Exclusive: How Tia Mowry Is Encouraging Those With Eczema to 'Take Action'
Eczema is way more common than you think. Per Healthline, 1 in 10 people will develop eczema in their lifetime. Eczema is seen so differently on so many bodies and people, but the most common symptoms are itching, rashes, dry skin crusting, and more. These symptoms can lead one to decreased self-esteem, mental health challenges; you name it.
However, all of this is even more common in people of color; and that’s where Tia Mowry comes into the conversation.
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Beloved actress, author, mom of two, self care goddess extraordinaire herself is talking about her journey with eczema, and how she’s working to change how people see it.
So many people have it, and yet there’s still a stigma surrounding it. However, Mowry, and AbbVie, are working together on a pop-up experience that’s working to help show people that you’re not alone.
See what Mowry said about her journey with eczema, advocating for yourself, her new show, and how she hopes this pop-up will help people feel less alone:
On ‘The Eczema Experience: Stories Itching to Be Told‘
From Oct 8 to Oct 9, many can come into the pop-up experience at the Flatiron Plaza in NYC entitled, The Eczema Experience: Stories Itching to Be Told. It’s an immersive experience presented by AbbVie that “blends art, science, and storytelling to vividly illustrate the physical, emotional and social challenges of living with eczema.” It’s a powerful experience that was created to show the world what it’s really like to go through life with eczema, with the help of Mowry and dual board-certified dermatologist and psychiatrist Dr. Evan Rieder. (You can find more details at www.EczemaHQ.com!)
“One of the main reasons why I got involved is because I’m one in 31 million Americans who suffer from eczema, so I truly understand the challenges that come along with that. And that’s why I’m so excited to be partnering up with AbbVie on this incredible initiative,” she said. “So how we are coming together to bring awareness to help one manage their condition. So that, you know, is one of the reasons why I am here. I just want to bring awareness to share my personal experience and stories during National Eczema Awareness Month, basically to encourage others to take action.”
(National Eczema Awareness Month takes place in October, and as you can see, Mowry is making sure everyone is talking about it this month.)
She added, “And that’s another reason why I’m excited to be a part of this initiative: bringing awareness that you’re not alone and we are continuing to bring awareness and educate so that one can get a better understanding of eczema and also manage their condition.”
On The Journey to Getting Her Diagnosis
Sadly, with eczema, so many get misdiagnosed, and Mowry was no different. While she’s been living with eczema for decades, it took her so long to finally get diagnosed.
When asked what words of wisdom she had for people continually being misdiagnosed, Mowry shone a light on her own experiences and how, as a woman of color, she had to advocate for herself so much throughout the tiring process.
“I can only speak for my own experience, and the advice that I would give is to continue to be an advocate for yourself. I was misdiagnosed, and I had suffered for years, ever since I was a child. But I think what really helped me was continuing to be an advocate for myself and not giving up. Even if I was being dismissed, which unfortunately happens with a lot of women of color, when we tend to go down this path, I didn’t give up,” she said.
“I continued to visit more healthcare practitioners,” she added. “The advice that I could give is take action, ask questions, and understand and know that there are options out there, there are resources out there, and one in particular, I’m encouraging everyone out there to visit eczemahq.com.”
Now, advocating for yourself can be hard, especially if you’re new to it. Advocating for yourself is all about knowing your worth and communicating your needs, setting boundaries, and more. It can be a scary thing to do at first, but Mowry talked about the biggest reason she believes people aren’t doing so: fear.
She discussed with us how, when advocating for yourself, you need to understand: “You’re not alone and rely on your family and your friends, and share what’s going on. Share what you’re experiencing instead of holding it inside or feeling embarrassed or feeling ashamed.”
