I’m not a vain person, and I know it will sound trivial but having a high maintenance body is ruining my quality of life. It’s especially hard with summer around the corner. I’m only 29 and I’m terrified it’s going to get much harder whilst starting to age too.
I spend so much time, money, and headspace treading water simply to look ‘normal’ (not even attractive just normal/healthy!).
Can anyone else relate to this or am I an abnormally cursed with bad genes?
I have bad PCOS symptoms, regularly see a dermatologist for prescription medication but symptoms never fully go away.
I have androgenic alopecia in my twenties, so my hair is thinner than most women in their fourties. My hair never looks good and I put eyeshadow on my very wide parting.
Severe hirsutism on my face and body, every Doctor has mentioned it is severe I’m not just being trivial. I spend £££ on laser hair removal and electrolysis which has helped but years later I still have to get it done, and I still have more body hair than the average woman.
Always had acne which has left atrophic scarring and large pores. Been on Roaccutane, spironolactone, Yasmin pill, azelaic acid etc etc. It is much better but I will never have ‘normal’ skin like others.
Eczema on the body which is in remission thanks to immunosuppressant meds, but I still follow strict routine with bathing/moisturising, avoiding irritants etc. It may also rear it’s ugly head unexpectedly which is very stressful
Keratosis pilaris all over body so even after I’m exhausted from removing all the hair on my body (genuinely takes hours) I still don’t feel comfortable wearing shorts because I have ‘strawberry’ legs. Urea, and glycolic acid has helped slightly but again never gets rid of the root problem.
Acanthosis nigricans on my joints which makes skin look ‘dirty’ and strange. I never see this on slim people
Just want to hide away and take a break from all this maintenance as I still look far worse than normal people.
I’m physically in shape, exercise and eat well due to the PCOS. (5ft7 and around 55kg) but still have an inverted triangle body shape so always feel masculine.
Also, still have ‘normal’ insecurities like dark circles, crooked fingers, big nose, flat feet etc but I feel I could learn to accept those but all the rest feels so unfair.