She's been very candid about her struggle with the skin condition.
A Complete Timeline of Kim Kardashian Opening Up About Her Psoriasis
Kim Kardashian has psoriasis, a condition that causes scaly patches to flare up on your skin, particularly around your scalp, elbows, and knees. It's chronic—meaning there's no cure—but there are medications to help manage it. Kardashian has been very candid about her struggle with psoriasis, often opening up on social media in a way that makes others feel less alone. Here's a thorough breakdown of when she's done this—including the time she said, very plainly, "psoriasis is the shits."
2005/2006: Kardashian has her first psoriasis flare-up. “When I was 25, I had my first psoriasis flare-up,” Kardashian wrote in a blog post for her sister Kourtney's website Poosh. “I got a common cold, and since psoriasis is an autoimmune condition, this triggered it. It was all over my stomach and legs. Luckily, in my apartment complex at the time, my neighbor was a dermatologist. I showed it to him, and he said to come into the office and he would give me a shot of cortisone, and then hopefully it would go away (since it was my first big outbreak). I did this and my psoriasis completely went away for about five years.”
2011: “[The psoriasis] came back again in my early thirties,” Kardashian wrote on Poosh. And, indeed, she received the diagnosis on a 2011 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. "People don't understand the pressure on me to look perfect," she said on the show, per ABC News. "When I gain a pound, it's in the headlines. Imagine what the tabloids would do to me if they saw all these spots?" Her mother, Kris Jenner, also has psoriasis, though Kim is the only one of her children who inherited it.
2012 and 2014: Kardashian's psoriasis goes away during her two pregnancies. (She welcomed her first daughter, North, in 2013, and her first son, Saint, in 2015. Daughter Chicago came in 2018, followed by son Psalm in 2019, both via surrogate.) “When I got pregnant both times, it fully went away,” she wrote for Poosh. “That was amazing, but then it came back again.”
2016: Kardashian opens up (via her now-defunct app) about her self-image as it pertains to psoriasis. "Sometimes the rashes are itchy, sometimes they're flaky," she wrote. "Mine flares up from time to time for different reasons ... . Scientists are constantly researching and developing new medications to help treat it, but for now, I use a topical cortisone ointment every night before bed. I'm always hoping for a cure, of course, but in the meantime, I'm learning to just accept it as part of who I am."
2018: Kardashian inquires about medications for psoriasis. “I think the time has come I start a medication for psoriasis,” she tweeted. “I’ve never seen it like this before and I can’t even cover it at this point. It’s taken over my body. Has anyone tried a medication for psoriasis & what kind works best? Need help ASAP!!!” Up until this point, Kardashian had talked about the light treatments, creams, and other natural remedies she's used to manage her psoriasis.
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February 2019: Kardashian hits back at the Daily Mail for saying she was having a “bad skin day.” “It’s psoriasis all over my face,” she tweeted.
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Support for the reality star-turned-mogul came pouring in, with one person tweeting, “Do not let the media shake you. My mom has psoriasis, it took her a long time to accept it and not let the opinions of others shake her. Her psoriasis is still bad bc there are underlining issues she refuses to address, but people like you help start those convos. Thank you.”
February 2019 (again): Kardashian posts three deeply relatable photos of her psoriasis flare-ups.
She captioned one selfie, which shows her flare-ups covered in herbal healing ointment, "psoriasis is the shits." Kardashian then shared a second photo to show her followers how she's treating the issue, and a third of the flare-ups on her legs, which she jokingly captioned, "Sexy."
"I actually really appreciate that Kim Kardashian talks about her psoriasis so publicly. It makes me feel loads better about it," one fan wrote, praising the reality star for the uploads. "You know what," wrote another, "I applaud Kim K for speaking openly & showing her psoriasis. She gets so much shit from people about this & that but that’s something I really appreciate about her."
March 2019: Kardashian shares selfies of her flare-ups to social media. She captioned them simply, “Psoriasis face.”
She posted something similar to Snapchat, writing, “morning psoriasis.”
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September 2019: Kardashian reveals on the second episode of season 17 of Keeping Up and on Poosh she's been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. “It’s similar to arthritis that can stem from psoriasis and it can come and go,” she wrote. “It’s still painful and scary, but I was happy to have a diagnosis. No matter what autoimmune condition I had, I was going to get through it, and they are all manageable with proper care.”
That optimism is key to how Kim Kardashian approaches her psoriasis now. “If you have psoriasis, you can’t let it ruin your life or get the best of you,” she says. “You have to do what you can to make sure you are comfortable but not let it take over … I hope my story can help anyone else with an autoimmune disease feel confident that there is light at the end of the tunnel."
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Condé Nast
