Nobody is perfect. There are people out there who could have a good physical appearance but be mentally ill. My story is I went to work and did not say much at all because I was ashamed of my acne and marks/scars. I would go home and play Xbox until work basically. I would avoid any social situation. I finally decided to change that and go out once a week and kept increasing going out gradually and now it is no big deal. I am a lot happier and my skin is clearing a lot more as well. People go through so much worse than acne. One of my good friends had cancer in 9th grade and was not in school for a whole year. He was being treated, everyone was worried and he was at risk. You have a choice of how you want your acne to affect your life. I regret so much looking back and I am only 18 years old. All the parties, anything you name it. I didn't go because of my acne and to be honest I doubt people would have really cared. I don't want to keep looking back and regretting more and more down the road. I want to live the life I want to live and everyone has the right to do so. A great personality is very attractive and people can look right past your acne I promise. Nobody is perfect anyway so nobody has the right to judge you. A positive attitude can only help. Good luck to all of you.

There is no quick fix, you just have to live with it and get over it tbh.

I never had acne as a teen, I had a few spots here and there like anyone but as soon as I hit 21, suddenly I had crazy back acne and got loads of black heads on my face and started getting more craters than the moon. It made me depressed and I tried everything I could get a prescription for and all it left my skin was either red and itchy or no impact what so ever.

I really think no one has a fucking clue, it's all guess work, antibiotics aren't a good idea for something so superficial either. Lets not create super bugs shall we, just for our chase after a cure, no frigging doctor has a clue, I'm always told conflicting evidence.

What have I found great now I'm 25? I stopped worrying, if people think I'm ugly as a result, I don't care. I've spent the last handful of years alone because of it, I barely went out and never had sex because I was too scared I'd be seen as a freak....... I just stopped caring tbh.

I ended up going in the sun more, doing more exercise, I start doing that Shaun T Insanity workout and forget about it. My acne has gotten better, it still exists, no treatment I've ever had has fixed it, however forgetting about it and just going outside has been the best treatment because I've been allowed a life, even if that hasn't had much impact on spots.... being inside and tired all the time was ageing me and making me more upset than spots.

It's hard but you just have to fucking get over it and live with what you got. TV makes everyone see perfect... they aren't.

This is brilliant and so true!

U are awesome.

I've had a similar experience to you in that I let my acne control me. I stayed indoors and shut myself away from everyone because I hated how my acne made me look. But I was hating my life for years and I was alone. I finally started trying to just put myself out their socially more, even when my face looked like shit and I ended up meeting some good friends and a girlfriend.

I've had mild/moderate acne since I was in junior high. Ive always had some on my face. I fought it for so many years. Ive tried so many acne washes, prescription medications, etc. Most of them made things worse for me and my face burn or peel off, or like you mentioned, if they were mild enough to not hurt me, they did nothing for my acne.

My doctors too seemed to not really know anything. They didn't have acne themselves and I think they really had no idea of the side effects and how the experience of using the prescription medications they prescribed were. The side effects were often so bad, that its kind of crazy that they even prescribed some of that stuff to me. I also was prescribed topical antibiotics and oral ones for a long time, and I really regret taking those. I wonder the long term effects those had on me.

The single greatest thing that's improved my acne is that I stopped shaving. I now use a trimmer which cuts my facial hair down to .4 millimeters and I breakout way less. I still have some acne, but my face is way better than it used to be. Besides normal acne I was getting breakouts from shaving, either folliculitis or ingrown hairs, I am not entirely sure.

For the acne thats left on my face, I gave up on wasting my time and hurting my skin by using lots of chemicals on it. I just wash with water in the shower and use a wet facecloth to exfoliate my face. I always have a few pimples to pop each morning so I dont go outside with the pus filled pimples which I get a lot of. My skin seems better than when I used to use benxoyl peroxide, salylic acide, or whatever prescription chemical I was slathering on my face. I think a lot of those have side effects that are far worse than the small amount they helped my acne.

Ive finally gotten to a point in my life where I've realized that not everyone cares if I have acne on my face. People still talk to me. I was able to make new friends and find a girlfriend and they all seem to like me even when I have a big breakout. It can be hard to convince yourself that people can see past your acne, but some people do.

There's a way to rid of it and control it, brother. I spent the last 3 years experimenting and 500% committed and determined to find a way to control it. After many experiments, I found that simply going up into a more natural approach is the key. Our breakouts are a sign of weak organs and toxins in our body being released. The body naturally uses the skin to get rid of it. We can apply a ton of ointments to control it but it's never permanent. Once you stop using it your body just starts to release again.

There's a way to rid of it and control it, brother. I spent the last 3 years experimenting and 500% committed and determined to find a way to control it. After many experiments, I found that simply going up into a more natural approach is the key. Our breakouts are a sign of weak organs and toxins in our body being released. The body naturally uses the skin to get rid of it. We can apply a ton of ointments to control it but it's never permanent. Once you stop using it your body just starts to release again.

Oh my god. Every time I hear somebody blame acne on "toxins leaving the body" I cringe.