Elizabeth Clenci's journey from battling a painful skin condition to being a beauty queen

Beauty queen Elizabeth Clenci is picture perfect in her posts from Vietnam, where she is currently competing for the Miss Grand International crown. Representing the Philippines has been a lifelong dream for Clenci and she's savoring it...because it almost didn't happen.

In 2014, Clenci experienced severe eczema. Her skin itched furiously and her eyebrows fell off, but the worst part was the pain. For a year and a half, her body was covered in fleshy wounds. If she moved suddenly, her skin would crack and more wounds would appear.

Clenci spent time and money going to hospitals and consulting with doctors, one of whom said she would just have to live with the pain.

"The world was basically telling me no. Healthcare professionals were telling me that I would live this way for the rest of my life; that there was nothing I could do about it and I would just have to deal with the pain," Clenci told GMA News Online in an interview before her departure for Vietnam.

"It was so excruciatingly painful. It was agonizing. I couldn't even sleep normally. It itched furiously," she shared.

It would seem that being a beauty queen would be impossible to achieve. However, Clenci kept her faith and, being natural health advocate, did her research on possible alternative cures.

Natural medicine and a change in diet helped clear her skin, but it was her faith in herself that kept her going.

"It really did change my life in more ways than one. The most significant lesson I learned from that experience was to completely and wholeheartedly trust and believe in yourself," Clenci said.

She added, "At that time, I really went against what the world was saying and what everyone believed and decided to trust in myself and trust what my heart was saying and believed in myself."

Clenci admits that she's not as active on social media as the other queens, but she has spoken about her bout with eczema on Instagram, hoping that the story would serve as an inspiration to other people who are suffering.

 

The past year and a half has been the toughest by far- physically and emotionally. The photo on the left was taken exactly a year ago today on my birthday. My body out of nowhere suddenly erupted with the most severe eczema, my skin was oozing and weeping, covered in fleshy wounds. My eyebrows fell off, my skin would itch furiously, Sudden movements would crack and create more wounds, resulting in the most agonising year and a half of my life. Everything became painful. I invested thousands of dollars and precious time with multiple doctors and specialists who vaguely addressed my case and had no answers. Or pumped me full of useless drugs that didn't help at all. One doctor even told me that this is how I would live the rest of my life. I spent hours online trying to find a cure and knew that there had to be some other way. The photo on the right is me today........healed. I found true healing through change in diet and natural medicine. ????????????????????????????????????????

A post shared by Elizabeth Clenci (@mselizabethclenci) on

Oct 20, 2015 at 4:20am PDT

The message is clear: Hold on, because just like Clenci, things could always change for the better even when the chances seem bleak.

"I'm here now with clear skin and a crown on my head...with a new one coming!" Clenci told GMA News Online.

The 5th Miss Grand International coronation night will be held on October 25, hosted by the Philippines' Nicole Cordoves, who placed first runner up in last year's competition. — LA, GMA News