Keke Palmer took to social media yesterday to share a series of makeup-free selfies, putting her acne on display to raise awareness about Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS, after learning she has it. The Hustlers star included a lengthy caption, detailing her struggle.
"For some of you this may be TMI, but for me my platform has always been used for things much greater than me," she began. "Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome has been attacking me from the inside out my entire life and I had no idea. My acne has been so bad that people in my field offered to pay for me to get it fixed. I tried EVERYTHING," she continued. "I did Accutane TWICE. People say drink water, have a better diet, but I did all that, I ate all the 'right' things, my blood tests were fine."
She revealed that after reaching her breaking point, she decided to do some more digging into her family's medical history. "But it took ME taking a personal look into my family that has a history of diabetes and obesity, to understand what was ACTUALLY happening with me," she wrote. "And unfortunately doctors are people and if you don’t 'look the part' they may not think that’s your problem."
After finally finding a doctor that could accurately diagnose her and give her the answers she's been looking for, Palmer explained that she feels more accepting of herself. "My skin has made me sad many nights but I do not give up on myself," she wrote. "The least harmful thing PCOS can bring is acne. To all the people struggling with this please know you’re not alone and that you are still so f*cking fine! MY ACNE AINT NEVER STOPPED ME. But we don’t have accept this. Now I can really help KEKE! And I love her so it’s ON."