Model Carmen Smith's lymphedema and swollen legs have made her a star

Carmen Smith has lymphedema and she is an Instagram star. And she is proof that these two things can go together in glorious style.

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The 30-year-old model and body positive activist was diagnosed with the condition at age three, when doctors explained to her mother that a problem with her lymphatic system was causing her legs, ankles and feet to swell – and would continue to do so throughout her life.

In addition to the physical discomfort, Smith had to put up with the visible curiosity and judgement of strangers.

"I do remember [people] would look at my feet or say something about them," she told   in a recent interview.

"It would just make me horrified and so uncomfortable and embarrassed. To this day, I don’t like people looking at my feet."

For many years, she would pose in order to hide her more 'swollen' right leg. But something changed, and she realised that the only person who could really help her to embrace her body was her.

"I'm not going to be defined by what someone else has to say about my body," she said.

That said, 43-year-old boyfriend Kahari Jumal has also helped Smith see her own sensual appeal.

"She was walking by and the first thing I noticed as she walked by was her stature," he told Barcroft TV.

"And I thought, 'Oh wow! Wow!'

"All I could say was wow. It looked good. That was my first impression of Carmen the first time I saw her."

Smith's no-holds-barred body love has also helped her community of more than 50,000 followers think about their own beauty in a different way. Women constantly message to tell her they've never seen bodies like theirs on social media, that she's given them the courage to wear something new.

She models everything lingerie to swimwear, ignoring the trolls and showing women that rolls, varicose veins, cellulite and all the rest of it can and should be rocked in full sight.

WATCH: 9Honey discuss Carmen Smith's Instagram success.