Hello All,
I just wanted to share my journey with you and some resources/treatments I have used in the hopes that it can help someone out there that is struggling.
Beginning about my sophomore year in high school I developed acne(like a lot of teenagers). From that point on, I had consistent, moderate and persistent acne going forward. It was nothing crazy severe, but enough to definitely be noticeable, and enough to shatter my confidence and affect me well into my adult life.
Like most of you, I let it affect my life. If I had a social event coming up, I hoped and prayed my skin wouldnt be too bad. Some events I skipped and missed out on, out of shame of how my faced look or from a breakout. I even remember a girl((who is now my wonderful girlfriend) I had met, she come home from college to go out on a date with me, and I cancelled and made up some excuse about being sick. In reality it was because I was ashamed about a bad breakout. Years later when I told her the real reason, she laughed and told me that was ridiculous, and wouldnt have cared one bit how I looked, because she liked who I was as a person, and enjoyed her time with me as a person. The people who are truly worth it in your life(your family, your friends, significant other) wont care if you have acne or not. They care about you as a person, the good times you spent together , the laughs shared, etc. At the end of our lives, when people look back at fond memories, do you really think people are gonna remember that you had acne during that wonderful memory, or are they gonna remember the amazing time and that amazing moment spent together? I wish I fully grasped this during all the moments and times I skipped out on because I was worried about how others would perceive me based on my skin. We are all are own biggest critics so of course if we dont look perfect we will notice, but most of the time people dont even notice if your skin isnt perfect.
Anyways, likemany of you, I tried all sorts of different prescriptions and treatments, diets, etc with only mild success(and a ton of anger, despair, and frustration). I remember during a particularly bad breakout in college, just looking in the mirror and wondering if this hell on earth would ever end, or if I was destined to battle this forever. I even got to the point where I said, enough is enough and came very close to taking accutane(as I believed I was out of options, and despite the dangers associated with it, I didnt care as all I wanted was clear skin). I was prescribed the drug, but backed out at the very last moment.
All I know was that day, sitting in my college dorm, broken, the worst my acne had ever been, I just had this gut feeling not to go through with the accutane. So i ended up cancelling the prescription the day before I was to begin treatment. I always wonder, if I decided to go through with it, how would my life be different today? Maybe it would have provided the relief I so desperately wanted and needed 6 years earlier than when the relief actually came, but maybe that would have come at the expense of destroying another part of my body, or creating another problem that could hinder me the rest of my life(while Im sure a lot of people have had success with accutane and minimal side effects, we have all heard the horror stories that others have experienced with accutane, with some side effects or other issues much worse than acne lasting for months and years later).
So i struggled with acne, and confidence, all throughout college, and after the 4 years, graduated college and got a job, but continued to suffer acne, consistently. Dealing with acne college was one thing and was horrible, but dealing with it in a professional workplace was another battle all together. More determined then ever to find something, I went through various treatments, this time breaking out the bank and spending thousands on treatments like professional chemical peels , laser treatment, supplements, etc(they definitely helped a bit, but the damn acne was so persistent and was still at a point where it affected my life). Ironically, what probably helped the most though during the treatment, was the laser Medspa place recommended I use a tinted sunscreen if I was to be out in the sun(for protection while I healed from the chemical peels ). Since it was tinted , it actually improved the tone of my skin and covered up some older scars and acne. It was only helping the symptom and not the problem, but it helped my confidence nonetheless as it made my skin appear clearer. It was Tizo tinted sunscreen with zinc if I remember correctly, and I used it for years later and still will use it today if I need to, to cover up(dont need to use it nearly as often as before). Now Im sure there are better options out there as far as tinted products to help cover up acne or scars, but this was the first thing I came across that genuinely made me look and feel better so Ive stuck with it.
Eventually, in my research/seemingly never ending quest to find something that could help me, I came across a few valuable tools and books/guides/forums that would eventually lead to success in helping me find a routine that cleared my skin. Devin Moores Clear Skin Forever , Seppo Pussa(Acne Einstein) Clear For Life, and super natural acne treatment website(a ton of valuable articles and research here). I also came across a PDF called SkinDeep that really helped me deal with the mental/psychological components of battling acne.
