Tatum O'Neal Shares Candid Photo of Her Scars as She Talks About Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Tatum O’Neal is baring her scars.

The Paper Moon star, 56, got candid about her battle with rheumatoid arthritis on Instagram on Wednesday, sharing a photo of her bruised and scarred back to show the effects of living with the autoimmune disease.

“Living with rheumatoid arthritis. A fall scratch scar on my right 😠hip. And the back surgery scar from eight years ago,” she wrote in the caption, pointing out each scar seen on her body. “My last back surgery scar is on the front from February.”

“And all those red marks are from heating pads ~I probably should turn those down a little bit,” she continued.

Though her bruises may look severe, O’Neal assured her followers that “believe it or not this is me actually getting better.”

“Cheers to everyone and rheumatoid arthritis can go f— itself,” she added along with the hashtag “rheumatoid arthritis warrior.”

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A rep for the star did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

O’Neal previously touched on her battle with rheumatoid arthritis on Sunday. Posting a black-and-white photo of herself sitting beside her dog on Instagram, the Oscar winner told fans she was “on the mend.”

“Hi, I’ve been in some rheumatoid arthritis bull crap but finally I’m feeling a little bit better,” she shared with her followers. “I hate texting because my hands suck Right now.. so If I don’t text you back I promise it’s nothing personal.”

Rheumatoid arthritis, also known as RA, is a chronic inflammatory disorder that occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks the body’s tissues, according to the Mayo Clinic. The condition can cause inflammation, swelling and pain throughout the body that may lead to bone erosion and joint deformity.

Rheumatoid arthritis can also affect the skin, eyes, lungs, heart and kidneys, as well as blood vessels and nervous tissues.

In an Instagram post shared in December, O’Neal wrote that she had been seeking medical treatment for the condition.

“Second dose of #actemra hoping to get RA back to the way it’s been Not like how it is which is lame !!” she wrote, posting a picture of her prescription medication’s packaging.

Last March, O’Neal revealed to fans that she had underwent a spinal surgery known as anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF).

The surgery is a type of spinal fusion that mends the front and lumbar spine bones together by removing and replacing the intervertebral disc with a bone or metal spacer, according to the USC Spine Center.

“ALIF is commonly performed for a variety of painful spinal conditions, such as spondylolisthesis and degenerative disc disease, among others,” according to USC’s website.

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At the time, O’Neal updated fans of her progress through a series on posts on her Instagram. In one video, the actress used a walker down the hallway of her hospital as she recited lines from Sunset Boulevard with her son Sean.

“Yes, darling, I’m here. I’m alive and well,” she said in an affected voice similar to star Norma Desmond, later adding, “It is so incredibly painful.”

“Day of surgery I chose to walk three times down that massive hallway,” O’Neal captioned the clip. “Congrats to [Cedars-Sinai medical director of spine trauma surgery Dr. Neel Anand] master of all things spine.”