YouTube star, Emma Chamberlain, revealed the unexpected way she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) during a chance encounter at the hair salon.
In a Vogue video, released on Tuesday, the social media sensation, 23, recalled the exact moment a stranger informed her that she appeared to be suffering from a hormonal disorder, which goes undiagnosed in upward of 70% of affected women.
‘I was sitting in the chair getting my hair washed and a woman was next to me and she turned to me and she said, “Do you have PCOS”?’ the influencer told viewers.
‘I was like, “I don’t know. My mom has PCOS. She has PCOS and endometriosis and she’s had a lot of challenges,” Chamberlain replied. ‘And she was like, “I think you have PCOS.”‘
The content creator, who has launched successful ventures like Chamberlain Coffee and a Spotify exclusive podcast, explained the woman ‘could tell by the acne’ on her cheeks, at the time.
‘Turns out she was an OBGYN and she diagnosed me with PCOS,’ Chamberlain said of the fateful interaction that happened over a year ago. ‘It’s really changed my life, to be honest.’
YouTube star, Emma Chamberlain, revealed the unexpected way she was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) during a chance encounter at the hair salon
Since getting her diagnosis and getting medication to help regulate hormones, Chamberlain said her periods have been ‘so much more chill.’
‘My skin is so much more predictable. My hair is getting thicker. It’s just feeling like I’m coming back to myself in a way,’ she raved.
Allison Ackerman, a mental health therapist based in the United States, explained to DailyMail.com that ‘many women with PCOS look to supplements and other hormone balancing strategies to seek this life-changing experience that Emma talks about.’
‘The journey can feel defeating and isolating, which is why mental health support is so important for those facing reproductive health challenges,’ she added.
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a common condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work.
While you cannot tell if someone has PCOS just by looking at someone, there are some physical characteristics of PCOS, such as acne, hirsutism, and skin discoloration.
For many that are affected, however, there are no outwardly observable signs of PCOS and they are diagnosed by using blood work, ultrasounds, and other evidenced-based measures.
The three main features of PCOS are irregular periods, excess androgen, which may cause physical signs such as excess facial or body hair and polycystic ovaries.
In a Vogue video, released on Tuesday, the social media sensation, 23, recalled the exact moment a stranger informed her that she appeared to be suffering from a hormonal disorder
‘I was sitting in the chair getting my hair washed and a woman was next to me and she turned to me and she said, “Do you have PCOS”?’ the influencer told viewers
Symptoms include menstrual irregularity, excess hair growth, acne, and obesity.
The condition affects around one in 10 American women of childbearing age – and can impact fertility.
Chamberlain first revealed her PCOS diagnosis in March 2024 during an episode of her Anything Goes podcast.
‘I found out it’s the reason that for many years I’ve had irregular periods, cystic acne, anxiety, depression and a slew of other issues,’ she said, at the time. ‘It could also possibly impact my fertility, which is upsetting. It’s definitely a bummer.’
She continued: ‘It’s common. I know a lot of girls with PCOS and I think I have a milder version of it. I don’t have the cysts, I don’t have all of the symptoms of PCOS, but alas, I have it.’
Chamberlain noted that ‘hopefully’ she will ‘be fertile’ when she is ‘ready to have children’ in six to eight years, according to her timeline.
The YouTuber pointed out that her diagnosis was ‘a little less frightening’ as her mom has PCOS and was still able to get pregnant with her.
In the past, Chamberlain has openly discussed her mental health struggles, particularly anxiety, burnout, and perfectionism.
The content creator, who has launched successful ventures like Chamberlain Coffee and a Spotify exclusive podcast, explained the woman ‘could tell by the acne’ on her cheeks, at the time (seen in 2023)
Since getting her diagnosis and getting medication to help regulate hormones, Chamberlain said her periods have been ‘so much more chill’ (seen in 2023)
In 2021, she told Vogue when she is burnout that the best thing she can do is ‘nothing and wait for it to pass and it always does.’
‘I used to push through it and I would go deeper and darker into that bad spot. Now when I feel it coming, I beat it before it gets too bad,’ she explained.
Exercise, like a walk, jog or doing Pilates at home, helps as well as reading, cooking and listening to educational podcasts.
Chamberlain, who began her YouTube career at the age of 16 as a sophomore in high school, admitted that she has ‘struggled with anxiety ever since’ she can remember.
‘I’ve been dealing with it since pre-school when I would get really severe separation anxiety from my parents and also from inanimate objects,’ she noted. ‘I always felt different. People would feel fine with their parents dropping them off at elementary school and I really had a hard time.’
‘My skin is so much more predictable. My hair is getting thicker. It’s just feeling like I’m coming back to myself in a way,’ she raved
As a kid, she recalled getting ‘really anxious about weird things’ like getting in trouble.
To this day, she said that she still struggles with needing to do ‘the right thing’ and wanting ‘every move’ of hers to be ‘perfect.’
‘I don’t ever want to make a mistake and that’s just not realistic,’ she acknowledged.
Chamberlain detailed that her ‘perfectionist mentality’ forces her to think that she needs to ‘every single situation’ right and that she ‘can’t ever be awkward.’
‘It’s so much pressure,’ she emphasized. ‘I also get anxiety about things happening to the people I love. Like, if I text one of my parents and they don’t respond within the hour, I’ll spiral and it’s extreme.’
In the past, Chamberlain has openly discussed her mental health struggles, particularly anxiety, burnout, and perfectionism
The star said that while she hasn’t been diagnosed with OCD that she does ‘have a lot of the tendencies and behaviors.’
‘I get intrusive thoughts and I black out in these moments because I’m so consumed in my mind,’ she stated.
During that same 2021 Vogue interview, Chamberlain noted that both her ‘parents have struggled throughout their lives with different forms of anxiety and depression’ so they’ve been able to help her through it.
In 2020, she spoke about how ‘growing up’ with social media and in the public eye gave her ‘eating issues as a kid.’
‘I literally have struggled with that my whole life. Almost every person I’ve met has had some form of an eating disorder. I mean, I’ve had…I don’t want to trigger anyone, but so many,’ she told Cosmopolitan.
In 2020, she spoke about how ‘growing up’ with social media gave her body dysmorphia
Chamberlain’s job involves her looking at herself for hours on end as she edits YouTube videos from her bed, her chosen place to do work.
Constantly looking at herself, though, has caused the influencer to struggle with body dysmorphia, which causes her to think she looks larger than she actually appears.
‘I’ve been fully not at a healthy weight and I thought I was obese multiple times,’ she said.
‘It’s awful. My whole family was telling me I looked terrible. They were like, “You look like you’re dying.” I was like, “I think I look great.”
Dealing with her dysmorphia has encouraged the YouTuber to never use photo editing applications like FaceTune, which is popular for making one look thinner or smoothing out skin.
‘I refuse to do that because nobody needs to think I look like that. I look the way I look,’ she told the publication.
