Hi everyone - please read my story. This is for anyone struggling with causes and treatments in relation to acne. I'm Katie and I'm very frustrated with my skin.
THE BACKSTORY
Katie here. A super frustrated 20 year old plagued with acne. I've had acne since about 7th grade - and I've had it bad. It seems to come and go from time to time as far as the severity is concerned by I've had it for as long as I can remember. I have tried everything. I've seen countless dermatologists, been on many antibiotics, tried birth control, proactiv, and every cleanser in the drug store that exists. I've become extremely frustrated. However, as I'm getting older, I'm getting more and more tired of piling on the makeup to try and hide it. Let me tell you about my current condition and what I'm doing that seems to be helping.
THE HERE AND NOW
I currently have a lot of what appears to be "under the skin" acne. The type that makeup pretty much fully covers. However, as soon as I take off my foundation, its extremely red and irritated looking. I have these patches of under the skin acne on my cheeks and my forehead. However, on my forehead there are a few actual bumps which I believe to be hormonal. I've been extremely anxious to find something to clear this up. I wash my face twice daily with a spin brush and a mild cleanser. I always take my makeup off at night as well.
THE LIGHT BULB MOMENT
A few days ago, I had the realization that my acne might be attributed to my diet. I've tried everything. It doesn't make sense that nothing would work. I've been drinking coffee since I was in 1st grade (NO I'm not a shortie - I'm actually 5'8" somehow!). I increased my coffee intake to about 3-4 cups daily in high school through the end of last semester (April). My acne seemed to get much worse then. My boyfriend suggested I cut the coffee intake - turns out forehead acne can be related to stress and coffee actually makes you stress out double than a person who doesn't drink coffee. Not only that but my skin used to be crystal clear when I drank little coffee and a lot more water.
TREATING IT NOW
For the past three days, I've been drinking about 5L of water daily and I've already seen an improvement. The red marks seem to be fading away. I've also stopped drinking coffee so much this week. I just ordered the pill, Clearetto today so we'll see how that works. In addition to my washing twice daily, about 3 times a week I will use the Mary Kay microdermabrasion. It's also helped. I would suggest a baking soda mixture if you cannot afford the micro derm set. I've also used tea tree oil for spot treatment. To sum it up, I'm going to continue on my current skin care regimen, begin taking the Clearetto pill, stop drinking coffee, continue to limit my sugar and keep drinking a TON of H20.
I think I'm onto something - if anyone else has experienced anything similar please comment below. I will post back to let everyone know how it's coming. My biggest suggestion would be to heavily increase your water intake. It's free, it helps you lose weight, healthy and helps your skin appearance. You can't go wrong.
I'll post again in a week. Wish me luck! And please post if you have any experience with anything I'm doing or have anything to add!
Pimples take at least one week to form and reach the surface of the skin. Cystic pimples can take up to three weeks to form. This is precisely the reason why antibiotics and drugs like Accutane don't work overnight. Keeping hydrated is good for overall health but as far as skin goes, it's irrelevant. With that said I wouldn't discourage you from drinking a lot of water, it just won't do much for acne. I would also avoid any harsh scrubs with acne like yours as that can encourage additional irritation which will only contribute to inflammation. Instead, consider going on a chemical exfoliant such as tazorac which will help to treat the acne by increasing cell turnover. What's nice about chemical exfoliants vs mechanical is that it peels evenly all over the skin.
Quick Background:
I've had severe acne since a little after my 11th birthday, been on every antibiotic, even uncommonly prescribed ones. Definitely a huge mistake as I'm resistant to many antibiotics and I have pretty bad digestive issues. Two courses of a high dose of Accutane (80mg) was also a mean joke and cleared my skin for three months after each course than back to square one. The only thing that has cleared me long term is the regimen, except replacing Dans AHA with Tazorac and also the use of a low strength glycolic acid. I rotate back and forth between the glycolic and taz each night. It took about two months to clear, but when It finally did it was honestly an unexpected miracle.
The pill may also help to treat your acne, but it's definitely a good idea to tackle it from several different angles.
Hi everyone - please read my story. This is for anyone struggling with causes and treatments in relation to acne. I'm Katie and I'm very frustrated with my skin.
THE BACKSTORY
Katie here. A super frustrated 20 year old plagued with acne. I've had acne since about 7th grade - and I've had it bad. It seems to come and go from time to time as far as the severity is concerned by I've had it for as long as I can remember. I have tried everything. I've seen countless dermatologists, been on many antibiotics, tried birth control, proactiv, and every cleanser in the drug store that exists. I've become extremely frustrated. However, as I'm getting older, I'm getting more and more tired of piling on the makeup to try and hide it. Let me tell you about my current condition and what I'm doing that seems to be helping.
THE HERE AND NOW
I currently have a lot of what appears to be "under the skin" acne. The type that makeup pretty much fully covers. However, as soon as I take off my foundation, its extremely red and irritated looking. I have these patches of under the skin acne on my cheeks and my forehead. However, on my forehead there are a few actual bumps which I believe to be hormonal. I've been extremely anxious to find something to clear this up. I wash my face twice daily with a spin brush and a mild cleanser. I always take my makeup off at night as well.
THE LIGHT BULB MOMENT
A few days ago, I had the realization that my acne might be attributed to my diet. I've tried everything. It doesn't make sense that nothing would work. I've been drinking coffee since I was in 1st grade (NO I'm not a shortie - I'm actually 5'8" somehow!). I increased my coffee intake to about 3-4 cups daily in high school through the end of last semester (April). My acne seemed to get much worse then. My boyfriend suggested I cut the coffee intake - turns out forehead acne can be related to stress and coffee actually makes you stress out double than a person who doesn't drink coffee. Not only that but my skin used to be crystal clear when I drank little coffee and a lot more water.
TREATING IT NOW
For the past three days, I've been drinking about 5L of water daily and I've already seen an improvement. The red marks seem to be fading away. I've also stopped drinking coffee so much this week. I just ordered the pill, Clearetto today so we'll see how that works. In addition to my washing twice daily, about 3 times a week I will use the Mary Kay microdermabrasion. It's also helped. I would suggest a baking soda mixture if you cannot afford the micro derm set. I've also used tea tree oil for spot treatment. To sum it up, I'm going to continue on my current skin care regimen, begin taking the Clearetto pill, stop drinking coffee, continue to limit my sugar and keep drinking a TON of H20.
I think I'm onto something - if anyone else has experienced anything similar please comment below. I will post back to let everyone know how it's coming. My biggest suggestion would be to heavily increase your water intake. It's free, it helps you lose weight, healthy and helps your skin appearance. You can't go wrong.
I'll post again in a week. Wish me luck! And please post if you have any experience with anything I'm doing or have anything to add!