I can still remember an old friend telling me that I just absolutely have to hear this new song on the radio. “It’s incredible!” she exclaimed to me over and over and over again. “I’m not sure who sings it, but her voice is unreal. It melts you.”

Little did we know, what we had “discovered” on the radio, the music industry had discovered and was about to turn into one of the most famous country singers of all time. The singer was LeAnn Rimes, at the time only a mere 13 years old, and her voice was that of a mature experienced woman, not the little girl who was belting out the breakout single, “Blue”. She went on to sell more than 37 million albums.

DCM: “Hi LeAnn! Thank you so much for speaking with DCM today!”

LeAnn Rimes: “It’s my pleasure!”

DCM: “What are you up to right now?”

LeAnn Rimes: “I’m excited to be home right now. I am working in the studio on my music and enjoying life. I am now a spokesperson for a great organization called StopHiding.org.”

DCM: “What is StopHiding.org?”

LeAnn Rimes: “t is a campaign sponsored by the American Academy of Dermatology and the National Psoriasis Foundation.”

DCM: “How did you get involved with that organization? Do you have psoriasis?”

LeAnn Rimes: “Yes, I do. I was diagnosed with psoriasis when I was 2. I had a really bad case of strep throat, and that is when I first had patches break out on my scalp. Since then, it has been an ongoing battle my entire life. After years, I’ve been able to find a great dermatologist and I now have my psoriasis under control. My skin has been clear for about five years. That is an amazing feat since when I was about 6 years old, psoriasis covered 80% of my body.”

DCM: “Wow! What a hard thing for a child to have to go through.”

LeAnn Rimes: “It made me feel very isolated as a child. My mom would take me out of school to go to treatments-I lived at the doctor’s office. Kids didn’t want to go near me. They didn’t want to hang out with me or even touch me. I was called “Scaly girl”. I never ever wanted to go outside in a bathing suit. It was rough!”

DCM: “I remember being teased like that over getting the chicken pox. But, that is temporary. I can’t imagine having to deal with a skin condition every day. Especially when you are a musician. What was it like performing with it?”

LeAnn Rimes: “My parents would help me cover it up. I would wear a pair of panty hose onstage to cover up the scales on my legs.”

DCM: “So, no one knew you had it? You kept it a secret?”

LeAnn Rimes: “Yes, I did keep a secret. For a long time! On the red carpet I never wore short dresses. I would always opt to wear pants or even a long dress. Anything to cover the legs…my legs were my worst problem. I was wearing jeans in 105 degree weather. It definitely takes a toll on your self-esteem, especially as a girl.”

DCM: “What changed? What gave you the confidence to discuss this?”

LeAnn Rimes: “I found a doctor, a dermatologist who was the perfect fit. I started to change. I began to take care of myself…I mean really take care of myself, by eating healthy, exercising, and adapting a healthy lifestyle. I gave up fried foods! I found a great medication and combined with my lifestyle, I saw change happening. I saw change in my life and in my skin. I felt I had a responsibility to tell the world, spread my news, and let others know there is help. I want to turn the negative into a positive.”

DCM: “Do you wear short dresses now?”

LeAnn Rimes: “Yes! I even did a magazine shoot in a bikini. I never ever thought I would do that! When I was a kid, my dad had to drag me to the pool. The magazine shoot turned out to be a highlight of my life. I felt like a woman. I had clear skin and I wanted to show it off. Honestly, it was one of the happiest days of my life.”

DCM: “Did you ever have counseling to deal with the fact that you have an autoimmune disease?”

LeAnn Rimes: “Oh yes! It is traumatizing, especially as a kid. You are being teased and picked on and you feel nothing but loneliness. I’m a firm believer in having someone to talk to outside of your family and friends. It definitely helped me. Having this condition puts a toll on you. It is something you deal with day in and day out. I am slowly now coming out of the hole I put myself into and am speaking publicly so other kids do not feel so alone.”

DCM: “You said that you changed your lifestyle and have found a medication that is working for you. How long did that take?”

LeAnn Rimes: “Twenty-two years! I tried everything! I took pills, rubbed on topical treatments, and even did injections. One time I did a treatment that involved putting coal tar all over and then they wrap you in a plastic wrap. It would cause me to have a panic attack. It was very claustrophobic. But, as with any illness, different treatments work for different people. It’s trial and error. Today, there are so many more medications than there were when I was a child. Every day new treatments are becoming available so I want to encourage those that have psoriasis to not give up and keep trying.”

DCM: “Is that your advice for those with it?”

LeAnn Rimes: “It is. Keep trying. Find a dermatologist that you are comfortable with. Someone who is educated in the latest treatments and who is willing to try them. You need a doctor who is looking out for your overall health. There are support also that people can attend and the dermatologist office is a great place to find those support groups.”

DCM: “Tell us about StopHiding.org.”

LeAnn Rimes: “StopHiding.org is trying to educate everyone about psoriasis. Not only those who have it, but the general public as well. A misconception about it is that it is just a skin problem so many do not go to the doctor’s to get help. The truth is that it causes other problems such as depression, obesity, and heart disease. People can get a handle on psoriasis before it gets to be too much for them to handle. They can get their life back.”

DCM: “Being an autoimmune disease, can psoriasis get worse with stress? I would think being a country superstar can be pretty stressful for a job!”

LeAnn Rimes: “Stress is definitely a trigger. It is a huge trigger for me which is hard with my job. Since I was so young when my career started, it was really a whirlwind. I went through some really tough times that would cause me to have a flare-up. There was a time when I was in a lawsuit with my parents and my record label-instant flare! I would bleed onstage because my skin would crack. It was horrible. It was scary and frustrating.”

DCM: “What can you do for it when that happens?”

LeAnn Rimes: “I know I am way too stressed out when I fist see a sign of anything on my body. I do yoga, work out, eat right. I try to take some time off and have fun. I stay active since physical fitness has been a huge help in controlling my stress level. I try to surround myself with my support people. I’ve been doing Muay Thai Kickboxing and it is the most I have sweated in my entire life. I’ll take a spin class, lift weights, and go running. I just try to stay active every day. ”

DCM: “If you could stand up and scream at the top of your lungs to the world about this, what would you say?”

LeAnn Rimes: “Well, I wanted to be involved with this campaign to educate the rest of the world that this is not contagious. You’re not going to get psoriasis by standing too close to us. We’re human. There are so many people out there who are dealing with this. We want to make people feel they’re not alone in this fight.”