Kim Kardashian might be one of the world’s most famous beauty queens, but she doesn’t hide her imperfections. The 43-year-old reality TV star shared up-close and unfiltered images of her latest “painful” psoriasis flare-up on her leg, taking to her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, January 30, to explain.
“How crazy is my psoriasis right now guys? It’s like all up my leg,” Kim was heard saying in the background of a video, which revealed the large red mark on her lower leg. “I don’t know what’s happening. But I gotta figure this out. This is crazy.”
The SKKN found also wrote across the Instagram Stories clip, “Not gonna lie this is painful. Not sure what my triggers are. I haven’t changed my diet. I’ve tried everything! Psoriasis sucks.”
In an accompanying video, Kim gave her followers a closer look at her skin condition and said, “I usually just have this spot, but now I can tell it’s going down my leg and up my leg and all up my thigh. So, I just know it’s time to figure this out.” Across this Instagram Story, the Hulu personality explained to viewers that she “just wanted to share my journey with you guys.”
Kim Kardashian shares her very painful psoriasis on her Instagram stories pic.twitter.com/75nW0qZBBE
— . (@dashunlverse) January 31, 2024
Despite the pain and discomfort, Kim joked that the shape of her latest red welt appeared to be in a specific shape for Valentine’s Day.
“Am I tripping? Or is my psoriasis in the shape of a heart for Valentine’s Day?” the entrepreneur quipped. “Do you guys see that, kind of right? Like, I think I totally see it. And I can see the psoriasis everywhere else. … But lucky me, I have a heart-shaped psoriasis for Valentine’s Day.”
According to the National Institutes of Health, psoriasis is a chronic immune-related disease that causes skin cells to multiply too quickly. The skin then appears inflamed, and a scaly, irritated rash forms on different parts of the body.
This isn’t the first time that Kim has gotten candid about her skin condition. In 2019, she opened up to her sister Kourtney Kardashian’s wellness brand, Poosh, about her struggle with the skin condition. In her online statement, Kim revealed that she also suffers from psoriatic arthritis and that she inherited the psoriasis from her mom, Kris Jenner.
“It’s been 13 years since I experienced my first psoriasis flare-up,” Kim wrote. “My journey has been very different from my mom’s, but I see so many similarities as well. She had it in her scalp and all over her body, and I’d see it all the time and remember her going to the tanning salon to try and ease it. Getting UV rays directly on the spots really helped my mom. For me, however, that remedy would burn the areas and cause them to itch, so I always felt helpless.”
Kim’s first flare-up happened when she was 25. At the time, a dermatologist gave her a cortisone shot, and she didn’t see another flare-up for five years. As she enters her 30s, Kim experienced another flare-up but still didn’t know that it was psoriasis. When Kris recognized the skin disorder, Kim officially began her psoriasis journey. In her Poosh statement, Kim noted that she “can always count on my main spot on my right lower leg, which consistently stays flared up.”
“I’ve become extremely comfortable with my psoriasis,” the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum noted. “No matter where it is on my body, sometimes I am fine with showing it off and other times, I don’t want it to be a distraction, so I cover it up with body makeup. “If you have psoriasis, you can’t let it ruin your life or get the best of you. You have to do what you can to make sure you are comfortable but not let it take over.”