After some trial and error based on what I researched and absorbed from the above sources , I finally found something that worked for me, consistently. I think the breakthrough finally came as a result of months of eating a relatively skin friendly diet high in antioxidants(see the resources above for how important this is in fighting acne), using a daily low strength peel(Lactic Acid 10% + HA daily( from Deciem/The Ordinary-its cheap too!), and supplementing daily with Health Force Superfoods Antioxidant Extreme (if you try this make sure you find the most up to date version). I also only wash my face once a day, at night, with Garnier Skin Active Salicyclyic Acid Treatment Blackhead Eliminating Scrub With Charcoal, using lukewarm/cold water only. In addition to the above, what also might have contributed, although I have no way of knowing for sure, is perhaps my sebaceous glands stopped producing as much oil as possible as I have gotten older(the overproduction of oil from sebaceous glands being one of the main kickstarters/catalysts for acne). Having said that, this was a slow and steady improvement, and certainly not a miracle cure.
My Diet consists of mostly Chicken(baked in oven), almonds and macadamias, organic brown basmati rice, Salad with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil(dark green mix , sometimes carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers mixed in, salad twice a day), overnight oats(old fashioned rolled outs ), chips that are cooked in olive oil(only ingredients are potatoes and olive oil) , wallaby full fat Greek yogurt(grass fed), kalamata olives, grass fed cheese, black beans(I buy them in a can but they are already pre soaked, which is important according to the resources mentioned above ), sourdough or whole grain bread, 3 -4 servings of fruit(blueberries, clementines, apple, fruit bowl with kiwi, strawberries, raspberries, pineapple, etc) . On any given day or the weekends, I might treat myself to something not considered skin friendly (pizza, wings, burgers, soft pretzels; takeout, you name it, depending on mood). Thankfully I am able to do so without any adverse affects, which is wonderful because its a break from the monotony of eating clean, but Id say 70-80% of what I eat in given week is considered skin friendly, with the rest being the classic cheat meals or snacks. I think thats a good approach because its impossible to eat skin friendly 100% of the time, and we all need those cheat days or meals.
As my skin cleared, I stopped taking the antioxidant to see if I could remain clear, and I have, thankfully. I still keep a bottle handy to take on an as-needed basis(didnt get a lot of sleep, stressful day, ate complete junk and didnt get to eat my antioxidant rich foods that day, etc) to mitigate any harmful actions I may have take that day. Its incredible to see that this moderately consistent acne, this black cloud over my shoulder for my entire adult life so far, slowly but surely fade away. Thats not to say I dont occasionally get a pimple or il never get a pimple again, but its to the point now where I dont have to worry about it anymore.
Think of your treatment as stepping stones, rather than one large leap across a void(no miracle cures and progress is slow but steady, not all at once). Even the treaatments that either failed or led to only mild success, helped out in the sense that it lead me to the next stepping stone and I eventually found something that worked
What worked for me doesnt necessarilymeans it will work for you, but the whole point of this post is to try and provide some resources that can be helpful in your struggle, provide encouragement to keep trying, and hopefully eventually lead to clear skin or a massive improvement.
Just remember the world needs your gift. Dont let this shit stop you from doing what you love, what your naturally good at, etc just because of acne. Coming from someone who thought would battle this forever, there is light at the end of the tunnel and you will get better. Your time is coming.
If you made it this far, I hope that some of these resources and treatments that worked for me, go on and help you. If you take the time to check out the websites/books and the research provided, I believe you can custom tailor a plan that will work for you and greatly improve and/or completely clear your skin. I hope you have your breakthrough like I had mine, despite never thinking one was coming. Please keep fighting, keep researching, and theres bound to be something out there that improves your skin. Il end with this quote. Thank you and may God bless you on your journey to clear skin.
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.
-Jacob A. Riis