The right way?

Hello,

everywhere I'm reading that I shouldn't touch my skin. But I thought it was ok when you just pop the whiteheads. Isn't it so that when you don't pop whiteheads they can get infected? Sometimes I have these huge ones and I can't walk on the street when they are on my face. So I just woud lake to know, definitely, what I need to do.

- Do not touch your skin at all (even whiteheads)?
or
- Pop whiteheads, leave the rest untouched?

Thanks

Social pressure

First I would like to say what a blessing this site is for me. I thought I was the only one who hated his acne so much. But this site has show me that a lot of people deal with this mess.
Altough I'm not always a good example of what is a good way to handle acne in everyday life I sometimes get the impression that we're exagerating. When I talk with my parents or friends about my acne they are always surprised how much I'm frustrated about this skin condition. I realise that it feels better when you don't have acne but when you think about it: there is no ideal way how you should look. Don't try to be like the commercials or anything. Especially for the younger people here: you have a lot of years to live. Why do you want to look like a grown up now when you have enough of years coming at you? Sometimes, when I'm realising that I'm overreacting my acne I can do so much more. I talk with people without always thinking about myself and so I can be interested in them for a while. The feeling a like the most is this one: I just stand up straight, walk in the street and when I assume that people are looking at me I just say to myself: "Yes I have acne, that's how it is."

Typing out the stress

Hey,

I'm just going to tell my story here. I don't expect some advice, although comments would be nice but I just want to write down how I feel (also I would like to apologize for my English)

I got acne when I was 15 or so. My puberty came late so it was quite normal to get acne so late in my teens. It wasn't exactly fun to get acne but in that age it wasn't such a big problem... Most of my friends and people I knew had it. I thought it would go over when I was fully grown.
But now when I'm turning 20 and finally look my age the acne has stayed the same. (I used to think that when I would be growing sideburns my pimples would dissapear. Now I'm growing sideburns but my acne stayed the same) I followed a Roaccutane - cure but after 5 months it came back. It really bugs me. I'm in my third year of college and no one my age has it as bad as me. Sometimes it doesn't affect me so much: I just get up in the morning, look in the mirror and then say : "Fuck those pimples, let's go out".
But my moral level isn't always so high. For example today in class I had the stupid idea that everybody was looking at me. This behaviour can be described as quite puberal but I can't help it. That's why I'm skipping a lesson this afternoon. Another thing is that tonight a friend of mine is throwing a party but I just don't feel like going. He's a nice guy but I just don't want to be in a room full of people who can look at my pimples. This behaviour seems so silly when I'm writing this down...
I just have the impression that my acne is not contributing to my self-esteem. It always makes me wonder how I look and how other people will react when they see mee so it's isn't quite helping my social life too. Plus the fact that I love playing theatre but I'm not able to fully throw myself in a role or something when I have these pimples...
Okay, this is probably it, thank you for reading this whining bullshit. All I want to say is this: FUCK MY PIMPLES!