In case you didn’t know, April is Rosacea Awareness Month. I feel like I’ve been talking about rosacea forever, but I only finally got up the courage to talk openly about it on this blog in early 2013. Before then, this blog was a nail blog (hence the nail pun blog name…!): focusing on my hands meant that I never had to address my skin on the blog. I was terrified that someone would question me or make hurtful comments about my appearance, so I hid myself away.
For six years I’ve been talking about rosacea. Six years of sharing photos of my skin looking the worst it has ever looked, six years of opening myself up to scrutiny, abuse, and criticism – making myself vulnerable when my self-esteem and confidence were the lowest they’ve ever been. Of course there have been so many positives as well: the community I’ve found online has been an enormous support and the messages I receive from people who have taken strength from my blog or social media accounts make me cry nearly every day.
But after six years, I am wondering shouldn’t we be beyond rosacea awareness by now? The stats I’ve seen estimate that 1 in 10 people in the UK have rosacea, and it’s estimated that it affects about 415 million people worldwide. So why does it seem like such an uphill struggle to get brands to acknowledge our needs, for doctors to treat us appropriately, and for the general public to accept people with visible differences?
So this year, instead of rosacea awareness, my new goal is rosacea acceptance. I will continue to educate and raise awareness amongst those who may not have access to information, but I’m also going to try to push more media outlets, brands, and people with influence to talk about rosacea in the same way that they talk about other skin conditions.
Rosacea awareness is important, but here’s to rosacea acceptance.
The content on my site will always be free, but if you would like to you can buy me a cup of coffee or a slice of cake to say thank you. Ko-fi is a wonderful platform that helps you support the creators you love.
Looking for some next steps?
- Follow me on INSTAGRAM for lots of rosacea updates.
- Get more information on rosacea and my journey so far in my ROSACEA FAQ POST.
- Join my private rosacea FACEBOOK GROUP.
- And – exciting news! – I’ve just launched some digital downloads to help you get to grips with your rosacea: grab the Rosacea Trigger Checklist and the Rosacea Flare Up Diary.
Lex
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