Simone Biles knew what people back home might see when the cameras showed close-ups of her at the Olympics, and it embarrassed her.
For several years, she'd suffered from an itchy, flaking scalp and patches of dry skin elsewhere on her body. She figured it was stress-related. Or the humidity. Or her hair products. She consulted Dr. Google and bought pretty much every over-the-counter and online remedy she could find, and nothing made it better.
"I've actually talked about my seborrheic dermatitis and eczema at the Olympics in my TikToks," Biles told USA TODAY Sports earlier this month. "I said it first because I knew how close the cameras would be. If somebody was online like `Oh my gosh, look at her hair flaking,' I already talked about it in a TikTok.
"I kind of felt embarrassed and stuck at that point."
It's why the seven-time Olympic champion is partnering with Arcutis Biotherapeutics on the "Skin to Believe In" campaign. Biles finally consulted a dermatologist and was prescribed Zoryve, and she wants others with the condition to know there is a treatment out there that actually works.
"I hope people feel comfortable and confident enough to go out and seek that help because that’s what they deserve. They deserve to have that relief," Biles said. "That’s really what this is all about."
Impressive a gymnast as she is, even more so is what Biles has done with her spotlight. She forced USA Gymnastics to make long-overdue changes after she acknowledged she, too, had been abused by Larry Nassar. She brought the mental health challenges athletes face out into the open after developing "the twisties" at the Tokyo Olympics.
Biles had to withdraw after one event in the team finals in Tokyo because she didn't know where she was in the air, potentially catastrophic for a gymnast. She would miss four more finals before returning for the balance beam final, where she won a bronze medal.
Biles continued to speak openly about the importance of mental health in the lead-up to the Summer Games in Paris, where she led the U.S. women to gold and became only the third female gymnast to win two Olympic all-around titles. While Biles hasn't decided yet whether she'll compete in Los Angeles in 2028 - "No breaking news, sorry!" she said with a laugh - she is certain she wants to continue helping people.
"Some of the people that watch me on TV cannot relate to the gymnastics and the 32 hours in the gym working that we do or competing for your country. But they can relate to mental health. They can relate to eczema and seborrheic dermatitis," Biles said.
Seborrheic dermatitis and eczema are two of the most common skin ailments, said Angela Lamb, a dermatologist who also is working on the "Skin to Believe In" campaign. About 5-10% of her patients have one condition or the other, Lamb said, and it can affect people of all ages.
Biles uses both the foam and cream versions of Zoryve. In addition to giving her relief from the noticeable symptoms, it's helped her confidence because she no longer worries about people seeing flakes on her.
"It’s the same thing when I was going through mental health (issues). The first step is always the hardest, but once you own that, it doesn’t even matter," Biles said.
"It's nothing we should be ashaemed of," she said. "There is definitely something out there that can help us, but you have to talk to your dermatologists to see if it’s the right fit for you."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Simone Biles promotes 'Skin to Believe In' so others won't feel embarrassed
