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'I won't hide my keloid scars anymore - they are part of me'

Annabel Tiffin,North Westand
Rumeana Jahangir,North West
News imageBBC Ada Osigwe smiles as she does a studio interview. She wears a brown shirt open at the collar with chains above her chest scar.BBC
Ada Osigwe says she is "building a little bit of a community" among those with similar scars

A woman said she hid the raised scars she developed after surgery "for so long" and feared leaving her home because she was afraid how others would react.

Ada Osigwe, from Manchester, started getting the keloid scars, which are caused by excessive collagen, after a thyroid operation she had when she was a teenager.

The beauty therapist told BBC North West Tonight she was concerned about how people might react to the scars and "it affected my confidence quite massively".

Ada said she was "always living in hope" they could be removed but has now learnt to accept "they're a part of me now".

News imageAda Osigwe Ada Osigwe grins as she poses next to the portrait of herself. She has short cropped hair and wears a checked black and white scarf and dark coat. Her portrait shows her wearing a strapped black top and is seen with the keloid scar on her neck and chest.Ada Osigwe
Ada Osigwe hopes the artwork will promote "self-acceptance"

The NHS says they cannot be removed and can cause joint pains. They are also are more common among under-30s, people of Asian and African origin and pregnant women.

Osigwe had been concerned previously about other people's reactions to her scars.

"So automatically before I leave the house, there's almost like a build-up of how I'm going to be - just so that I can be prepared in case people stare, ask questions or say anything regarding the scars.

"So it just really made me within myself."

'Self-acceptance'

She says she now feels ready to share her experience after feeling like she was the "only one who that had this".

"I'd not really seen many people (with the condition). It's only now that I'm coming out about it that I'm seeing more and more people.

"I feel like I'm building a little bit of a community which is nice - a lot more people are coming forward saying they've got keloid scars.

"There was a comment that I got on one of my posts and it was 'Keep it up, I need somebody to relate to'.

"And that's when it dawned on me, that probably why I hid it for so long was because I didn't have that person to relate to and maybe I'm the person now that people can."

A portrait of her, showing her keloid scars, has been entered for a competition by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters.

"It's breathtaking. It's overwhelming and it's real if that makes sense."

She hopes the artwork and her experience will promote "self-acceptance, being kind and just giving yourself grace really".

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