will be 25 next week and I am ready for this to be over. In high school, i would get a couple of pimples here and there, nothing terrible though. Then I started college and my face went nuts. I went to a dermatologist and was able to get it under control (not perfect though). SO then I maintained that for a while... it was on and off through college. I got on birth control and it helped for a while. Most of my acne seemed to be hormonal, and the BC helped for a while.
Then I started working after college and it got worse again. Went back to derm, and was able to get it more manageable. Maintained that for maybe a year or so... and it was off and on again. Now, it is probably at it's worse. I get breakouts on my chin, cheeks and sides of the face. I consider myself to have moderate acne with a lot of redness, which makes it look worse. I have tried everything (except accutane and i really don't want to). I have started to get deeper acne in spots that I never broke out in before. When one spot clears, another pops up right next to it, of course I am left with a dark spot. I do everything right when it comes to cleansing my face and treating my acne. So it has to be on the inside for me.
I have always eaten whatever I wanted, until recently in the past year or so, I have become more health conscious. So I have done some research about things I should cut out of my diet in order to improve my face and most are things I need to cut out anyways! I eat a lot of carbs, although I try to stick with whole wheat, but I know I need to cut those out all together. Also, sugar and processed foods are hard for me. My skin went crazy again over the holidays, and I am sure it was from my bad eating habits. So what I have noticed is that everything I have tried worked for a little while, but it always came back. So I am making the effort to get my nutrition in order and make notes of the changes in my skin. I really hope it helps.
I drink a lot of water, workout, rarely drink alcohol, and I take a multivitamin and biotin. Overall, I am healthy. Any advice on things i can do to clear my acne??
Thanks!
It is very difficult for me to post these pictures...I do have makeup on, so it looks much worse without. Alot of the dark posts are covered. You can see my skin just looks irritated. But those are the areas that I break out in. I want smooth skin so bad!
hey, welcome.
I know you have makeup on, but your skin looks generally good. No doubt it still affects you, just mean you should realise its probably not as bad as you think.
Whats your routine at the moment?
Thank you! I do feel bad because I realize it could be much worse. However, it does look worse without makeup. I will post pictures later without. I think what frustrates me most is that it will get better one week, then the next I will have a bad breakout again.
My current routine is wash with purpose cleanser, spot treat with benzoyl peroxide (10%), then moisturize with Cerave moisturizer. I occasionally exfoliate in the shower. Anything you can recommend? My skin does tend to be normal, but dries out very easily.
Go here to see pictures without makeup...it is very irritated right now. http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php/blog/6791/entry-25345-my-skin-story/
I think what frustrates me most is that it will get better one week, then the next I will have a bad breakout again.
This is how I feel. Its not so much the bad skin its the fact just as I get used to good skin, it turns bad and its dealing with it again.
I found that because my skin was getting so dry it was breaking out under the stress, so I started not using cleanser on the evening, instead just washing my face with water when I was having a shower on the evening.
Have you tried any treatment like Microdermabrasion? That helped with the marks that were left
I think what frustrates me most is that it will get better one week, then the next I will have a bad breakout again.
This is how I feel. Its not so much the bad skin its the fact just as I get used to good skin, it turns bad and its dealing with it again.
I found that because my skin was getting so dry it was breaking out under the stress, so I started not using cleanser on the evening, instead just washing my face with water when I was having a shower on the evening.
Have you tried any treatment like Microdermabrasion? That helped with the marks that were left
I haven't tried professional microdermabrasion, but I am considering it. I think it could help. Sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between active pimples and the leftover marks.
