What is your visible difference?

[DolaChangingFacesUK]

Hello everyone, I'm Dola from Changing Faces.

As we relaunch the forum I thought it might be interesting to find out some of the various conditions people have that make them look different. Here are a few that I have encountered this week – Acne, Alopecia, Burns, Birthmark, Cleft lip and palate, Eczema, Vitiligo.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[PB58]

Port wine birth mark on the left side of my neck.

Mastectomy on right side

[Hidden]

Hi Dola. It’s great to see people engaging with the Forum. I think your post about conditions is really interesting, but they are all about facial differences. What about people with physical differences?

[PB58 in reply to Hidden]

I do have a port wine birthday mark on my neck but also have had a mastectomy which is of course a physical difference too.

Happy to hear from others who also have physical differences on their bodies as well as facial differences.

[Shellsbutt]

Skin graft under right eye, result from skin cancer surgery two and a half years ago.

[Ikks]

Hi everyone, I dont have a specific condition, I just look different from everybody else. I have heard so many comments about my face since I was a child. Members of my family said to me "why couldn t you just look like everybody else". Soon I will be 40 and I still get stared at every single day, sometimes I see people laugh or hear their nasty comments, sometimes they are just surprised to see someone like me. This is hard to cope with. I m also very shy and I blush all the time. It doesn t make things easier. I would like to discuss with someone who also suffers from staring because of her / his difference. Thank you !

[Derwentdrive in reply to Ikks]

Hi xx

[littlemy7]

Scarring from severe acne and acne affecting my face also some quite decent forearm scars I guess but they don't affect me at all physically or emotionally (though sometimes people ask me weird questions about them!)

[DolaChangingFacesUK]

Thanks for your replies everyone!

Ikks mentioned staring and nasty comments. At Changing Faces lots of our clients share similar experiences of stares and comments. I wonder if anyone else has such experiences and if so, how often do you get them?

[sudocream in reply to DolaChangingFacesUK]

I have a scar on my upper lip caused by a medical accident when I was very small. It is not cleft lip but it can be mistaken for it. Unfortunately my scar turned into a keloid during healing and is now visible. I’m quite uncomfortable with myself and find it very difficult to talk to people about this issue. In particular, I find it difficult when people innocently or not so innocently stroke that part of their face where my scar is located. I always freeze and shut down. I find it difficult to vocalise or handle the distress this gesture causes me. I know it isn’t necessarily malicious but it does affect me. I do sometimes get stared at and find myself hiding my face. Just wondering how everyone copes with the stares and face touching?

[DolaChangingFacesUK in reply to sudocream]

Hello Sudocream and welcome to the Changing Faces Community! Thank you for your post and for sharing your experiences here. It sounds like you find it difficult to cope with unwanted attention around your keloid although you're aware it's not necessarily malicious. Hopefully, as the community grows, you'll find people to connect with and to share your thoughts with.

In the meantime, what do you do in the moment when you are feeling the discomfort of being stared at or someone touching that side of their face?

[Derwentdrive in reply to sudocream]

I have a very small mouth which gets me comments it’s seriously affecting me message me if you like xx

[Crystal246]

Heeey x I had bone cancer in my right cheek so now I have a large skin flap that is muscle taken from my back and I (unfortunately atm) don't have a top gum.

[DolaChangingFacesUK]

Hey Crystal, welcome to the forum. It was lovely meeting you and your mum at the Get togethers here in the London. I see you've been active on social media. Keep it going, Dola

[norfolklad]

Hi Everyone. I was born with a condition known a Vascular Anomaly which affects the right side of my face, eye and inside of my mouth. I have been involved with Changing Faces since January 1997 and have taken part in media coverage from time to time.

[DolaChangingFacesUK]

Hello Norfolklad, welcome to the forum and thanks for your post. Would you be willing to share about your experience of media coverage?

[lonely-f-1983]

I had botched rhinoplasty 13 years ago.

