Hey leelowe!

I'm 24 and I've had acne since I was 12, so 12 years now. I get all kinds of acne (blackheads, white heads, big pustules, cysts, etc.) If I don't put things on my skin that clog me I usually only get black heads and some inflamed bumps every now and then. My skin never looks healthy if that makes sense, though.

I'm actually the opposite of you. I'm very open about my acne. My family knows, boyfriend, and even some of my friends. I talk to my family and boyfriend about it the most because I feel like I don't want to burden them with it. My family and boyfriend are very supportive. My boyfriend is probably the most supportive. He loves me even though I have problem skin and he's willing to listen to me talk about it if I ever feel like I need to. I feel like it helps to some degree, but in the end I don't want my acne to go away for anyone else but me. So when my boyfriend or family say I look fine I still just feel like it would go away so I could agree with them.

Hey,

Im 21 and have been dealing with acne since 15. I have had white heads, cyst, and lot of black heads. In the beginning i did not like talking about my acne as it made me felt insecure. Any time any one said or mentioned the word acne or pimple i would get so uncomfortable and it felt as if everyone was staring at me. But now im more open about it. I talk to my family and friends about and they are supportive. My acne has gotten a lot better, i still break out here and there and have some deep acne scars left but now i feel confident about myself and open about the big problem "ACNE" ( AHH hate it LOL) So in the end it has made it easier to deal with. My mom and friends usually join me when i get my black heads extracted and they usually get a facial while they are there. cheers

I've been dealing with Acne in varying types most of my life since teenage years, I never thought I would ever be free of it until my second course of accutane cleared it up a few years back. But, somehow it's come back again and worse than ever it would seem on my face (huge cystic acne, like marbles and grapes on my face that are super painful).

It's been a few years and I am not used to dealing with it, so I try to hide myself away, I look back at old pictures of myself from only a few months ago or beyond and see my clear skin / face and it makes me really sad.

I'm trying to cover it up where I can, I brush my hair over my forehead and haven't discussed it with anyone other than my wife. I feel dirty if I go to eating establishments like I don't want to put people off with my horrible red lumps and scabs on my face.

I never talk to anyone about it, not really until registering here, so I guess it is a secret in a way, but then, I don't think acne is exactly something you would discuss with work colleagues or friends anyway? I've spoken to my wife about it, but again I don't go into details, I try to make lighter of it as I don't want her to take as much notice either.

This topic is soo relatable in every way.

I'm 17 and acne feels new for me. It started about a year ago, before that I used to have 100% clear, dry skin. I guess puberty is the one to blame. My acne is very mild, no cysts or deep painful pimples, just some typical spots on my t-zone, some clogged pores and a lot of blackheads especially on my nose. I suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder and for me this is much more than just normal teenage acne, though most of the people I know would never say that I have problems with my skin. At first I didn't want to talk about it at all. I tried to talk to my parents but they were angry at me for being so shallow (they always say that looks don't matter and stuff like that). I was afraid to talk about it with my boyfriend because I thought that he would find me disgusting. When I finally opened up about it it turned out that he used to suffer from acne that was like fifty times more severe than mine and that he understands me perfectly. He had been through a course of Accutane before I met him and it has cleared his acne totally so when I met him he had absolutely flawless skin, that's why I would never think that he can relate to me. That's why I'm glad that I did open up to him. The bad thing is that I started crying about my acne to him too often and he started to feel a bit overwhelmed and tired. Now I'm trying to keep some acne-related feelings to myself but when I share them with him, he's really suportive.

On the other hand, none of my friends know about it and that's why I feel like it's my dirty secret. I'm a popular person and people think that I'm easy-going, confident and totally okay with myself. They would never guess that I cry in front of the mirror and feel like crap every time a pimple pops out. Most of my friends are kind of sarcastic, a little bit mean (but in a friendly way) and not serious at all. Oh, and they really care about looks. There are not the type of people you would tell about your anxiety. That's why I've spent a year not telling them anything about my acne, Finally, I did talk about it to one of my male friends. I was surprised when he turned out to be really supportive. In my opinion it's better to share your problems with people who are close to you, even though it's not always easy. It helps a lot.

Im 36. And I don't talk to it with family or friends in depth. I mean I have had since I was about 13 and have been going to the derm since then, but never spoke in depth to anyone about how self conscience I am. I didn't even tell anyone not even super close friends about going on accutane three times. I have talked briefly about it with my mom but when she saw how clear my skin was on accutane she said I finally out grew my acne... So I then had to tell her about the tane and she got all worried hearing all the stories about how bad it is in the news media. I think for me its very hard to talk about with people who don't understand. My parents have amazing clear skin and always have. My brothers acne went away as an adult, but here I am still contemplating going on a fourth round of accutane. I recently confided in two close friends not super in depth but a little bit about being self conscience about my skin and not wearing makeup, but one of them also struggles with adult acne and am very envious as she started to just go makeup free a lot more and all though her skin is not super clear its improved recently with some new meds and she was saying how she finally is a lot more comfortable with her skin and accepting at where it is now, but before wasn't, but honestly much easier to talk about with a friend who understands and we compare and discuss skin regimes, but not until very recently in depth how self conscience I am and of course they say its not that bad, but we are our own worse enemy. I definitely have never been able to talk about it with a boyfriend. I grew up with all my friends having amazing skin and really bothers me when people with perfect skin often say they don't understand why some girls wear so much makeup. Believe me if I had perfect clear skin with no pores I would not be wearing makeup. So yes its been a dirty little secret. What is frustrating the most is yes it is vain and lame to get so self conscience about how I look and my skin and being paranoid about something as simple as my skin and things could be way worse in life. Its what on the inside that counts, but the reality is when I was on accutane and had clear skin each time on it I got so many compliments from random strangers wanting to know what I used or how commenting on how pretty I was. I don't live for compliments, but rest assured I don't have strangers coming up to me complimenting on my skin and beauty when I have acne and oily skin. So when people say its what on the inside that matters yes of course that is true and I believe that, but we are a visual society and many many people do judge people based on their looks. The reality is that is our society, its every where that beauty matters as in good looks, perfect skin, perfect body. I mean the skin care company is a billion dollar industry. Its a constant battle of trying to just accept me for me and this is my skin and I have to learn to love it.

Yes, thank you for posting this.