She’s famous for presenting a seemingly ideal version of a traditional homemaker’s life on social media.
But the model and ‘tradwife’ content maker Nara Smith revealed Tuesday that she’s beset by a debilitating physical symptoms that were at first diagnosed by dermatologists as ‘severe eczema.’
The South African–born German model shared a daring topless photo of herself that highlighted the rashes and skin lesions that have made her live a nightmare for the past three years.
Smith, who often films herself in opulent or old-fashioned ensembles while cooking meals from scratch with her model husband Lucky Blue Smith, subsequently revealed in her lengthy caption that German doctors later discovered a more accurate diagnosis, determining that she was afflicted with the autoimmune disease lupus.
Other stars who have shared their public struggles with lupus include Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga, Nick Cannon and Toni Braxton, among others.
Nara’s topless photo showed her sitting up in bed. She covered her breasts with her arms while resting her hands on her shoulders.
model and ‘tradwife’ content maker Nara Smith revealed Tuesday that she’s beset by a debilitating physical symptoms that were at first diagnosed by dermatologists as ‘severe eczema.’ She showed off her rashes in a stunning topless Instagram photo
Smith, who often films herself in opulent or old-fashioned ensembles while cooking meals from scratch with her model husband Lucky Blue Smith, revealed that German doctors later diagnosed her with lupus; seen December 2 in London
The photo revealed pinkish rashes all over her forearms and traveling up toward her shoulders.
The rashes were flecked with darker red spots white, flaking skin.
A second photo of her palms revealed the extreme flaking and irritation she dealt with, including bloody cracks where the dry skin had split.
The skin symptoms were also present on her scalp, and a photo of the top of her head revealed fresh pink splotches where skin flakes appeared to have ripped off.
She also appeared to have thinner hair in the areas with the most irritation.
After including a trigger warning for ‘eczema,’ the model — who moved to the US when she was 18 — revealed that the symptoms that she first attributed to eczema began ‘flaring up several’ around three years earlier.
‘I had just given birth to my second child,’ wrote the mother-of-three. ‘It started off as a small cracked patch of dry skin that I just moisturized and ignored.’
But her symptoms quickly worsened as the cracked skin ‘spread rapidly’ from her palms to her back, arms, scalp and even her face.
A photo of her palms revealed the extreme flaking and irritation she dealt with, including bloody cracks where the dry skin had split
She said she suffered from flaky skin, fatigue and had clumps of hair fall out, which dermatologists told her was ‘severe eczema’
After extreme dietary changes and steroid cream use, her symptoms only got worse, prompting her to fly back home to Germany to see medical professionals
‘I felt exhausted and my body ached so bad, that on some days I couldn’t move or hold my babies,’ she continued. ‘As time went on my hair fell out in clumps and I could never shake this lingering cold feeling I felt in my body.’
Nara admitted that she spent her nights researching eczema symptoms, whichi led her to overhaul her diet by ‘cutting out grains, dairy, sugar’ and eschewing processed foods ‘for more natural options.’
Although she would ‘go through phases of it healing,’ the skin issues never completely went away, and they always returned.
She consulted professionals about the skin irritation, but multiple dermatologists diagnosed it as ‘severe eczema,’ but the tradwife model seemed to think that didn’t full explain her symptoms.
‘I got sent home defeated, not listened to and with a paper bag full of steroid creams,’ she wrote.
Despite the steroid cream treatments and dietary changes she had made, Nara ended up having her ‘biggest flareup’ to date, which was accompanied by a ‘severe infection.’
‘Every part of my body was covered in inflamed, oozing, itchy and swollen skin,’ she wrote. ‘I woke up with my eyes swollen shut and my hands not functioning. I stopped eating completely, l paralyzed by the fear of making it worse.’
She decided to look past the American doctors that she felt were misdiagnosing her, so she returned to Germany — where she had lived most of her childhood and teen years — to consult with ‘naturopaths, doctors and other specialists.’
