144 replies to this topic

[I am Snow]

Man.. sounds like a good plan. For me.. acne treatment is working fine on my face.. I use a wash, and its all good. I was just using that, nothing else for ages and my former chest and back acne was all gone. I felt confident in myself. I was working out, and could walk around without a shirt on feeling like i looked good. Then, one day (okay so I also think with me, Diet has an impact) I was eating shit and drinking way too much. Bang. i suddenly got one on my chest again. So, I started stressing. I was living in a hostel near the beach and was at the beach every day.. I was always stressing about this. What would all the girls think? I started washing it more, taking more notice...

Ever since then (now 4 months later) my acne on my back and chest has slowly come back. I thought it was a thing of the past, with just the occasional one on my face.. its back now, its there for certain... now i'm trying Tea Tree Oil and it seems to sometimes help but never totally. Now when I get breakouts, its my back and chest that get it.. I'm going through it all in my mind.. What changed?? I'm 24.. I thought i was growing out of it!!

I have a girlfriend (fairly new), and its her that I am most self aware around. She never has said a thing, and I know that she shouldn't care.. but she has none of that shit, so naturally I am self aware around her... I'm going to just tell her straight up and stop trying to hide it.. focus on a good diet, hit the gym some more, give up over washing my body and then just stop worrying about it.

That's it man!. I had never had chest acne until I was seeing some pictures of it and envisioned myself with chest acne. All of a sudden, I started getting tiny bumps on my upper chest. I began to fret about it and would wash them and eventually it turned into mild chest acne! I could not believe it. I figured I had basically psyched myself completely into it and decided to stop thinking about it and stop thinking about it all day.

I also used to get a sort of "tingly" feeling on my face the day before getting a zit. Then, every time I felt a tingly feeling on my face, I associated it with acne and would get that sinking feeling in my stomach. Once again I started breaking out. Now I still get tingly feelings, but I just consider it like an itch and not worry about it.

Don't worry about your girlfriend. I can understand how you may worry that, since she is new, she may not be very close and may care. My girlfriend never cared even when I was at my worst. Now that I am at my best, she still treats me no different.

[I am Snow]

It appears to me, and any other person with half a brain that you had a teenage bout of acne that subsided once your hormones chilled out. It had very little to do with any actions you took or didn't take.

Congratulations for being an ignorant prick.

I REALLLLY hope you did not find yourself on this page by clicking on my signature which says "if your story sounds like mine quit trying to control your acne" ... focus your eyes on "if your story sounds like mine."

You can go around and tell people they look horrid. I have seen so many pictures of people here with "acne" and they look great. People are so worried about 5 bumps on their face and it really does not matter. That is what I am saying.

Yes, I have teenage acne (which I still have). I still get pimples. The difference? I quit putting junk on it that just irritated it. I quit being so self conscious about my skin that people did not even care about and now my skin looks great. You do not think there are plenty of people here who are really only dealing with teen acne and are just going overboard in trying to control it? There are quite a few people here aged 13-18 (yes, those are called "teens" and have "teen acne"). This was not posted in "adult acne" for a reason.

I am here to tell people they are there own worst critic when it comes to acne. What is your function?

/end angry reply

[LadyWillow]

What I'm scared of is a great big breakout after stopping Tazorac. I've been using it for 7 months now.

[I am Snow]

What I'm scared of is a great big breakout after stopping Tazorac. I've been using it for 7 months now.

From reading your signature, it seems you are doing fine with Tazorac. Eventually the goal is to stop that, but you have red marks and one zit according to your signature.

I also believe you are female. I do not know any females that can go through a period without dealing with acne somewhere in there (changes in hormone levels) and Tazorac may be able to help you.

All of my research and experience comes from a male's perspective. I do not have to deal with my hormones changing frequently.

[LadyWillow]

Oh gotcha. Yeah Tazorac helped a bit.

[Serenitypinkblossom]

If your mind is over acne then why are u on a acne site :]

[I am Snow]

If your mind is over acne then why are u on a acne site :]

Use a darker pink next time. I am here to spread the word. People get over acne and leave. It becomes a vicious cycle. Very few stick around to tell others what is really needed.