[Derwentdrive in reply to lonely-f-1983]

Hi xx

[DolaChangingFacesUK in reply to Derwentdrive]

Hello there, just checking in to see how you're doing since you asked for your post to be removed. Hope you're ok.

[Lunacrystal]

Hi everyone 🙂 My difference is that I have facial scars, caused by skin graft surgery for burns. All my surgeries happened before the age of 19. Ive now just turned 40 and would love to hear from anyone who knows of any new advancements either in cosmetic surgery in relation to scars or new makeup techniques even. Thanks 🙂

[younique in reply to Lunacrystal]

There are tons of new makeup techniques! Check out this makeup artists work as an example. instagram.com/p/BnQO45MlLYY/

[Lunacrystal in reply to younique]

Thanks for the reply. Dunno if I could get quite as gd a result though 🙂

[younique in reply to Lunacrystal]

I understand. The artist is highly skilled. It is possible though, so stay hopeful! Check out some YouTube videos for techniques. ❤️

[allaboutdogs]

I was recently badly attacked by a dog. My face is very wounded and healing right now. Not sure what I owe to the public when I decide to leave my house.

[trix11]

Hi I have burns to my face, neck and all upper body

[DolaChangingFacesUK]

Hi trix11, welcome to the Changing Faces Community and thanks for sharing. It is still a relatively new community and hopefully as it grows you will be able to make friends and share more experiences, ideas etc. with other people. We are planning to have one of our champions who survived 96% third degree burns all over her body on the forum soon to share her story and take any questions from members. So, something to look forward to if you like. Do you already have any questions you might like to ask?

Best wishes,

Dola@ChangingFacesUK

[sailor19]

I just had surgery on Tuesday to remove part of my upper lip due to cancer. I have my daughter's communion on Saturday, not looking forward to having to go out and meet so many people

Glad I found this forum, great to see so many people being supportive

[DolaChangingFacesUK]

Hello Sailor19, welcome to the Changing Faces community. We're so glad you found us. It can be daunting having to meet so many people so soon after your surgery, but hopefully people will be supportive. I wonder if you have any thoughts about how you might respond if people ask questions?

Best wishes for your daughter's communion.

[sailor19 in reply to DolaChangingFacesUK]

Thanks for that, i was embarrassed in the church and in the school hall afterwards, opting to not make eye contact with many people, once I was back in the house it was fine as just friends and family were there and were very supportive.

I have found that people either choose to ignore it, or ask me straight out what happened. Colleagues in work for example, I had seen a lot of them just before the surgery, so some were shocked when they saw me and wanted to know, others just talked to me as normal.

[SnakePlissken]

I have eye cancer and the treatment was proton beam therapy which blinded my left eye and left it crooked and red. I had surgery to correct it but it was unsuccessful.

[DolaChangingFacesUK]

Hello there and welcome to the Changing Faces community! I'm sorry to hear that the proton beam therapy did harm rather than good and corrective surgery was unsuccessful. It sounds rather disappointing. Were you told that the treatment might not work?

[AlwaysSmiling Community Ambassador]

Hi, I'm new to changing faces! I have a cleft lip and palate. I have experienced bullying in the past but thankfully things seem to be settling down now. I've had around 8 or 9 operations (2 of them for other medical conditions) and I'm now 16 so it won't be long until I leave school. I am a little nervous for what the world of work will think to me but I'm optimistic about the future and I will continue to smile

[DolaChangingFacesUK in reply to AlwaysSmiling]

Hello AlwaysSmiling and welcome to the Changing Faces community. Thanks for sharing your story, you sound like someone who's decided to shake out all the good that life has to offer. Keep smiling, and I think the world just might smile with you. 😄😍 Great to hear from another post that you've feeling proud of yourself for having come so far. Very well done to you!

[AlwaysSmiling Community Ambassador in reply to DolaChangingFacesUK]

Thank you! The support here is amazing!❤