ACNE... I felt this image was appropriate.
I am someone who has always had break outs...some times it wasn't too awful, just a couple...but other times it was like someone threw a pizza on my face. MORTIFYING. EMBARRASSING. PARALYZING.
Those are probably the main ways I personally felt while struggling with this "Pain-in-the-ass" chronic irritation of the skin.
I never understood why I had these flare-ups, and supposedly no-one else in my close family had this problem... also in school, most of the girls always seemed to be so perfect and that just made me feel even worse... Some of the kids would even ask "oh, what's that on your face?" when they OBVIOUSLY KNEW EXACTLY WHAT IT WAS....I would have loved to tell them off and say something like "Yes you little jerk, it IS A ZIT, but guess what...It will heal and go away! However you were born like THAT! HAHH!!" Of course I NEVER said those things, usually I would get all red and sad and mumble " I don't know". Has this happened to anyone else before?? Whatever.( Eventually I came to the conclusion , that they were insecure and tried to make me/you feel bad so they could feel a little better about themselves.)
As the years went by I honestly tried everything besides Accutane or any real strong meds or treatments at dermatological centers...
I tried all the generic brands such as Clean and Clear, L'Oreal, Garnier...etc. They all did the same thing... NOTHING. They did not make anything worse, but they did not make it better either. I did use my mothers Cetaphyl brand soap bar face wash... It was okay...but also didn't do too much...
Besides external products I did sometimes do a periodic treatment with Tetracycline... that defiantly would "calm" things down, but still I would have break outs.
With all this said, I have to be honest about another thing, which I am certain we all have done or still do... spend too much time in front of the mirror, provocating irritation, picking, squeezing, putting harsh agents on the skin...etc. I don't know why we sometimes do these things, I question myself about this to this day! I think it may be a control thing. I notice this usually happens when I am bored or under motivated and/or feeling crap about my appearance. Maybe, by thinking we are in control of how "clean" our skin is or how we can try ( but then
almost ALWAYS failing ) to control and "self heal" our irritations, it gives us a momentary sense of "I AM IN CONTROL"!! Which is great...only immediately after we realize we look as red as a tomato and our skin is even more irritated then before!.... Not to mention we end up paying for it for the next few days-week(s)!!
So, with all this going on in my then close to age 20 mind, I heard a lot about Pro-Active. At this time I was going to Aesthetics school and learning a lot about skin, and initially was getting a bit smarter about how to care for it...but lets be honest...when you are that young, a 100% healthy lifestyle is usually out of the question...your glad if you hit the 70% mark.
Anyhoo... I started Pro-Active and it finally did do the job! It is a GREAT product! I kept on using it for maybe 2 months, until I started to notice my skin got so dry and irritated again..I didn't understand what the hell was going on! WHY AGAIN???? ... Basicly what happened was my skin type changed from being more of S. Sicca to Alipic... To keep the story short...If you use Pro-Active make sure you change to different "maintenance" products, or else you will push your skin type too far and will end up with overly dried , sensitive and irritated skin with ....ACNE AGAIN! (What a tangled web we weave?!)
NOW In my mid twenties I can honestly say my skin has never been better, and it is because of the following :
- Evaluating what my skin is in need of
- Understanding that Acne/Irritation does and can occur from many external AND internal symptoms...NOT from "dirt" ...as many misleading commercials say, advertising their latest products...TOTAL 1000000000% BULL SH$T!!!
- Watching my intake of ANY and ALL medication
- Eating more natural foods and preparing my OWN meals... this way I know exactly what I am consuming
- Drink water
- Read ingredient lists on products and foods... make sure the first 3-5 ingredients listed are familiar,safe and are the ones advertised.
- MOISTURE
- Exfoliate every 10 days...no sooner!
- Stay away from harsh chemicals
- Cut down on time spent in front of the mirror, thus you will not "pick" as much
These are the key points!
It's ok to go and get extractions once in a while, but I would make a point of letting the person working on you to LEAVE ANYTHING IRRITATED OR NOT "READY" ALONE!
I myself have gone to do this maybe 2 times in my entire life.
Also a great tip in general..if it is red,painful,itchy,swollen,infected... it's best just to LEAVE IT ALONE! I once had read some one writing they put peroxide on their pimples/blemishes...and did not understand why it got worse and did not dry up.... SERIOUSLY? WOW! Just be happy you still have skin!!!
I had a period where I had overly exfoliated my face, because I thought I would be getting rid of dead skin cells and my skin would breath better...bad bad BAD IDEA!! I had contact eczema all over my face for about a month before the light bulb went off in my head that possibly, THIS is the problem!...I put some eczema cream on it and by morning 60% of the irritation went away and I was laughing at myself, about why it took me so long to figure this out! Oh well, we learn from mistakes, right?
Another cause of acne can be from medication... in my family for example, we have a history of migraines ... so if I would have it for 5-6 days in a row and had to work and function as a normal human being...I took pain killers...and it helped the pain... but would show up as acne on my face. So if you are someone who takes medication often, and suffers from acne...THAT is what is causing you irritation...not necessarily your skin type.
Not just for women, for men too, hormone imbalance also causes breakouts...this probably isn't new news to anyone... usually it show up on the chin, jawline and neck area.
For men if, they use steroids this can also cause acne....(body builders!!)
And of course STRESS!!!!!!!
There are other types and causes for Acne, but I just wanted to mention the ones which are more common.
Remember, we are all insecure about something...usually that other person will not even see or notice your flaws, because they are also so worried about you noticing theirs!
So the next post will be about what products I have used and recommend!!!
Sorry if some of you are bored maybe of all this writing with no photos or fun product reviews... I just think it's SUPER important to go over the basics first!
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