What I have done to fix my problem will not work for everyone, but it will help those who are only irritating themselves. This is in regards to people who suffered only from teen acne, and only kept it around because they kept irritating it.

The ones who find the key keep leaving silently, while the others are still searching.

[Serenitypinkblossom]

If your mind is over acne then why are u on a acne site :]

Use a darker pink next time. I am here to spread the word. People get over acne and leave. It becomes a vicious cycle. Very few stick around to tell others what is really needed.

What I have done to fix my problem will not work for everyone, but it will help those who are only irritating themselves. This is in regards to people who suffered only from teen acne, and only kept it around because they kept irritating it.

The ones who find the key keep leaving silently, while the others are still searching.

Ooooh...yeah thats what my mom told me...if it isn't supposed to be on your face it probaly isn't.

[wapak]

I hope you don't mind if I add to as a great reference.

[psuboy]

Let me begin by saying that this is by far one of the best posts I have read on this site. To the author: THANK YOU. You have opened my eyes so much to something I was once blind to. Let me give you an example of how I was before I read this post...

I could not walk past a reflective object without looking into it to see my face. I would go into bathrooms just to look into the mirror and see how my face was looking. I was constantly checking myself and zoning in on the troublesome areas of my face. It was terrible. I was usually always depressed and the acne would just not go away no matter what I was doing!

Well after reading this post, I just thought to myself how stupid it is to look in the mirror all the time, especially out in public. Think about it. If you are out in public, such as a restaurant or something, why in the hell would you look into the mirror at your acne? It's not going to change while you're out... so why look at it? It's not like you can do anything about it either. So why take a blow in your confidence level? So you can look into the mirror and lower your confidence and stress yourself out or avoid the mirror and hopefully keep a little more confidence. Either way your face isn't going to change! After I came to this realization, my acne actually started to settle down.

Since reading this post, I now avoid looking in all mirrors and reflective objects at all times, especially when going to the bathroom. The only time I look at my face now is when I wake up in the morning, before I go to bed, and shaving. And what actually happened was my acne started to settle down and my face became less red. I am almost convinced that looking in the mirror so much stressed out my body which in turn caused my acne! I don't eat any differently than I did (although I do eat a healthy diet) and I didn't change anything else. I honestly think the stress that was put onto my body from looking into the mirror so much caused my acne to be way worse than it actually is.

Also, stop zoning in on your zits and scars and look at your face as a whole. Maybe just stare yourself in the eyes for a few seconds in the mirror. Is your face really that bad? Well that is exactly how other people in public usually see you. They aren't going to be zoning in on your zits unless they are sitting there staring at you, which you then have the right to be like "what the hell yo." People see your face as a whole, and countless people have told me this.

So please people, just give this a try. An extra bonus is that you actually do have better confidence levels because you are not looking in the mirror so much. And better confidence has made me a happier individual overall, which in turn decreased my stress levels. Good luck to everybody!

[DelP]

Snow,

This is some great information. I'm 17, and have a very similar story to yours.

I got 'a' pimple when I was a little younger, around the age of 14 or 15, and of course my mom tried to come to the rescue. She gave me some of those 'maximum' strength Stridex pads. But, my skin seemed to get worse; way worse. I had no acne in the summer, and by the time the beginning of winter came around, I was at my all time worse. I could say that it was about as close to severe acne as it was going to get. So, again mom came to the rescue and took me to a dermatologist. I was prescribed to 10% BP wash for in the shower, clyndomicin lotion, and tazorac. I tried everything as the doctor prescribed. Let me begin by saying the weeks following this were the worst couple weeks of my life. My skin was so dry, chapped, red and irritated, that there were times where I literally wanted to go in a corner and cry.

So, I continued the regimen for about 5-6 months. Of course my acne got a little bit better, because, well, it couldn't do anything but get better because it was so bad. After about 7 months, my acne was a lot better for the most part, but it wasn't even close to being completely gone. So, I started to take myself off of some of the topicals. First, the tazorac. I noticed my face getting less irritated and less red, but still not helping with the acne. So after about another month or so, I stopped using the clyndomicin, and noticed after a couple weeks, my face was improving a lot. So, I continued for another month just using the 10% BP and some soap free cleanser. Soon after (about a month ago), I took myself completely off of everything (mind you I was using Minocyclin as an antibiotic this whole time), minus the soap free cleanser, and my face has been the best it has since about a year and a half ago, when I started to get acne.

