These Personal Photos Show What It’s Really Like to Live with Severe Psoriasis

Actress Ciena Rae Nelson took to Instagram to share some vulnerable selfies, highlighting the realities of living with this condition.

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“Skin conditions are not cosmetic issues,” she writes in one of her posts. “They cause physical pain and suffering and oftentimes a feeling of being trapped in your own body, on top of the social anxiety many people face because of them.”
 

This is me 2 years ago just before I went to the hospital for severe dehydration and a fever. Skin conditions are not cosmetic issues. They cause physical pain and suffering and oftentimes a feeling of being trapped in your own body, on top of the social anxiety many people face because of them. I personally struggle with sleep deprivation due to constant, widespread itchiness that feels more like I’m being stung or bitten then I am “itchy.” Sometimes it’s completely unbearable and I have to go to a calm place in my mind to meditate and breathe until it lessens, but it never fully goes away. Hydrate. Get enough sleep. Eat healthy foods. Nourish your biggest organ, and all of the rest while you’re at it. #psoriasisawareness #psoriasis #benice @carideeenglish

A photo posted by Ciena Rae Nelson (@cienaraenelson) on Mar 16, 2016 at 2:11pm PDT

Ciena says even a full face of makeup doesn’t always hide the pain underneath. To show this, she shared two images side-by-side, both after she’d applied makeup. In the first pic, it’s hard to tell there’s anything going on. But in the second, Ciena ups the saturation of the image using a filter so that the angry red patches on her face become clearer.
 

#psoriasis What it looks like on the left after I’ve covered it up with make up VS. what it feels like on the right. Everything in both pictures is what was really there, the only difference is that on the right I’ve upped the saturation and structure. Most people looked at the left in person and didn’t notice much but dry spots here and there, not noticing what was really underneath. #psoriaticarthritis is an #invisibleillness and sometimes so is psoriasis (chronic itchiness and chronic fatigue). Not everything is as bad as it looks and sometimes things are actually much worse. #eczema #psoriasisawareness #psoriasisproblems #skin #spotty @carideeenglish #autoimmunedisease

A photo posted by Ciena Rae Nelson (@cienaraenelson) on May 16, 2016 at 12:48pm PDT

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Photos like these serve as a reminder that skin conditions may seem like a superficial problem, but they run so much deeper.