9 Celebs Who Have Psoriasis

“Sometimes I just feel like it’s my big flaw and everyone knows about it, so why cover it?” said Kim Kardashian of her psoriasis diagnosis.

Back in 2008, LeAnn Rimes told Health, “[Psoriasis has] been an ongoing battle my whole life.”

And What Not to Wear stylist Stacy London said she felt like a “monster” when she suffered from severe psoriasis symptoms as a child.

Clearly, when it comes to the skin condition (which is actually an autoimmune disease), stars really are just like us. That is, even the glammest of red carpet-goers experience the confusion and discomfort that often accompanies the misunderstood disease affecting some 7.5 million Americans.

To review: psoriasis is a chronic, non-contagious condition that occurs when the immune system registers the skin as an enemy and attacks it. As a result, an excess of messages are sent to the skin cells to continue to grow. Unable to keep up, the skin cells multiply at a rapid pace and leave an excess of raised red, white, or silvery patches on the skin that are often itchy, flaky, or scaly.

But the effects of psoriasis aren’t just skin deep. That is, approximately 40% of psoriasis patients also suffer from related diseases, like psoriatic arthritis in their joints, diabetes, or other autoimmune disorders.

The good news is that there are many treatment for psoriasis, from oral and topical medications to simple lifestyle choices that work to calm symptoms. Even managing your stress levels, choosing the right makeup products, and sunning responsibly can help ease your itches and scratches to some extent.

Feel like you’re alone in dealing with the autoimmune disorder? We promise you’re not. In this video, we’re spotlighting nine super famous celebs who openly struggle with psoriasis too.