What got me thinking about this, was 2 days ago, I got extremely sick. I either had food poisoning or the stomach flu, but that being said, I was basically confined to my room and bed where I didn't get a chance to take a shower in about a day in a half. A pimple I was for sure would come to a big white head magically disappeared, and another one popped up and went away in the same day! Amazing huh? That's when I was thinking about it and decided to come on these forums and see what people said about it! I'm glad I found you post!

Thanks again Snow, and I'll post back soon letting you know how this is going!

[Tsunami]

i think I'll give this a shot...

[andersoj]

I like the idea of not letting acne consume your mind, which it does for me, but the do nothing method doesn't make sense for me. The two flaws I see is that everybody who started using topicals did so, because they had acne. So the best you can expect from this is to get back to when your acne was just starting. Another flaw is that when I was on and off tane, I didn't do anything to my skin, yet the acne came back.

I'm glad it worked for you and really appreciate your attitude and agree that topicals suck donkyballs (this new one called aczone actually seems really different and good) but the whole thing seems a little too optimistic.

Oh, and I think this website is the worst place to be if you want to stop worrying about your skin, but Ironically the best place to be if you want to clear it up.

[I am Snow]

The two flaws I see is that everybody who started using topicals did so, because they had acne. So the best you can expect from this is to get back to when your acne was just starting.

My main point is that many people here have teen acne that is only prolonged by topical use. Acne is not a lifetime problem. So no, it will not return to where it was if your hormones are finally balanced and your skin begins to take care of itself. If your hormones are still out of whack, yeah you will still probably have some acne.

I still get pimples from time to time, and so do most people my age. The difference is they are *much* smaller and I get one instead of the usual 10+. They also heal within a day or two compared to 5 days or more.

[uwoelliott]

Inspiring post man, im gonna try to work on the confidence part your talking about, starting with the elimination of reflective objects lol your soooo right about that. Even though i am on accutane, it still feels like i can take a lot from your post.

good stuff

[sportyeron]

Thanks for the inspiring post! It's nice to see someone not only talk about things you can do regime wise (or lack thereof) but also of the more emotional side of acne. I'm in the same situation now as a junior whose had acne for what seems like forever. I hate to even leave the house or talk to people since I'm so embarrassed. Right now I'm using a lot of topical treatments and am really nervous to stop them. I've quit all my oral meds from the dermo and prescription topical treatments but I'm a bit hesitant to stop my tea tree oil and coconut oil. I suppose I might as well give it a shot because I doubt it can get that much worse... Hopefully this will give me the confidence to start living life again.

[pepone]

Congratulations for the post it was really interesting. Confidence is essential for a sane person, I have been with acne from i have 14 i have now 33 and still with acne. I have stop worried about acne some years ago and it help me too, but after reading your post i noticed that even when i stop worried about it i have not be positive on think that i will be clear at some point i simply accept my self having acne. So i think that this is also important to think that you will be clear to be clear

Bests,
José

[Sword of Sorrow]

One of things I hate about forums is a generalization is perceived as fact.

To anyone that makes a statement that:

Having acne makes no difference in how others treat you.

And confidence will always make rows of happy little flowers sing love songs for you...

That is folly.

People judge. And judgment is a selective process.

Perhaps you found favor in people by your personality, or by your natural looks aside from the acne.

This isn't to say everyone will get the same level of postive response.

Before anyone paints me with a pessimistic brush, know that I am merely a realist. Well grounded.

SOS

[timhasbadskin]

What about me?

I started the exact same way as you. Had a little bit of acne, didn't even notice really. Mom said USE THIS.

It was a downward spiral.

However, I have been off topicals for a long time now, and I still have acne.

All I use is the basis (or is it basic?) sensitive skin bar. It is extremely mild and I doubt it's causing me to break out.