22 Photos of How Illness Changed People's Bodies (That They're Not Hiding Anymore)

When life throws a chronic illness your way, you might find yourself struggling to reconcile your “old” self with the changes in lifestyle, diet or hobbies illness can bring about. But your physical appearance can also change – whether it’s a result of surgeries, medication side effects or a direct result of the illness itself. It can be tough to watch your body undergo changes, especially when you feel like you don’t have control over what’s happening. But it can also be a proud visual reminder of how strong you are and how much you’ve overcome.

We asked our Mighty community to share photos of how their bodies may have changed due to chronic illness — but they don’t want to hide anymore. If you find yourself struggling with self-esteem or identity because of how your body has changed, know you are not alone. But also know that no matter how your body changes (or doesn’t!), you are strong, you are beautiful, and you are a warrior.

Here’s what the community shared with us:

1. “These burns right here are from three years of consistent heating pad use due to an undiagnosed stomach illness that creates so much pain and nausea I have to be attached to a heating pad 80 percent of the day just to get some kind of relief. I used to be so ashamed of my burns, but I’m tired of hiding them. They are my proof that I fight an invisible illness that consumes my whole life.”

2. “My weight gain in four months from an extremely intense version of a very common reaction to amitriptyline. The rapid weight gain was a bit over three years ago, but completely ravaged my metabolism. My skin is covered in stretch marks that quite literally showed up so quickly that some of them first appeared looking more like bleeding blisters. My joints were destroyed and I could barely walk for more than six months because my body couldn’t handle the excess weight.”

3. “2009: I was 17, a few months away from finishing high school. I had dealt with being a victim of bullying [due to] being disabled and living with spina bifida. I felt life was great and I was about to start a new life soon. 2017: I’m 25, and life didn’t go as I’d planned back in 2009. I graduated high school. I had set myself up to go to college and live a normal life as best as I knew [how]. [Since] being diagnosed with a mental illness, I’ve had to re-create my life a bit… But [because of the] medication I’ve been placed on in that timeframe, I don’t recognize myself. Mental illness may have taken a piece of me away, but it won’t win!”

4. “My hands are deforming from rheumatoid arthritis. They are always swollen. Only 15 years into diagnosis and age 37, I worry about what they’ll look like in the future. But they show the pain I’ve endured and how hard I have fought for 15 years.”

5. “I have a rare form of dwarfism and my bones are slowly breaking… I’ve had two surgeries so far and more to come. My legs are also affected.”

6. “Having a central line for TPN and feeding/drainage tube in my stomach for digestive tract paralysis. It’s been [challenging] being a teenager with these tubes, but I am proud they’ve kept me alive!”

7. “Multiple knee surgeries for lack of cartilage. Lupus is definitely difficult to deal with, but I have it – it doesn’t have me.”

8. “Chemo treatment made my hair fall out in huge clumps. My son helped me shave my head, but only if we shaved his too. It was hard at first, but now I just don’t care. Plus, bald chicks are adorable!”

9. “My scars, or what we call our zippers. This is after I shaved my head for St. Baldrick’s. This was between my third and fourth Chiari revisions. The fourth included skull to C3 fusion. I got the tattoo before I knew I needed another surgery but with us Chiarians there can always be another. The tattoo is my way of raising awareness and adding a little humor.”

10. “This surgery and bimonthly injections into my face have changed my face shape and movement, probably permanently.”

11. “Skin tumors from neurofibromatosis. They’re all over my sides, lower back, pelvis and down my left leg. I also have plexiform tumors inside my body, in my sides, on my sciatic nerve and wrapped around my aortic artery.”

 

12. “Welp. This was me at 27 when I finally had all my teeth removed. They started falling out of my head at 19 years old. I’m 29 now and have been toothless for two years for a variety of reasons. Thanks, Ehlers-Danlos.”

13. “This is lipedema. I have painful, large, trunk-like legs that bruise extremely easily. They swell with changes in my hormones. It makes exercising feel almost impossible unless I’m in a pool. It makes the daily walking a person does feel like a marathon. It is largely unaffected by diet and exercise. It showed up at puberty and got worse with each pregnancy.”