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After suffering from chicken pox when she was five years old, Lianne Hunter developed psoriasis, a skin condition where regions of her skin multiply faster than normal, leaving red, flaky patches behind.
Hunter was “brought up to have a real ‘so what?’ attitude towards [psoriasis],” and acknowledges that she’s tried to be comfortable and confident with it. But as she grew older and entered her teenage years, she felt herself “shying away from big crowds as [she] became worried that people might make fun of [her].”
One particular incident stands out in her mind. When Hunter was 13 years old, she’d gone out to take her younger sister swimming at their local pool. Not long after they got into the water, the lifeguard came over to ask Hunter to get out of the pool.
“There was concern from fellow swimmers that I was contagious,” Hunter recalled. “At the time I was very angry and upset, as I tried to explain that it was only psoriasis but it didn’t make any difference.”
That had been one of the first moments she remembered feeling self-conscious about her skin condition.
Since then, Hunter has tried to take a new approach to her condition: she simply goes up to people and presents it, explains it boldly so no one will mistake it for anything dangerous or contagious. “I am a big believer of showing it off and helping people to understand what it is.”
Hunter’s patches of psoriasis flare up in cold weather, when she eats foods dense with sugar, and when she becomes stressed. But over time, Hunter has found the best natural treatments for her condition, like using coconut oil, following an alkaline diet, practicing yoga, and taking vacations to warmer areas of the country to ease her skin.
Now 29, Hunter is remaining in the slightly uncomfortable, colder weather of England to pursue a career in nutrition – something she has become incredibly passionate about after facing her own struggles with her health and body image. “I'm hoping that through this I can find a career that allows me to continue to help fix both mine and others psoriasis through food,” she explained.
Hunter is currently running an Instagram page called Fix My Psoriasis in hopes of bonding with other psoriasis patients online and providing support for psoriasis sufferers who don’t feel comfortable in their bodies yet.
