Yes my skin does inspire me. It inspires me to be more creative and not be ashamed of the things that make me unique. It also inspires me to get along with the things I already have.

-Evelyn

Hear, hear–I agree with you Evelyn!  I think that when faced with challenges, we grow and learn exponentially from them, and the lessons learned from experience are much more powerful than those learned in a book.

Evelyn and I met on Instagram, and have been corresponding for a few weeks on email.  She sent me these lovely photos of her skin, and I got a chance to ask her some questions too.

Ariana Page Russell (APR): How long have you had dermatographia?

Evelyn (E): I’ve had dermatographia for about 5 years or so but I’m not so sure of when ıt actually started.

(APR): When and how did you find out you have it?

(E): I don’t really remember I guess it just happened out of the blue. I found out I had it when my friends told me I had some red lines on my face.  The way I found out I had dermatographia was when I searched ” Why does my skin raise up when I scratch it?” On the internet. That’s when I first learned it was a skin condition.

(APR): What are your symptoms?

(E): My symptoms aren’t as bad as most people with dermatographia but I do have them mildly. When I scratch, it feels kind of hot in the place I scratched and it also itches. Some days it doesn’t itch as much but sometimes it can get really uncomfortable.

(APR): How do you treat the symptoms?

(E): I don’t take anything to treat my symptoms, I just try not to itch wherever I scratched ’cause it usually goes away after that.

(APR): Did you notice anything happening around the time of getting dermatographia that you think may be linked to it?

(E): No, I didn’t notice anything unusual and I don’t think it’s linked to anything.

(APR): Are you allergic to anything?

(E): Sometimes eating a lot of nuts can make me feel itchy but it’s not that uncomfortable.

(APR): Where do you live and what do you do?

(E): I’d rather not say where I live but I’m still a student. I really like cats, photography, sketching/doodling and binge watching TV shows.

(APR): Does your skin inspire you?

(E): Yes my skin does inspire me. It inspires me to be more creative and not be ashamed of the things that make me unique. It also inspires me to get along with the things I already have.

(APR): Yay, awesome! What do you hope to do with your dermatographia?

(E): I hope to make people understand that it’s not creepy or weird to have dermatographia. I don’t know if I’ll actually make a career out of skin writing but I will definitely never stop doing it for fun.

(APR): I hope you never stop drawing on your skin (unless your dermatographia goes away, then you’ll have to use pen or something else ;’) cuz dermatographia is cool and not creepy or weird.  It’s just another thing that some people’s skin does! Is there anything you’d like to know about dermatographia?

(E): I don’t know a lot about dermatographia, I just recently learned that other people had it too. I didn’t know it was an actual skin condition. It would be nice if you shared the things you know about it so far or the things that helped you while trying to deal with the itch.

(APR): I will definitely keep sharing all I know about dermatographia!  In the meantime, you can find out more on my SkinTome post here.  Please keep in touch, and thanks Evelyn!

Awesome photos on this page courtesy of Evelyn