So technically August was #psoriasisawareness month. But I wanted to share my journey with psoriasis. I was diagnosed with this autoimmune skin condition since first grade and have been hiding it for most of my life. My biggest insecurity is my skin, obv most people don’t know because I have it where it’s not usually visible. I was on steroid creams up until like 11th grade, then my body became resistant to it. Naturally, my condition became a lot worse. Senior year of HS, during the summer in Beijing, it spread to my neck and limbs to the point where I was wearing long sleeves, pants, and scarf. Over that summer before college, I went through treatment with natural Asian remedies (I won’t go into detail here) and after 3 months of going no where and maintaining a healthy diet on top of treatment, I was able to heal a lot of my psoriasis naturally (thanks mom). Going to college in Cali helped a lot because the sun and humidity levels were great. But of course, it never fully goes away as psoriasis is not curable, so it’ll get worse or better depending on my stress levels, lifestyle, & environment. Since moving to AZ, the weather has been really dry and work has been stressful, so it’s definitely gotten worse. But if anything, my psoriasis is like an alarm my body gives to tell myself I need to take a moment to relax or I need to improve my eating/sleeping habits. Psoriasis is hella common in the US, it’s a condition where our skin over heals itself. Now that I have a bigger platform on tiktok/IG, I decided why not come out and share my story. If you also have a similar autoimmune condition, hopefully reading this could help you feel more comfortable with your own body. Note on the video: I immediately take the makeup off after my photoshoot, as leaving it on may irritate the skin more Some tips: Sun ☀️ helps a lot, exposing it, letting your skin breathe rather covering up helps it heal faster Ocean water helps/or I bathe in Dead Sea Salt water as an alternative (can be bought on Amazon) But above all, a healthy eating/sleeping schedule is key to maintaining any autoimmune disease xoxo, zhangsta Happy Friday!