Hello all!

I've used this website as a resource for so many years so I thought it was about time I showed my face (figuratively speaking) and actually made a post. So, here's my story... (If you're not interested just skip down a little)

I've had acne since being around 10 or 11, around the same time I got a brace put in (fun times), though I think I've always thought myself quite lucky as I've never had anything more than moderate acne. For a long time I didn't look for a treatment for it because my parents spouted the age old myth that it was due to the fact that I didn't eat more vegetables. I ate what I could but short of forcing them down my throat, I accepted there was nothing I could do.

As I got older and started noticing the opposite sex, I became more and more bothered by my skin (which had progressively become worse and yet no one else around me seemed to be suffering the same) and so I looked myself for solutions. I got onto the Benzoyl Peroxide bandwagon which, to this day I'm not sure helped at all. I stopped it eventually due to side effects, mainly my mum's best towels turning white but also others. Even at that age I had the gut instinct that it wasn't good to be using a chemical like that on my skin.

Eventually, things were really getting me down. At around age 16 I'd done all the research, tried everything I could find (even spent a good couple of months smothering myself with lemon before bed) and so, my parents seeing this and the fact that my self confidence was through the floor about my skin, arranged for me to see a dermatologist who after 10 minutes of prodding my face and groaning rather unassuringly only suggested Accutane. The list of side effects as long as my arm and a rough understanding of how it worked on a biological level both coupled with my colossal fear of needles (blood test) so I decided to pass it up and instead struggled with cystic/nodular acne on my chest and shoulders as well as mild-moderate acne on my face.

-----------Skip to here if you're not looking for a short novel-----------

Fast forward to the present day, I'm 18 and though I'm far from "cured", I've been blown away by the little miracle that is Vitamin D. Long gone are my cystic/nodular acne days anyway, but the vitamin D has worked wonders for what was left on my skin and the worst I have to deal with these days is the odd white head after a shave gone awry. So, considering my girlfriend will be coming home mid October and we'll meet up properly for the first time as something more than friends (not the most typical relationship but bear with me). I'm sure I can spare you the details, but she'll see me without my shirt on for the first time which worries me. Why? Take a look at the following for an idea of what I've got under the hood:

As you can see, aside from being a tad away from washboard abs (still a work in progress naturally), I'm in a less than good way with scarring. I should mention that I have virtually no current acne in that picture. Anything you see there is a remnant of my past acne. I'm looking for a little advice here because I really don't know what to do as I really don't know much in this subject and I've been finding it hard to read up on it. You can see the remnants of the deep cystic and nodular acne around the centre of my chest characterised by those dark marks and the very dark purple-ish coloured dots. Up top left I've got a raised bump, of which I've got a few in various places, some on my shoulders. The rest are just red marks generally.

I'm not blinded by having a perfect body, I just want to improve on what you see here to the point that it isn't going to freak my girlfriend out (I'm sure she would look past it eventually but it'll certainly ruin the moment if I don't tell her beforehand). So, what can I do? I'll try anything within reason. Topical or I'm happy to look towards more hands on methods. Anyone have any advice?

Thanks in advance guys! I've never been too keen in being this open especially on a public forum but I'm hoping some good can come of this

Will

EDIT: I should mention the situation is similar on my shoulders with some raised bumps, purple marks and also some indented scars though not as noticeably so I focussed this post on my chest.