Ask A Doctor: Dermatologist Dr. Anna Chacon on Maximizing Your Appointments and the Research Gap

Ask A Doctor: Dermatologist Dr. Anna Chacon on Maximizing Your Appointments and the Research Gap

Most of us have left a doctor's appointment with the thing we actually needed to say still stuck in our throat. Dr. Anna Chacon — board-certified dermatologist, psoriasis patient, and one of the few dermatologists working in rural New Mexico and Alaska — has spent her career thinking about exactly that problem. In this episode, she and Holly talk about how to prepare for an appointment, how to actually say the hard thing once you're in the room, and what it looks like when doctors genuinely try to meet patients where they are — and when they don't. Plus: the story of a 1977 FDA policy that excluded women of childbearing potential from early-stage clinical trials, and the sixteen years it took to change the law. Holly traces the downstream effects — wrong dosing, missed symptoms, psoriasis presentations on darker skin that looked nothing like the textbook — and talks to Dr. Ana about what it means to be a dermatologist trying to fix, from the inside, a system with a very long institutional memory. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Ink, Skin, and Self: Hannah Williams on Psoriasis, Tattoos, and the Long Road to Loving What You See

Hannah Williams was twelve years old when what everyone assumed was dandruff turned out to be psoriasis — and by sixteen, it had covered nearly 95% of her body. For years, she wore long sleeves in summer and avoided mirrors. Then, slowly, in small steps, something shifted: a kids' camp in America, a cross-country trip, a decision to start an Instagram — and eventually, tattoos as acts of deliberate, joyful self-decoration on the skin she'd spent a decade trying to hide. In this episode, Hannah talks about what it actually takes to stop hiding, what it means to build community around visibility, and what she wants every newly diagnosed twelve-year-old to know. Plus, Holly traces the word "stigma" all the way back to its ancient Greek roots — where it literally meant a mark burned into skin — and follows the long, complicated history of how tattooing traveled from punishment, to shame, to one of the most powerful forms of self-reclamation we have. Including what happens when psoriasis decides to have its own opinion about the process. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

The Disability Tax: Future Doctor Dayna Pham on Psoriasis Stigma and Grief

When Dayna Pham was diagnosed with severe psoriasis at 21, the hardest part wasn't the plaques. It was the staring, the dating she stopped doing, and the version of herself she had to grieve. A few years later, on her first day of medical school, psoriatic arthritis arrived too. Now a University of Chicago med student, NPF advocate, and mentor for chronically ill students, Dayna talks candidly about the internal stigma that follows you even when no one's watching, the full-time job of managing a chronic illness on top of everything else, and what kind of doctor she's determined to become. Plus, Holly tells the story of a 12th-century Persian physician who linked a patient's psoriasis to emotional conflict — and why it took Western medicine until practically yesterday to admit that the mind and body are linked. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Plants, Pageants, and Policy: Alisha Bridges on Psoriasis, Advocacy, and Building a Tribe

Alisha Bridges was seven years old when a bout of chicken pox triggered psoriasis across 90% of her body — and she spent the next decade hiding it, until a beauty pageant, a department-store makeup counter, and a grandmother who refused to let her quit changed everything. In this episode, Alisha talks about turning shame into a platform, taking her story to Capitol Hill, and why mental health and diversity in research sit at the heart of her advocacy work. Plus, Holly digs into the surprisingly recent legal history that made it illegal to fire someone for having psoriasis — from an outrageous 1989 termination letter in the UK to the courtroom fight that finally forced American law to recognize chronic illness as the disability it actually is. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Our Skin: A Personal Discovery Podcast... Season 3!

If you've ever felt like no one in the room really gets what you're going through — this season is for you. Holly Frey of Stuff You Missed in History Class returns with Season 3 of Our Skin, expanding the conversation to include psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), and the full, complicated reality of living in a body that others don't always see clearly. Each episode, we pull up a seat for people who've been there — through the appointments, the flare-ups, and everything in between. Honest, practical conversations about how to advocate for yourself, leave a doctor's office feeling heard, and navigate the hard parts without figuring it all out alone. Then we zoom out — into the wild, weird history of how we've treated our skin, from ancient remedies to modern breakthroughs still being written. Because when we share our stories with people who understand them, we create something bigger than awareness. We create community. A place where you're never the only one in the room. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.