One photo revealed her red, swollen eyes, a common lupus symptom
The autoimmune disease’s cause isn’t known, but it occurs when antibodies attack the body’s own tissue. Corticosteroids, anti-malaria drugs and even chemotherapy can help, but there is no cure
It was there that she finally received a diagnosis that seemed to full encompass her symptoms: lupus.
‘Like a puzzle all the pieces fell into place and all my symptoms made sense- from my purple hands that felt frozen, to my extreme fatigue, my hair loss and sores,’ Nara explained. ‘It all made sense now. I felt relieved because I finally had an answer but I was equally scared of what this meant for my life and my kids.’
She added that dealing with lupus has come with a new ‘learning curve,’ and she is still learning and making important changes for her health.
‘I’m sharing this in the hopes of giving someone hope, comfort or the strength to keep pushing when things get really hard and lonely❤️,’ Nara concluded her lengthy caption.
Among her photos was a closeup of one of her eyes, which was red and puffy, a common symptom of lupus.
She also included a shot of herself lying in bed as she held a pillow over her head, as if to convey her despair over her lupus symptoms.
Lupus sufferers can experience numerous symptoms, including swollen or painful joints, fatigue, rashes, especially on their face, swollen lymph nodes, hair loss and even chest pain.
The symptoms occur due to an affected person’s antibodies attacking their own tissue.
Nara has been criticized in the past for her ‘tradwife’ content, as some viewers have slammed her for promoting an unattainable, old-fashioned lifestyle; pictured October 17 in Dallas, Texas
Her TikToks show her dressed to the nines with her model husband Lucky Blue Smith, looking straight out of a 1950s magazine, while cooking dishes like waffles, pudding and cinnamon rolls from scratch
Although the cause of lupus isn’t currently known, it is believed to be related to a mix of genetic and environmental factors.
There is no cure currently available for lupus, but corticosteroids and anti-malaria medications can provide some relief.
Chemotherapy has also been used to treat lupus symptoms, even though it’s best known as a cancer treatment.
Nara has been criticized in the past for her ‘tradwife’ content, as some viewers have slammed her for promoting an unattainable, old-fashioned lifestyle.
Her TikToks show her dressed to the nines, looking straight out of a 1950s magazine, while cooking dishes like waffles, pudding and cinnamon rolls from scratch.
Nara and her husband Lucky have revealed they make their own toothpaste, and she even went viral for concocting her own homemade sunscreen.
She has denied speculation that she and Lucky secretly have a staff of helpers they have employed to prop up their do-it-yourself image.
Nara and Lucky live on a ranch in Texas with their daughters Rumble, four, and Whimsy, six months, and their son Slim, two.
She has denied speculation that she and Lucky secretly have a staff of helpers they have employed to prop up their do-it-yourself image, and she reminded critics that she and her husband are both working models when they’re not making social media content
Nara and Lucky live on a ranch in Texas with their daughters Rumble, four, and Whimsy, six months, and their son Slim, two
Tweaking the perception of herself as a traditional housewife, Nara has reminded fans she is a working mother as she and her husband are both professional models.
‘A lot of people don’t realize that Lucky and I are both models and we’ve been working since we were very young,’ she said pointedly on TikTok this August.
She has been married to Lucky since 2020 and, in addition to the three children they welcomed together, she is also stepmother to his seven-year-old daughter Gravity, whom he shares with his ex Stormi Henley.
Nara has also denied rumors she has full-time staff, saying: ‘What people think online is that we have housekeepers and cleaners and nannies and all of these things, when in reality it’s just me and Lucky wanting a family and sharing our lives online.’
She insisted that she and Lucky split up their parenting responsibilities equally and have a nanny only for a few hours each week, in a recent GQ profile.
Nara also disputed the image of herself as a repressed wife, saying: ‘It’s not about thinking: “Oh, I need to make my husband a meal right now, or he’ll be upset.”‘
Lucky described their marriage as a ‘a big partnership in every aspect of our lives,’ and Nara explained that although she cooks, her husband ‘does cleanup. Which I’m grateful for, because I hate that part.’
