This is my
story about how I treated my acne and how it all began. This post is long and
full of pictures, but I feel like I need to fully explain my situation and why
my skin was such a big issue for me. Here we go!
As a
teenager I had spots like everyone else. I wasn't too worried about it since it
really wasn't that bad. I had small bumps all over my face but they were pretty
much all skin colored so I didn't consider them as spots, and at the time I
felt like my very oily skin was a bigger problem for me. When a guy pointed out
that my skin was bumpy I wanted to do something about it and asked my older
sister for advice. She suggested I tried a 5% Benzoyl peroxide cream and so I
did.
I used the
Benzoyl peroxide cream when I was about 16 to 19 with good results. The bumps
vanished and my skin was clear for the most part. I had the occasional spot but
treated it with the cream and it was gone after a few days. Since I had very
oily skin I didn't worry too much about the cream drying out my skin since
nothing really seemed to combat the oil on my face.
When I was
19 to 22 I rarely had spots, but my oily skin persisted and I was desperate to
find a product that would take the oil and shine away. I had a sample of the Murad
Acne Cleanser (can't remember the full name of it) and I tried it. BIG
mistake!
I woke up the next day with whiteheads covering both sides of my jaw, and very red, sore and irritated skin. I tried using the Benzoyl peroxide cream but it only made it dry and more irritated and sore.
After that day I would break out with whiteheads on my jaw every month for a couple weeks. I thought it would go away by itself since I had clear skin before I used the cleanser, but after 2 years and still no improvement in my skin I contacted my doctor, who then prescribed me birth-control pills because the acne seemed to follow my hormonal cycle. The first 3 months of birth-control was hell. My skin got worse and I was very sad and hated the way I looked. I had whiteheads on my jaw all the time and new would form within few hours every day.
So I went to the doctor again and without question I was prescribed birth-control made to control acne. I was hopeful that this would be the answer I had been looking for. 3 months went by and my skin got a bit better, but I still had spots all the time. They would be worse some day and better on others, but I would have active acne at all times.
During the time I started the new birth-control my acne seemed to "travel" up my cheeks and was no longer only concentrated on my jaw. Now my jaw, cheeks and forehead was affected.
Being 25 and having skin like a teenager again really hit me hard, and one day when I visited my parents I broke down in tears and told them about my frustrations about my skin. They both wanted to help and my dad set up a meeting for me with a lady who swore by Aloe Vera products.
After I talked to her I was even more depressed. I had imagined meeting a lady with flawless beautiful skin and instead I met a lady with red bumpy skin which put me off trying her expensive Aloe Vera products.
However, I had been interested in the Aloe Vera plant since my research online had giving me a very clear impression that where there is Aloe Vera acne cannot exist. So I cut off a leaf of my Aloe plant I had in my kitchen, rubbed the clear gel on my face and after 3 days with this routine my skin was clear!
I stopped putting Aloe on my face and within a few days my acne came back. I used Aloe again with the same result and decided that Aloe was my cure and started using it every morning and night. Sadly I was wrong, Aloe was not my cure. After a few weeks the Aloe seemed to stop working and my acne returned even when I was using Aloe Vera twice a day.
I went to the doctor again and he prescribed me an acne cream called Epiduo, which is a cream with effective results. Or so he said. I used Epiduo for 5 days and found myself left with dry, burning skin and acne. My skin was so bad that it would crack open when I would eat or talk. I stopped the cream and got my skin back to my "normal" acne state.
Back to the doctors I went and this time I wasn't going to leave with an overpriced cream. He told me I would probably benefit from an antibiotics treatment, however normally he wouldn't prescribe it during summer since it can give permanent sun spots and damage. He looked at my pale skin and said "It doesn't look like you get a lot of sun, so if you promise not to tan and protect your skin with a high SPF I'll make an exception this time". I promised to follow his directions and was off to pick up my antibiotics pills. The doctor did warn me that I would see my skin worsen before it would get better, and as long as he guarantied it would get better I could survive a period of worse acne than I already had at the time.
After just 3 days on antibiotics I woke up like this:
Again it was all whiteheads, but a lot of them. My skin dried out in the lower part of my face and it was once again sore and irritated.
After 4 days:
The acne was now traveling up my cheeks and I started having whiteheads around my lips. As you can probably see my skin got even more red and irritated.
In the pictures above you can tell my forehead really wasn't affected (left and middle picture) in the first few days on antibiotics, however on the 6th day when my jaw had stopped breaking out my forehead broke out like never before (picture to the right).
After 8 days:
No active spots and only a bit of redness from the breakout remain. I couldn't be happier with my skin! It looks and feels healthier and because of my current skincare routine my skin is now a lot less oily and my face just feels comfortable.
As I'm writing this post I am on my 12th day on antibiotics. I do have 2 small spots as we speak but compared to what I've been through in the past 3 years I couldn't be more happy about the current state of my skin.
Finally I have the confidence to have a naked face! I will make an updating post when I finish my antibiotics treatment or if anything happens during treatment.
Love Kira ~
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