Burns Disease Genetics The Skin I'm In - BBC

[lunasun]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-sh/the_skin_im_in

Seven stories of being visibly different
Learning to live with it is the hardest thing. I’m trying to manage it better, talking openly about it so my family understands. I’m becoming a lot more relaxed, but it’s the initial moment when people stare. That’s the worst bit. I’m so aware of it because it’s just so eye-catching. It can be bright red sometimes - it changes colour so much.....

It is unusual; it catches people’s attention. I have seen a real difference in the way people look at me. Sometimes they approach me and ask questions. Sometimes they think I’ve done it on purpose, because it’s a straight line.......

The spots are sore and so ugly. That’s the main reason I’m getting a tattoo of roses on my body. To make me feel better. It won’t be on show for everyone else, it will just be for me really, to look at instead of the scars.......

People used to ask for my nails, for my hair [believed to bring luck]. But one evening, when I was coming back from work, I was attacked by three men. You can tolerate being insulted every day, or stopped from doing certain things. But, if you feel like your life is in danger, then that is different.

[sinkingfeeling]

1. I've had psoriasis since I was 10 (60 years), so been through some of

this. I can remember a stranger asking me if I had leprosy when I was a teenager. Mine is mostly under control without medications except for my elbows. I can't take those new meds since I'm a cancer survivor and too old to care any more. But I never wore sleeveless dresses or shorts.

[lunasun]

2. I had a friend when in school others would call him lizard hands. I figured out when older it must

have been something like psoriasis . I will never know it was in grade school.
Once I had really bad poison ivy running up the back of both legs .
I was wearing shorts in summer . A brief window into the world of very strange questions over and over about what is that? Or is that X disease?