- Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles is opening up about living with eczema.
- After experiencing itching and flaking on her skin and scalp, Biles saw a dermatologist who diagnosed her with atopic dermatitis and seborrheic dermatitis.
- Biles hopes that sharing her experience will help others with eczema feel less ashamed and encourage them to seek care.
Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles is the most decorated gymnast in history. But the beloved icon is taking a break from talking about the balance beam and vault to discuss a personal health condition that she lives with alongside 31 million fellow Americans: eczema.
“A couple years ago, I started noticing flaking and itching on my scalp, especially on the crown of my head. And at first, I thought it was a lot of dandruff, and then I was worried it could be something contagious,” Biles told Healthline. “I’ve also dealt with patches of dry skin on my arm, but it comes and goes.”
Recently, she noticed her symptoms getting worse, especially when stressed from training.
“I would definitely be in the gym, finding myself waiting for bars or for beam and just scratching and scratching and [people] would be like, ‘Simone, can you stop scratching?’ and I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah, my bad, sorry,’” said Biles.
When her hairdresser noticed scaly patches on her scalp, Biles began searching online for answers and trying home remedies, including combs, shampoos, and oils.
“[Self-fixes] weren’t really helping, and I didn’t go to the dermatologist immediately because I was busy in the gym training,” said Biles. “I also felt ashamed and embarrassed, so I started speaking out about it at Paris Olympics.”
After making a TikTok video about her symptoms, she was inspired to see a dermatologist who diagnosed her with the skin conditions seborrheic dermatitis and atopic dermatitis (also known as eczema).
“[A] lot of what she is communicating really mirrors what we’re seeing in patients and what we know about these conditions,” Angela Lamb, MD, Bile’s dermatologist, told Healthline.
While eczema is a group of chronic inflammatory skin conditions, Lamb said stress can trigger flares, as well as extremes of weather, especially for those with atopic dermatitis.
“And then there’s just individual triggers, so patients really need to listen to their bodies, find out what moisturizer would work well for their skin, find out if you have seborrheic dermatitis on your scalp,” said Lamb. “[Know] what are the products that tend to be flaring it or what you do that makes it better or worse.”
How Biles found relief from her eczema symptoms
Biles says she found relief for her symptoms with Zoryve, a once-daily, steroid-free, topical medication that comes in both foam and cream forms. Biles uses both forms: the foam for her scalp, and the cream for her skin.
“I feel like it fits in easily to my lifestyle…you can apply it to your scalp, and it’s really, really lightweight, and then for my eczema, it’s a cream, and it’s non-greasy,” said Biles.
In addition to helping her feel more comfortable, she said that receiving effective treatment eased the embarrassment she experienced around the appearance of her skin.
“[Going] on a lot of shoots and a lot of sets, [I was] definitely more self-conscious about my parts or if I was wearing braids — the flaking, what that looks like on camera — so I would just try to cover it up with oils and all of that stuff,” she said.
To share her journey, Biles partnered with Zoryve’s maker, Arcutis Biotherapeutics, to launch its Skin to Believe In campaign. The initiative aims to break the stigma around chronic skin conditions that can make people feel self-conscious, isolated, or embarrassed.
“I know people are going through similar things, thinking it’s dandruff or thinking it’s contagious,” Biles said. “[You] don’t have to silently suffer. Own it. Go see a trusted professional, and get the relief that you deserve.”
Because every medication has potential side effects, Lamb said it’s important to talk with your doctor about a medication’s potential risks and benefits.
“This one, the side effects are in a very low percent of patients, which can include some nausea, headache, as well as an allergic reaction, but you’ll discuss that with your physician, and in this case, dermatologists are the main ones writing for Zoryve,” said Lamb.
She said it’s encouraging that nonsteroidal medications exist as options for patients with skin conditions. She explained that Zoryve contains roflumilast, a PDE4 inhibitor that helps reduce inflammation involved in eczema.
“So I’m very excited [because] I think the landscape of how we’re treating many conditions is really changing as we understand the science and the core of what drives it better,” said Lamb. “I think that’s been the largest breakthrough in the last many years in healthcare…understanding root cause is better, which can lead us to better treatments.”
How Biles reduces stress to help manage her eczema
Because Biles believes stress can contribute to her eczema flares, she practices a wellness routine that includes spending time with her girlfriends to get their nails done or a massage, and taking baths at night to wind down.
“[But] honestly, without training every single day, I don’t feel as stressed,” she said. “[Everyone] can find different ways to alleviate their stress. And it looks different for everyone.”
As she approaches her 30th birthday, Biles says she’s learned to prioritize her physical and mental well-being.
“I feel like now I know that there is help out there if I do get stuck or I notice something, and I feel like maturity has helped a lot with that,” she said.
“And I just feel like being an ambassador and having awareness for so much has opened up the doors for me to say, ‘Hey, I’m not feeling okay. Can I please do this instead?’ Or, ‘Oh, I need to speak to my therapist twice a week because I feel like I’m stuck in a rut right now.’ So I feel like [aging] has given me space and… confidence to do that.”
Simone Biles Thought Her Itchy, Flaky Scalp Was Dandruff. It Was Eczema
Source: Pinoy Lang Sakalam
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