Former Bachelorette lead Ali Fedotowsky revealed that she is suffering from shingles at 36 years old.
As she herself explained, shingles is typically a condition that affects people in their 60s.
After a week of hiding her appearance and her diagnosis, Ali came forward and revealed her truth along with pictures of her face to show how shingles has affected her.
She has been very open about previous health scares and is choosing to do the same with her shingles battle.
Ali explains how she got shingles at 36 years old
Ali took to Instagram to share her shingles story.
She started off the caption by admitting she has been “hiding my face on Instagram this week.”
“Why? I was diagnosed with shingles,” she revealed in the caption.
She then explained why she felt the need to hide her condition. She stated she “didn’t want the added stress or pressure of the Internet while I was trying to rest and heal.”
She continued, “In fact, stress is likely the reason I got #shingles. I’m sharing now because I hope my story will help others detect it early.
“I didn’t even think it was possible to get it at my age,” she added.
Ali Fedotowky’s pictures reveal the painful truth about shingles
Ali’s pictures show large, red bumps on her forehead. At first, she wasn’t sure what the spots on her face were so she sent pictures to her dermatologist. That’s when she learned the truth about her uncommon diagnosis.
The bumps may just look like superficial damage, but she revealed they have given her quite a bit of pain.
She stated that at first, it started out as a tingling sensation.
“I noticed my forehead feeling a little itchy & tingly,” she wrote. “I remember I kept itching my head and felt this electricity underneath my skin.”
However, the pain and symptoms got increasingly worse.
She explained, “I had multiple spots that ended up causing swelling and blurred vision in my eye.”
Ali is trying to find the positive in her diagnosis by using her platform to help others who might have experienced shingles in their 30s or are afraid that might be on the horizon for them.
“I plan to do a blog post next week detailing what happened on a day-by-day basis to hopefully help others who are frantically googling ‘shingles in your 30’s’ out there right now and not finding much information,” she concluded her post.
She expressed that she’s still learning about the condition herself, but for now, she is relaxing to lower her stress levels in an attempt to heal up her skin and restore her vision.
The Bachelorette airs on Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.