Woman spends 14 years hiding because of heartbreaking condition: ‘I don’t want to be me’

On an episode of Embarrassing Bodies – streaming for free on 9Now – Hannah decided that after the sore, red spots on her face had impacted her for half her life, enough was enough.

“I would just love for one day to go out with the children and not have to worry about what people think of me or what’s wrong with me,” she said.

“I can’t go on like this. I need help. I don’t wanna be me.”

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Hannah met with Dr Jane Leonard for help diagnosing and treating the sores, which she has had since she was 14.

After taking a closer look, Dr Jane said Hannah was dealing with the “most severe case of acne you can get”.

“It affects everything, I spend three hours in the morning covering my face. I just [think] ‘don’t look at me’ all the time,” Hannah explained, covering her face with her hand.

Most people have experienced acne at some point in their lives and Dr Jane could empathize with Hannah.

She also had good news: there were treatment options available and she could organise Hannah to see a dermatologist, Dr Adam Friedmann.

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He explained a possible 20-week treatment plan with a pharmaceutical drug, steroid ointment and moisturizer, which Hannah jumped at the chance to try.

She noticed a difference within a week, which only continued as time went on.

See Hannah’s incredible progress in the video below:

Best of all, she was now feeling more free to live life as she wanted.

“It’s enabled me to go out to a playgroup with my little boy so I’ve done that for the first time.

“It has definitely given me some confidence ’cause I’m not feeling like when I’m talking my face is gonna crack and start bleeding so it’s definitely made a difference.”

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She was finally excited about the future.

“Hopefully I can get a little bit of me back, start making some friends and just start leading a normal life,” Hannah said.

Stream episodes of Embarrassing Bodies for free on 9Now.