Olympic Gymnast Suni Lee Shares Her Eczema and Mental Health Journey

There’s a very simple purpose gymnasts use leotards to contend: they’re formfitting, stretchy, and would not get in the way during a entrance layout. But while they may well be purposeful, they also transpire to put really a little bit of pores and skin on show — anything Olympian Suni Lee struggled with when she initial started working with eczema.

“It was anything that I felt ashamed of, getting in a leotard and competing for Team Usa,” she tells PS. “Our pores and skin is pretty exposed, cameras are constantly on us, folks are normally getting pics, and it is really difficult when you might be kind of ashamed to be wanting at your have system or your skin mainly because you can see that it is really tough or flaky.”

Lee started off dealing with itchy, purple pores and skin that was “generally not comfortable” when she was more youthful, and it wasn’t till she’d tried out “almost everything” she could get more than the counter in advance of she was officially diagnosed with eczema.

The inflammatory pores and skin condition is characterized by dry, itchy pores and skin. At its core, it is really a serious (but workable) issue that is caused by an overactive immune technique disrupting the skin barrier. However, selected triggers — like precise foodstuff, liquor, and environmental irritants — can cause it to flare. In accordance to the Nationwide Eczema Association, it impacts about 31 million individuals in the US on your own. Nonetheless, it can demonstrate up in different ways on anyone — earning it difficult to handle and even far more hard to communicate about.

“I used to have it really undesirable on my arms, legs, and driving my neck — it was swollen and infected,” Lee states. “It manufactured me not want to be found anywhere for the reason that I realized individuals were searching at it due to the fact it was so infected. It has undoubtedly taken a hit to my stability stages when I am competing, mainly because it feels like folks are searching at me.”

The gymnast has since gotten her eczema under manage, which has been immensely valuable for her in general nicely-staying. “My doctors, dermatologists, and I have a definitely good procedure — we know what performs,” she claims. Lee not too long ago partnered with Eli Lilly and Organization, a pharmaceutical corporation that helps make eczema medication and Staff USA’s wellness equity sponsor, to destigmatize the conversation all over atopic dermatitis, aka eczema. “I’ve had my truthful share of insecurities with eczema, but it can be not a thing to be ashamed or ashamed about. And now, I want to share my story to help inspire young generations to be comfy in their very own pores and skin.”

Investigation revealed by The Journal of Allergy and Medical Immunology has proven that individuals who have eczema are at a increased threat for melancholy and stress and anxiety, and in accordance to a new study performed by the Countrywide Eczema Association, 30 % of men and women with atopic dermatitis offer with a single or the two of these mental overall health fears. But ironically, psychological and psychological pressure is one of the top rated triggers for eczema flare-ups, which Lee has skilled firsthand. “I get the worst anxiety eczema flare-ups,” she says. “At the 2021 Olympics, I was having a flare-up on my neck that I thankfully bought taken care of appropriate just before the level of competition. But it comes about a lot when I am stressed and I cannot snooze. I get genuinely poor flare-ups. So then I’m consistently itching and not comfortable.”

“I was terrified to talk about [mental health] for a lengthy time, but when Simone and other athletes started out speaking about it, it made me truly feel much more at ease.”

It is really a person of the a lot of motives Lee prioritizes her psychological wellness. In addition to therapy, two tactics that support deal with her anxiety are journaling and visualization. “I am a quite non-public man or woman and I retain a ton of factors, so I you should not genuinely share how I thoroughly experience all the time, so I write it all down,” she says. “I create down my ‘whys,’ my plans, my keyword phrases, and I visualize a lot during my routines because it’s vital to don’t forget them when you are out there and nervous and seeking to block all the things out.”

Although navigating her personal mental health journey, Lee has been grateful to see fellow athletes open up about theirs in advance of the 2024 Paris Olympics, wherever she’s competing for Staff United states of america up coming month. “The perspective now is just so much much more constructive, and it can be a lot more concentrated on the mental well being of the athletes because if we’re not in the suitable headspace, you can not expect us to compete the best routines in the way that we are anticipated to,” she suggests. “Our desires are extremely significant for the reason that they are factors that are likely to assist us when we’re out there competing.”

In the last number of many years, athletes like Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas, and Naomi Osaka have spoken out about their possess psychological health and fitness experiences, which has served Lee truly feel cozy sharing her story. “I talk to and hear to a bunch of other athletes, and I’m regularly making an attempt to hear and have an understanding of how some persons do the things they do,” she says. “And it really is been so practical due to the fact I was terrified to communicate about it for a extended time, but when Simone and other athletes began talking about it, it made me truly feel far more comfortable.”

Zoë Weiner is a freelance splendor and wellness author. Her function has appeared in Bustle, Byrdie, Cosmopolitan, PS, GQ, Glamour, Marie Claire, Allure, Self, Brides, and Teen Vogue, amongst other individuals, and she was the senior magnificence editor at Properly+Fantastic.