As we mentioned, a big part of advocating for yourself is knowing your worth and knowing you’re beautiful, even at the height of flare-ups, where one may feel not-so-beautiful. (Reminder: you are!) Self-care Queen herself, Mowry, told us the biggest affirmation that she reminds herself of: “The affirmation is that I decide what beauty is. I am not going to fit into someone else’s mold of what beauty is defined as. It’s putting the power and the narrative back in your hands and having that confidence in yourself, starting inward, knowing that you are, knowing that you are the one that defines what beauty is, and you are important. You are value, you are a value, you are needed.”
On the Lack of Representation in Healthcare
Your needs are important, and when it comes to your health, you need to be able to properly communicate your needs; something more healthcare providers need to be receptive to. Throughout our conversation, Mowry continually discussed the lack of representation in healthcare, especiallyf or women of color dealing with ezcema. In fact, she said the more she learned, the more it made her want to see change.
“I think the biggest lesson is there’s just not a lot of representation,” she told us. “The more and more I educate myself, the more and more I learn, I’ve realized and understood that there aren’t even textbooks on what eczema looks like on women of color. [So] I think what needs to change the most is inclusivity. If I’m being transparent and honest, I feel like everyone deserves to be heard, to be seen, to be acknowledged, no matter your, you know, social economical status, no matter the color of your skin, no matter what. We all are human beings.”
Dr. E. Nikki Pritchett told Medical News Today about that same issue, how ezcema looks different ondarker skin tones, and it isn’t properly displayed in many textbooks. “Eczema is more common and is often more severe in Black Americans compared with white Americans,” they said. “There are notable differences in both the occurrence and appearance of eczema in Black Americans.”
Plus, Mowry is right, everyone deserves to be heard, especially in a medical ebnvinroment, where one is already so vulnerable.
“It starts with love. It starts with treating everyone with kindness and love. When I sat down with a doctor and when they gave me the time to listen to me and not try to rush me out of the room, when I felt heard and seen, that is when the change started to happen,” she added. “I was given the proper tools, the proper help, the diagnosis, I don’t want one to give up on themselves and I don’t want us as a community to give up on us.”
As Mowry said, having someone give you that attention and patience, it can change everything. But in a sea of doctors, it can be hard to find one actually inclusive; however, Mowry gave some of herinsights into finding the right one for her, as a woman of color.
Along with reminding yourself your worth, advocating for yourself is all about communicating”I think [the number one sign to look for an inclusive provider] is giving you your time. In the past when I didn’t feel valued, seen, or heard from a doctor while I was talking to them, they were on the phone or they were not really paying attention to my needs or not even giving me answers to my questions,” she said, adding her number one rule is to have a list of questions available. How your doctor answers each question will let you know if they’re icnulusive, which she said, “Have a list of questions and then see if these doctors are taking the time to answer every single one of them. What I love is when they offer some sort of hub that you can go back to answer questions.”
On Her New Show, ‘Tia Mowry: My Next Act‘
It’s no secret that Mowry is all about keeping it real, and open about everything going on in her life. Along with being vulnerable about her eczema diagnosis, Mowry is turning a new leaf in her life, and telling fans all the details in her new show Tia Mowry: My Next Act.
Earlier this year, her new reality series debuted, and fans are eating up all the details she’s given about her new life, including how she’s navigating being her most authentic (and single) self. When asked about the new show, Mowry discussed how she hopes the show reminds fans that they’re not alone, especially when it comes to changes in life.
Whether they’re “going through transitions in life, whether it’s work-related, whether it’s moving from, you know, state to state, or whether it has to do with friendship or you know, partners, you’re not alone. It is hard, but that is a part of the journey. I did the show because I again saw that there was not a lot of representation out there.
“I feel that people don’t wanna talk about change or talk about these transitions in life. And it’s something that happens to the best of us and to all of us….When I was going through my transition, I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t know what to do. And of course, you know, I am finding my way, and I am still on this journey,” she said. “But I wanted to be that inspiration for many of the people who go through these transitions in life and let them know like, this is hard, but you’re not alone, and you will get through it.”
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