Many people tend to have insecurities, and mine just happens to be all over.

When I was born I inherited a skin condition called eczema, or atopic dermatitis. It’s a red, irritating, bumpy, flaky, itchy, dry and scaly rash. It is always on my hands, wrists, inner elbows, back of my knees, neck and eyes. It sounds very attractive, I know. I am one of the unlucky few that didn’t grow out the condition when they were younger.

According to webmd.com, this condition that affects 3 percent of adults and children. People also have a tendency to have other conditions, such as asthma and allergies, which I have also inherited. When I was little, I wasn’t as self-conscious about it since I was more concerned about whether I got to go play with friends. Now that I am a teenager that is surrounded by the media and their ideals, I tend to conceal them by wearing jackets or long sleeved shirts.

The skin condition is hard to take care of. Everyday, twice a day, I have to rub in my oily, weird smelling corticosteroid hydrocortisone cream on the affected areas. Many things cause it to become worse than it is. I can’t be too hot or too cold, rough materials irritate my skin, respiratory difficulties, and allergic reactions tend to cause the rash to worsen.

High school doesn’t help much either. The more stressed I am, the worse the breakout is and surrounded by other hormonal girls and boys over doing their cologne and body spray don’t seem to be doing me a favor. I pretty much need to live in a bubble separated from all things harmful to my body.

What kind of great life is that though. That is when I told myself might as well as get used to it now than later. Just like people say it is only awkward when you make it awkward. It’s only an insecurity if you see it as one. I just need to get comfortable with it now, so I won’t be someone who is uncomfortable with herself the rest of their life.

I had a friend last year who has the same condition as me. I asked her if she was going to homecoming and she replied by simply saying no. I of course asked her what the reason was and she said that she was insecure of her arms. I told her why should the appearance of your arms dictate what you do? I then realized that no one is going to tell you you look terrible due to some rash. The only thing that people really care about is someone’s personality not why they have some red patch on their arm.