of what others thought of my eczema would nearly cripple me. I would spend days worrying about what people thought of my eczema. My diet used to be horrid with junk food left and right. I was constantly craving fast food. I had to accept that none of that was mentally or physically healthy. My eczema pushed me to live better for both my mental and physical health.

O

My eczema taught me how to be OPTIMISTIC about life. How to be optimistic about my skin as well as during an appalling and painful flare. A flare can feel humiliating, it can make you feel disgusting, think less of yourself, and uncomfortable in your own skin. Eczema forced me to be optimistic because if I’m not, my mental state would plummet and that’s never okay.

V

My eczema changed how I VIEWED myself. How I viewed my skin, my rashes, and surprisingly how I viewed my life. I used to view it as something to be ashamed of, something to hide and never show, and something to hate. I had to change my view on it. Like it or not, eczema is a part of who I am and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

E

Lastly, I learned to EMBRACE my eczema. I know it will be a part of me for the rest of my life, there’s no changing that. There’s nothing for me to gain if I just outright hate it. It can be bothersome and it can be painful, but it’s a part of who I am.

It wasn’t easy learning to love my skin, it can burn, be itchy, gross, uncomfortable, etc. But doing nothing but be hateful and disgusted by it did absolutely nothing for me. I gained nothing and it made my life much worse. I was depressed and uncomfortable in my body. When I finally started thinking more positively towards my eczema, everything became better. Loving my skin, flaws and all has made my life so much better.

Do you love your skin with and without eczema?