PurplGrind 0 Posted September 26, 2011 (edited) ok, so I've had pretty bad acne since I was 14 years old. Currently I'm 18 and I just left my house for the first time and am living at university. When I was 16 my acne was really bad, but by educating myself a bit about it and trying new things I got it down to a bearable level. This past summer my acne improved so much that my face was almost 100% clear and I was happy to start my new life in university with a nice complexion. However, I've been at university for two weeks now and my face is horribly broke out again. I have pustules all over my chin and above my lip and my forehead is red and inflamed. This has all happened in a timeframe of 2-3 weeks and I'm very depressed about it. I'm trying to figure out what went wrong and why my acne is so bad. I'm not really doing anything differently than I was before, so I have to assume it has something to do with going to university. My guesses so far are as follows: Stress: I've been a bit stressed these weeks because of the huge change of going to university and even more so after my acne started... I assume this has to be part of it Diet?: Not sure if eating cafeteria food has anything to do with it or not.... Dehydration: I've noticed that I've been drinking less water lately. Other than these can you guys think of any potential reasons moving to university might have aggrovated my acne? Any advice, ideas or insight is appreciated, I just can't believe that my skin went from almost clear to horrible so quickly. What could have caused this? My skin hasn't looked this bad in years... Edited September 26, 2011 by PurplGrind Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
IsItJohnny 0 Posted September 26, 2011 I've had the same and this is natural, especially if this is your first time at university. It's basically a hormonal cycle (regardless if you're a man or woman) and the added social pressure/anxiety. This subsides after a while. What works for me is get into something social and interact a lot. This may seem weird but my skin is better when I socialize with the right people and doing good stuff. Find something you like to do and don't worry about your acne. Basically, find something else to occupy your mind other than your skin condition and you'll get back to being clear again. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mm97 16 Posted September 26, 2011 (edited) It happens to me too at the start of every year. It's stress. It gets bad around exams too. I've always hoped that the acne/stress link was a myth because I feel like stress is unavoidable but there is some undeniable truth about it. And sometimes we don't even realize how stressed we are because we're trying to ignore it and pretend we're fine. But it's there, and it affects us physiologically whether we like it or not. Unless the cafeteria food is significantly different to what you usually ate, it's probably not that. As for water, you should try to drink more, but it shouldn't cause a breakout just because you're drinking a little less. Although, if you are living at university, it is possible that there's some environmental aspect, like the tap water quality being different... I'm not sure about that though. I live in the same city as I go to school in year round and my skin gets clearer in the summer and worse when school starts for the past 2 years that I've been in university, so I assume it's just the stress for me and it could be for you too. Edited September 26, 2011 by mm97 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdc1 1 Posted September 27, 2011 It's also my first year at university, and I've noticed worst acne right around my period. I've also been REALLY stressed out this week with midterms and papers to do, and I've been going to bed at 3 and waking up at 8. Not healthy. Is your sleep cycle a lot different? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PurplGrind 0 Posted September 27, 2011 Thanks for comments guys, ya my sleep cycle has been wonky lately so I'll try to get more consistant sleep. I'm going to conclude for now that my breakouts were largely stress-related, and hope that they subside by themselves. Thanks for the help guys! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmitchell651 4 Posted September 27, 2011 Ok so I finally have my skin under control! So much so that I have gone from mod/severe acne to I would say 95% clear in around 5 weeks!!! (I have 2 active small zits) Now enough about me I cannot stress enough about Panoxyl 2.5 % BP gel! I literally noticed a major difference in around a week if not less! Ok so my regimen ... Wake up, shower and apply clean and clear deep pore cleanser Wait for skin to dry then apply an index finger length of Panoxyl BP gel, apply to all of face. Wait for it to dry Apply a small blob of 'Palmers coco butter to entire face (This for me has completely eradicated dryness and redness) I swear by this stuff now! Then I repeat same steps for bed! I hope this helps you I'm sure I can pull out some before and after pictures along my fb if you want to see the results x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
