Does anyone else feel that the more you try to solve the puzzle that is your acne, the more it affects you psychologically? I mean i have personally cleaned up my diet (back on paleo- but have been dairy and gluten free for years), i work out, i try to stress less and sleep more and i have other things going on in my life besides acne but despite all of this, my acne has not improved. I tried and failed another Regimen and now i have to start all over again and the thought of having to come up with a game plan is giving me a big, fat headache.....sigh. Just hoping i'm not the only one who feels this way. If i didn't have such a horrendous experience going natural, i would be tempted to permanently let my acne be.
Over the past few months I have become 100% positive that acne is caused by... wait for it... worrying about and trying to get rid of acne. In two main ways:
1) I believe in the mind-body connection and that thinking and stressing about acne all the time can cause it to manifest itself.1
2) When you worry about and try to get rid of acne, that usually involves washing your face, which I think causes bad skin.
My skin has been MUCH better since I've been less focused on it, and given up all cleansers and reduced the amount of time I spend under the shower head.
1The placebo effect is more than just "that frustrating phenomenon that routinely threatens the success of our product" (pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies everywhere). Most products show a very insignificant percentage of increased success over the placebo in clinical trials. But since the goal is not to help people but to make money, research has never been focused on using the placebo effect as treatment.
I personally love/loved tinkering and researching ways to improve my acne. I think it was the act of doing something to try to improve my condition which gave me hope for improvement. I've been through many different mental and emotional states w/ my acne over these 11/12 years.. So, I probably have experienced what you are going through, but don't remember going through it (if that makes sense.)
I can tell you preparing food with spices is what changed the game for me. Honey, Cinnamon, paprika, basil, black pepper, turmeric, cayenne pepper etc.. helped my skin tremendously. I added those spices with just about everything I ate.. I had a food list similar to yours, but I made sure not to take many detours and I was committed to getting acne defeated. I still have acne, but it has looked the best since having severe acne. I have some post acne redness/ red marks, scars and some bumps here and there.
I just encourage to keep on keeping on. Keep gaining the knowledge, insight, and wisdom to apply the before listed, and you will have all the pieces to the puzzle. Once you have all the pieces.. It isn't a puzzle anymore. You just have to decide whether you want to spend the $$ and make the necessary changes to your lifestyle.
You are quite the support on acne.org and I hope you find your personal solution to your acne problem.
Over the past few months I have become 100% positive that acne is caused by... wait for it... worrying about and trying to get rid of acne. In two main ways:
1) I believe in the mind-body connection and that thinking and stressing about acne all the time can cause it to manifest itself.1
2) When you worry about and try to get rid of acne, that usually involves washing your face, which I think causes bad skin.
My skin has been MUCH better since I've been less focused on it, and given up all cleansers and reduced the amount of time I spend under the shower head.
1The placebo effect is more than just "that frustrating phenomenon that routinely threatens the success of our product" (pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies everywhere). Most products show a very insignificant percentage of increased success over the placebo in clinical trials. But since the goal is not to help people but to make money, research has never been focused on using the placebo effect as treatment.
I agree with this to an extent. The stress of stressing about my acne probably makes it worse and yes, the chemical yo-yo that i've been on doesn't seem to help. I have tried giving up on all stuff and had the worst acne of my life. I think stress plays a part in acne but it and going cleanser free is not a natural cure, at least not for my acne.
I personally love/loved tinkering and researching ways to improve my acne. I think it was the act of doing something to try to improve my condition which gave me hope for improvement. I've been through many different mental and emotional states w/ my acne over these 11/12 years.. So, I probably have experienced what you are going through, but don't remember going through it (if that makes sense.)
I can tell you preparing food with spices is what changed the game for me. Honey, Cinnamon, paprika, basil, black pepper, turmeric, cayenne pepper etc.. helped my skin tremendously. I added those spices with just about everything I ate.. I had a food list similar to yours, but I made sure not to take many detours and I was committed to getting acne defeated. I still have acne, but it has looked the best since having severe acne. I have some post acne redness/ red marks, scars and some bumps here and there.
I just encourage to keep on keeping on. Keep gaining the knowledge, insight, and wisdom to apply the before listed, and you will have all the pieces to the puzzle. Once you have all the pieces.. It isn't a puzzle anymore. You just have to decide whether you want to spend the $$ and make the necessary changes to your lifestyle.
You are quite the support on acne.org and I hope you find your personal solution to your acne problem.
Thank you for the kind words. I do put a lot of spices in my food (i'm Jamaican....lol) and i eat in more than i eat out but that has never had a good impact on my acne. I haven't given up....yet. I guess i'm at a point where i'm so tired of being tired. I'm 30 and i have awesome things happening in my life except for this. I wish i knew people in my area that were going through the same thing.
The good thing though is that acne has forced me to clean up my lifestyle so my health is slowly getting back on track.