Hey everyone! I am new to this site. So I thought I would start by posting a fun, buzzfeed-esque lament to introduce myself into the community, whilst of course simultaneously reaping the cathartic fringe benefits of public venting. About me: I am a 32 y/o female with recalcitrant, cystic acne, primarily the perioral region. Have been battling cystic acne since 17 years old, lesser acnes since earlier...but who's counting, anyway?

The Top 5 Things People with Cystic Acne are Tired of Hearing

# 5- "You'll grow out of it." This offender usually comes by way of parents who never had to deal with the kind of acne you as their progeny are now forced to suffer through. And guess what, there's a great chance they're wrong! I speak from experience. Thanks, mom and dad, for the genes that landed me here, and the inability to empathize with my condition. I hope I didn't inherit that trait too, but seriously, since bad acne has given me first hand experience, my sympathy pains will be strong, and my offspring will have birthright into the closest dermatologist's office.

# 4- "You can just cover it with makeup." Um, NO, actually, lotsa times you can't. Do people not understand the concept of topography? Bas relief? Something that protrudes forth from a surface is very difficult to conceal? Oh yeah, and if you are a dude, this may not be your best option, unless that is how you roll, which is fine with me (I am certainly not a stickler for gender roles), because us as females who have acne will oftentimes accept the lesser embarrassment of "obvious-attempt-at-concealment" over raised, large bumps that are ALSO an angry shade of fire-engine red. And no, we won't be coordinating our lipstick to match the latest shade of our inflammation.

# 3- "No one will notice." Aw, that's sweet. I mean, I wish, I REALLY wish, willful ignorance applied to the senses, and people could amend their vision so that whence ever it came to gaze upon my face, it thereby did not notice the plethora of zits! Trust me, if anyone wishes this, I wish it. It's just not true. But still, it's a really sweet proposition to think that passersby might deny the glaring existence of the varying pustules, nodules, nodes, cysts, comedones, that have taken up private residence on my face (and/or chest, and/or back). Also, a band of lily white unicorns frolics freely in the woods behind my house.

#2 - "It'll be gone in a couple of days." Hmmmm, nope. A month or two, maybe longer, definitely longer if we're talking about scars, and since we're talking about scars, maybe never! And while I'm waiting for this huge monster to heal, I'll get five more in the meantime. How about the fact that I've been on every medication known to man that ends in "-cycline" or "-cilin" (yes, I have probably built up a resistance to them) and guess what, zits still not going anywhere! Love your optimism, though!

#1 - "Don't worry about it, it's JUST a coupl'a zits." SAID NO ONE WITH SEVERE, OR CYSTIC, OR SEVERE CYSTIC ACNE, EVER. What, forget about this? This little thing? I mean, things? As in eight or nine or ten of them? All at least 1/8 inch but up to about an entire inch in surface inflammation diameter? Squatting on prime facial real estate that was once known as my chin before it become overrun with A. Vulgaris? Now let's just call it "Vulgarisville," like what happened when George Bailey wished he never existed and Potter came in and ruined everything. Except in this scenario, there is no Clarence, no bells are ringing and we don't ever get to wake up to our Wonderful, Acne-Free Lives.

Now this is not a testament to hopelessness. It's just a catalog of how difficult it can be for the acne-free "rest of us" to really grasp what we struggle with day in and day out. At the very least, and this is the sentiment with which I convey this article, there are people who have been there, who are still there, and who can completely and wholly understand what you are going through. You are not alone.