At 70, Cyndi Lauper Details How She Looks and Feels Her Best Amid Chronic Illness
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Pop icon Cyndi Lauper opens up about how she feels her best while living with a chronic condition.
The star shares how she manages plaque psoriasis, including the modified diet and fitness routine she follows to avoid flare-ups.
Lauper encourages those who have the condition to seek out a specialist.
Cyndi Lauper really just wants to have fun. The 70-year-old music icon has found the rhythm in her day-to-day—which is no easy feat with a chronic illness. The star recently sat down with Prevention to share how she looks and feels her best, despite living with plaque psoriasis.
The star was diagnosed with the condition in 2010. But she struggled for years before finding a specialist. “It wasn’t just a rash for me. It’s my whole body,” she explains. “When I was just living with it, it was flared [up] on the back of my arms. I thought, ‘Here’s a good idea, I’ll wear shirts that open in the front so I don’t look like Mother Cabrini, all covered up’… Then, of course, [the psoriasis] moves.” Lauper even remembers attempting to spray paint herself for TV appearances before she finally reached out to a doctor. “I should have just [seen a specialist] sooner,” she says.
Now, the “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer encourages those who struggle with the condition to “go see a doctor who specializes in psoriasis.” She points out that the disease looks different on various skin tones. “Years ago, people weren’t as knowledgeable. Things are changing now, and doctors are more knowledgeable on what this disease looks like [for different people],” Lauper explains.
Plaque psoriasis is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes cells to reproduce very quickly, according to Cleveland Clinic. It’s a type of psoriasis that causes thick, scaly patches called plaques on your skin. It most commonly affects your elbows, back, knees, and scalp.
Ahead, the star shares what she does to live her best life.
Makes movement a priority
“I do yoga, I have to do physical therapy before the yoga because I do have arthritis in my hands and my feet. I have to adjust the yoga a lot, but I keep learning,” the star explains. And because she is still actively performing and touring, Lauper also works on strength building. “I’ve been working to get back on the bike and I’m starting to build my strength up with aerobics because as a singer, I desperately need that.”
She diversifies her daily routine, too. “So one day, I’ll do yoga; the next day I’ll do weights, not heavy, I’m a wimp,” Lauper quips. On the weekends, she takes strolls with her husband. “My husband is a walker and he’s taller than me… so if I can just keep up with him, I walk pretty fast.”
Eats (and avoids!) certain foods
Lauper has found that eating the right foods helps ease her psoriasis symptoms. To reduce the frequency of flare-ups, she tries to follow an anti-inflammatory diet, which typically includes:
Fruits
Vegetables
Oily fish like salmon
Nuts
Seeds
Legumes
Whole grains
She also avoids trigger foods. “For me, if I start eating pasta again, I have problems.” As an Italian Queens native, she emphasizes foregoing her favorite cuisine is “really hard,” and “gluten-free [pasta] is just not the same.” Likewise, Lauper says she loves empanadas, “but there’s flour…” and therefore, it may aggravate her psoriasis. And, “alcohol is a trigger for me,” she adds. She also chooses to omit eggs from her diet to further avoid flare-ups.
Practices preventative measures
Lauper has had to make some modifications to her routine over the years. “I don’t want to end up a wrinkly, old prune. I salve up a lot, and mainly as I get older, I don’t sit in the sun a lot.” As a vocalist, “[mindful] breathing is important and I do singing lessons four times a week for strength building.”
We applaud Lauper for continuing to share her story with fans and emphasizing the importance of advocating for your health. If you’re as excited to hear more about the pop music icon as we are, you’re in luck. The Cyndi Lauper documentary Let the Canary Sing premiers June 4 on Paramount+.
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