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Fitness Star Opens Up About The Common Skin Condition She’s Battled Her Entire Life

And how we can all embrace the skin we're in. - by Frances Magiera
  • 11 May 2018
Fitness Star Opens Up About The Common Skin Condition She’s Battled Her Entire Life

Karina Irby is a hugely successful fitness influencer and founder of popular bikini brand Moana. She's also the one in three Australians who will suffer from eczema in their lifetime. From being bullied throughout school to learning how to manage painful flare ups, the Queensland-native is now finally embracing the common skin condition, and she wants others sufferers too as well. 

 

The 28-year-old has always preached authenticity to her 855k Instagram followers and has gained international attention for highlighting how some social media stars heavily photoshop their figures and "flaws". But Karina says it's taken her a long time to be comfortable enough to speak publicly about her eczema.

“I was so nervous to do it… if someone told me I was going to talk about my eczema ten years ago, I would’ve cried,” she tells Women's Health.

karinairby View Profile
54.5k likes - View Post on Instagram
I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to post about my skin condition. I guess I was embarrassed and felt the need to hide it? From the bottom of my heart I hope that me showing off my eczema can shed some light on other suffers that they are not alone and don't have to cover up. Back when I was a teenager I wished I could have found someone that showed off their eczema like it was nothing. So now I want to be that person✨ Life is too short to worry about what other people say or think about you. Get busy doing you and screw the gossipers😉 2018, here's to normalising skin conditions✌🏽 Wearing @MOANA_BIKINI

Karina says she's has faced a lot of stigma about her skin condition growing up. As a child, other parents would ask her mum if she was contagious, “Because they don’t understand that eczema isn’t a contagious thing."

As a teenager, the shaming got worse.

“I was quite timid, and embarrassed all the time… I got bullied a fair bit in school. I got called scabby legs and scabies and boys at school would run past and scratch my back and then run away."

She also remembers times where she went to extremes to hide the condition.

“I grew up a surfer girl and in winter when I didn’t have a full steamer wetsuit and my legs would show, sometimes I would put makeup on my legs and run into the ocean before people saw me,” she says.

Along with the emotional trauma that came with the bullying, Karina has also had to deal with the physical pain of eczema flare ups. The worst experience she remembers vividly.

"My parents found this herbal kind of thing that you know I could try, cause they’d tried everything else."

Instead of alleviating her eczema, “it flared up so bad,” she says. “I was at school and I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t sleep... it was the worst experience, I just cried.”

RELATED: 3 Annoying Skin Problems Caused By Allergies

karinairby View Profile
32.4k likes - View Post on Instagram
NORMALISING ECZEMA is my 2018 goal. Did you know that 1 in 3 people are suffering and potentially hiding it? That was me up until recently. Depending on my diet or change of season my eczema has flare ups and yes, it sucks! I've been bullied, covered up all Summer, up all night in tears from being uncomfortable, sacrificed social events and yes, I've tried every cream and diet under the sun! It's only until recently that I've accepted myself the way I'am and now I'm making it my mission to help other sufferers. I'm so honoured to be teaming up with the @eczemaau in the lead up to Eczema Awareness Week, 14-20th of May. The @eczemaau will be holding free clinics around Australia and I'll be attending the clinic at Brisbane's Mater Hospital on May 17th! The more the merrier everyone is welcome to come! If you're looking for a little more guidance with your eczema jump onto the @eczemaau website and visit a free clinic near you. Together we can normalise eczema and make other feel confident in their own skin🦄

Since then she’s tried a multitude of other treatments – including having snake venom under her tongue – but Karina says that aside from particular ointments, nature is the best option these days. 

“I find that sunshine and the ocean are actually really what fixes me up if I’m having a bad flare up,” she says. “If I can spend the day laying in the sun and getting salt water on those affected areas, then the next day it’s pretty much gone.”

Since speaking out about her experience with eczema, Karina has been overwhelmed with support from other sufferers.

“I’ve received so many personal messages from young girls and guys saying thank you because they’re getting bullied at school or that they don’t feel comfortable… it’s also adults getting frowned upon and rejected by society because they might be rashy or have some sores on their body.”

Karina wants to dispel the stigma surrounding eczema, and encourage others to feel more comfortable in their own skin, whatever it may look like.

“Even if you’re not picture perfect, everyone’s still amazing and beautiful… I hope to spread that a bit more.”

Eczema Awareness Week is May 14 to 20. If you'd like more information about this common skin condition or you're in need of support visit eczema.org.au or phone 1300 300 182.

  • Health
  • Medical Conditions
Frances Magiera
Frances Magiera
Brunch enthusiast and Instagram addict, Frances Magiera loves nothing more than a good book, a glass of rosé and when her online shopping arrives on time. When she’s not hitting the books completing her journalism degree, you’ll find her at the beach, procrastinating from all responsibilities, attempting to exercise and patting other people’s dogs.

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