8 replies to this topic

[TheAcneAvenger]

I'm not going to lie, I struggle a lot with my appearance and I've been through a lot because of it. I'm sure most people here have. However, even with acne I still don't hate how I look - generally I still think of myself as reasonably attractive (except for on the particularly bad days) and I know despite my skin I'm a nice person. So, just because I think its good to focus on the positive, and also because I need a bit of support/confidence, who else accepts themselves even with acne?


PS. I just stupidly squeezed an angry pimple and I can tell its going to become even worse now, and soon to be followed by a scar I never learn!

[MJRI94]

I'm in the same boat, I have struggled with it before for a long time but even before I struggled with it, I accepted it, now I have come to grips with it again which feels great.

My friends have told me that I am a pretty nice guy and I think I do have a good nature but sometimes in the past my acne threw me into bad moods and I was snappy and short with family members, which I look back on and regret. The appearance of others to me genuinely doesn't matter that much but my appearance matters far more than it should to me. Thats how I am looking at it these days - I was letting it get to me way too much, my friends don't care how I look, neither do my family, so why should I care so much?

Acne is a temporary thing to me (albeit a long temporary thing), it will go eventually, so in the mean time I just need to get on with it as best I can so it doesn't affect who I am as a person, because that is the most important thing.
It took a while, but now I think accept my acne very well, besides life is far, far too short to let acne hold us back (yes its that old cliche again, buts its true!)
Edit: Happy new years day!

Edited by MJRI94, 01 January 2012 - 08:31 AM.

[conjones]

Hey there and welcome Avenger! That's a great thing to hear, it's true, acne can make it very difficult for many to like themselves and I'm glad to see that you're doing alright! I can actually relate to MJRI94's reply quite a bit, I tended to be a pretty down person all the time (and it still happens ) but I've learned to manage my skin a little bit better, and that tiny improvement helped a lot. Unfortunately I still kind of let the whole skin thing control my life, but hey, I'm trying to be less doubtful and anxious with myself! Thanks for the good thread, and try not to mess around with your skin! Make it a new year's resolution haha, it's tempting to squeeze, or lance or whatever but be tough and resist, it will help your skin a lot. And don't forget there are tons of different ways to manage your skin, always try and look for new techniques even when it feels like nothing will work!

[lightersUP]

For me, skin picking is the absolute worst! I don't even think my acne is bad at all, but I've made it look 10x worse by trying to fix it with my hands. I would dig into my face at the first sight/feel of a new bump, and never stop until I got all of the gunk out. Other times I would even take a needle to my face and dig it out. I shudder at the thought of doing that to my face now. The bad thing though is that I didn't know any better and thought that I was helping along the healing process. WRONG.

Eventually I learned to stop squeezing at my face and it's been the best thing ever. It's still a struggle not to squeeze at a little bump and see the gunk come out, but the longer you hold off the better everything gets. Your mood, your face, your sense of self just strengthens each day you don't pick at your skin. Think about it, when you tear holes into your face you open up your skin to more bacteria/oil and valuable resources are used to scab it up. When you don't pick, your facial skin is much more calm and it can focus on healing your blemishes alone, rather than your blemishes PLUS whatever open wounds you've inflicted on yourself.

I know that it feels gross to leave obvious pus-filled bumps on your face, but this is part of the skin's natural healing process. Just ignore the urge to squeeze, stop obsessively checking the mirror from an inch away, and let time run its course. Just keep faith that your regimen is doing its job and over time you'll see clear skin (if you're using the right products for your face hopefully). And yeah, generally accepting your acne definitely helps.

[Kairasa]

I'm glad you shared how you feel. It's refreshing to see that yes, you struggle (as everyone does at one point or another), but you also win those battles daily and generally like yourself. That is very important. Keep going and I promise after a while you will wake up and always accept yourself.

[titoziot]

I'm with you AcneAvenger! I'm battling my war with it now... still... but in general, I agree with you. It's easy to get down when my skin is particularly bad, but in general I don't think I'm unattractive because of it. I think about it like this... I have never been genuinely attracted (physical or emotional) to someone for just ONE thing. It's always the total package, and its usually for something you can't even put a name on. So all those ladies with good skin, congrats. But that's ONE attractive thing about you. I might not share in that pot-o-gold, but I have my own

[snsdgirl14]

It's so easy to be incredibly critical of myself, but in the end, I like the way I look even with some spots/acne. I have moderate acne that's currently clearing up quite well, but the red marks are still there and make my face just look worse. I can put on makeup pretty well though and it hides the redness a lot. So, even though I don't like the process of putting on concealer etc, it helps my confidence.

I agree with the above poster - one feature isn't absolutely everything. I still have seen various guys around campus with acne who I think are still attractive, and in some cases, I don't even notice their acne that much. People tend to take your face in as a whole, not focus on little imperfections like we do when we scruntize our skin in the mirror. I'm just going to keep thinking that way until my skin clears, and I know it will.

[RemovingBlackheads]

The psychological damages I faced during my adolescence were no laughing matter; still, I think that having acne taught me the importance of a healthy lifestyle that I otherwise may not have learned!

[mrjarjarbinks77]

Self love is important. You got to love yourself before others will love you especially those outside your family. I alienate myself when depressed and really low. You just need to reinforce how great you are with or without acne or scars or flaky skin.