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Briana Banos has lived with eczema her whole life, but the rash wasn\u2019t what changed everything. The treatment was. After years of using topical steroids, the award-winning filmmaker and writer went through severe topical steroid withdrawal (TSW). <\/p>\n
For almost 12 years now, she\u2019s been part of the TSW community and a vocal patient advocate. She has also made two documentaries, Preventable: Protecting Our Largest Organ<\/em> and Still Preventable<\/em>, which give voice to patients going through TSW. The issue reaches a lot of people: Topical corticosteroids are prescribed in 59 percent of atopic dermatitis office visits. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n We caught up with Banos at the National Corticosteroid Stewardship Summit in Washington, DC, where she spoke about why steroid use should be treated as a public health concern. We talked about her skin, her self-image, the healing power of art and what\u2019s next.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was little, I was diagnosed with eczema. It was very mild. But I think at the end of the day, even though it didn\u2019t impede me from doing anything physically, there\u2019s always that social aspect of how my skin looks and how it makes me feel. And so growing up, I was very acutely aware of my appearance and maybe how I was perceived in that way. <\/p>\n I think when it comes to eczema, most of the time we are given topical steroids or things of that nature to help with our skin condition. But what ended up happening to me is I started going through topical steroid withdrawal. So the thing that was actually helping me hide the condition that I didn\u2019t want anybody to know I had made it so much worse. So then I couldn\u2019t hide it. <\/p>\n And at the end of the day, I\u2019m not someone to just sit on my couch and wallow in pity for myself. I used it as fuel to try and educate other people to take a bit more agency in how they deal with their health and talk with health-care providers, and it\u2019s become a career. Now, it\u2019s part of my job to advocate for your best interests and to really think about my health in a new way, because you can have a million problems. But once you have a health problem, that\u2019s the only problem you have.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI talked about this a little earlier with someone else, where the term resilience is usually seen as a positive, like a compliment someone gives you. But I think people that are resilient or have had to build that resilience muscle, it\u2019s because they\u2019ve gone through something really difficult that they probably didn\u2019t ask to go through. <\/p>\n So I think going through this alone has made me a resilient person. It\u2019s taught me that whatever challenge comes my way, I can face that and get through it.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m still very hyperaware of what I look like. I don\u2019t think that will ever change. You know, a skin blemish or things like that still make me feel anxious in ways. It has definitely changed over the years, how I feel in general about my skin health and how it\u2019s portrayed out into the world. <\/p>\n I do think that certain beauty standards almost are a bit of an illness. Having perfect skin, having perfect anything is just not attainable and it\u2019s not real. I <\/strong>remember working with one health care provider when I was on a drug and it was the best I had ever felt. And she was nitpicking this very little thing. And I found that so concerning and dangerous in a way, because I was trying to tell her how good I felt in my body, and she was still trying to tell me that it wasn\u2019t perfect. <\/p>\n And so I think I\u2019ve moved away from what perfect is. You know, I don\u2019t need my skin to look perfect because at the end of the day, I could be hurting myself to try and do that and to just embrace. Sometimes I\u2019m going to have rashes. Sometimes I\u2019m going to have things pop up, and it\u2019s just to see it as a normal thing and nothing to be ashamed of. So I think that\u2019s kind of how things have progressed with my own body image.<\/p>\n For other men and women who are dealing with skin conditions, it is very easy for people to comment on them. Try not to take it too personally. I think people just at the end of the day, either they mean well, or they just get nervous and don\u2019t know what to say to you. And they think, let me just point something out. Just, you know, let it wash off you. It\u2019s not who you are, it\u2019s a part of you, but it is not your identity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, I think the arts in general are so helpful for your mind. I stepped slightly away from dance. I don\u2019t dance as much anymore, but I do use the arts in general, especially documentary work with advocacy and things that one side makes it feel very purposeful. So it helps me feel like I\u2019m creating something of meaning in general. <\/p>\n When it comes to art, I actually like to paint and do those types of things. I\u2019ve gotten into pottery lately. I\u2019m doing a workshop. I just think mentally it takes me out of thinking and ruminating and helps me be present.<\/p>\n Especially when I was dancing, just being able to share and move the emotions that I\u2019m feeling without having to say anything, I find it very cathartic. So I think the arts in general are a super helpful way to decompress when you\u2019re thinking about your skin or anything that you\u2019re ruminating over.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very, very excited. I went from having a YouTube channel, this little YouTube channel, to creating two different documentaries to now working with skin-care brands to do other documentary work. And now coming up in 2027, I will be doing a PhD using observational documentary to look at the psychosocial burden of topical steroid withdrawal. <\/p>\n And I\u2019m hoping to create resources for both patients and health-care providers, medical students, things like that. So, it\u2019s like the next bigger step. <\/p>\n I always feel like an imposter any time I\u2019m stepping out of my comfort zone. But that\u2019s how you learn. That\u2019s how you grow. The only way you keep going forward is to jump in, you know, do it scared, do it scared. I really, really hope that whatever happens with this PhD, that it can make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nCan you tell us a bit about your journey with your skin and how it\u2019s shaped the path you\u2019re on today?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What has this chapter of your life taught you about resilience?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How has your relationship with your own skin and self-image changed over the years?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What role has creativity\u2014dance, filmmaking and storytelling\u2014played in how you\u2019ve coped?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
What\u2019s next for you, creatively or in your advocacy work?<\/strong><\/h2>\n