- Danielle Jonas spoke to Insider about her experience with moderate eczema.
- Jonas said she was "uncomfortable with myself," before using Dupixent as a treatment for her condition.
Danielle Jonas vividly recalled feeling uneasy and shying away from doing things she enjoys, like supporting her husband Kevin Jonas on tour, when she first noticed signs of moderate eczema on her scalp years ago.
"My hair was my identity," Danielle, who's promoting her partnership with pharmaceutical companies Sanofi and Regeneron, said in an exclusive interview with Insider. "Being uncomfortable, it just made me feel like I didn't wanna go out and I didn't wanna do things that I normally did. I didn't go on tour as much with Kevin. People even asked where was I."
"I was just kind of uncomfortable with myself," she said.
For Danielle, a former hairstylist and current owner of an eponymous jewelry brand, being in the spotlight is part of the package when married to a member of the Jonas Brothers.
So when moderate eczema — a common skin condition, categorized by symptoms like dry, cracked skin and rashes — manifested on her scalp, it "definitely" affected her emotionally and physically, deterring her from attending public events.
It also impacted how Danielle interacted with her daughters, Alena Rose (born in 2014) and Valentina Angelina (born in 2016).
Kevin, who joined Danielle during her interview with Insider, recalled their children needing to refrain from playing with their mom's hair, because, as Danielle said, "even moving my hair was uncomfortable." For her, symptoms included a little redness and a lot of itchiness on her scalp, which resulted in discomfort as well as increased stress and hair loss.
Danielle also avoided hugs from people because if her hair was touched or pulled "she would literally feel the stress of that."
What finally helped her was Dupixent, a treatment for people 6 months and older with moderate-to-severe eczema that was recommended by her doctor. "I started using it and within a couple of weeks or a month, whatever it was, I came down to Kevin and I said to him, 'I finally took a shower with less discomfort. I was able to brush my hair with less discomfort,'" she recalled.
Now after two or three years of using Dupixent, Danielle wanted to come forward to share her testimonial for the first time (along with other patient stories on ShowUpAD.com) and educate about this treatment option in the hopes that people will feel encouraged to talk to their doctors and find a plan that works for them.
She's also glad she could demonstrate perseverance to her daughters by being persistent in researching alternatives, rather than "just letting it happen and being like, 'Oh, woe is me.'"
After Danielle started seeing results, she was able to tell her kids that she was feeling better.
"I think they noticed even before I said it because they gave me a hug and I didn't wince," she said.
"It's the little things," Kevin said, adding that he's proud of Danielle for sharing her story.
Aside from her partnership with Sanofi and Regeneron, Danielle has been keeping busy by releasing a new line of jewelry inspired by the Jonas Brothers' latest album and authoring her second children's book with Kevin titled "There's a Beach in My Bedroom."
The Jonas Brothers have also kicked off their latest tour with two sold-out shows at Yankee Stadium, with Danielle supporting from the sidelines.
Kevin said the key to them juggling it all is that "We don't, actually. No, no. We just take it day by day."
"We have a very good team around us to help us out," he said. "But we're having fun. Remember, everything we do is because we want to. We've been very, very blessed in our life to be able to follow our passions, and working together is such a nice thing."