Lena Dunham has revealed she uses a cane while she battles chronic illness.
The Girls creator said she initially resisted using the support because she feared it would “make things weird”.
The actress suffers from a type of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which is a rare inherited condition that affects connective tissue, according to the NHS.
Sharing a paparazzi photograph of herself dressed in a nightgown and holding the walking stick, on Instagram, she wrote: “I could choose to be embarrassed by these paparazzi pics- I mean, that’s probably the point of someone publishing them in the first place – but I’m really not.
“I could lie and say it was an early Halloween look (Don’t you get it? I’m going as a con woman leaving a Florida Keys jail after being acquitted of murdering her husband, and now she’s trying to get disability license plates.)
“But the truth is just: This is what life is like when I’m struggling most with chronic illness.
“An Ehler-Danlos syndrome flare means that I need support from more than just my friends… so thank you, sweet cane!
“For years, I resisted doing anything that would make my physical situation easier, insisting that a cane would ‘make things weird’.
“But it’s so much less weird to actually be able to participate than to stay in bed all day.
“And yes, you’d better believe I’m wearing my nightgown.
“I was walking four feet to the car to go to the doctor and I wanted to be full cozy. I mean, didn’t Bieber wear hotel slippers for like five years?
“Yeah, so I can wear my glamour nighty for two hours.”
Dunham also shared a photo of herself in royal blue trousers and a matching crop top, adding: “And then an hour later, I’m in a meeting look tackling the job I love.
“That’s the two-fold life of a woman with chronic illness; we still rock our dreams and goals and passions (and fashions) and we live many lives in one day. Tell me about your day!”