Friday, 1 May 2015

My battle with acne


My battle with acne.

 
I think I was 11 or twelve when I had my first experience with acne. At the time I didn’t really care. I was quite boyish to be honest. I didn’t care about my looks or the way I dressed and I was definitely not using any make up. It wasn’t until I started high school (where I live you start high school at 12) that I started to care about the way I looked. Slowly I started to chance. I had my first make up experience (mostly mascara only) and I started to change the way I dressed. For the first time I started wearing dresses and I became sort of girly in a way. Also when puberty hit I started to be ashamed of my acne. But at that age I wasn’t the only one with that problem. It wasn’t like the worst it can be but it was bad enough to make me feel very insecure about myself.

So the first thing I did was to buy some face wash since I didn’t use that before. And some anti-spot things. I hoped that it would go away with this or at least become less visible. But no, all the spots were as red as ever, if not worse. I tried a lot of different brands and nothing seemed to work. Every time it seemed to become a bit less. It always came back.

When I was 16 I think it was, I was done with trying everything myself so I decided to see a doctor/ my doctor gave me birth control and told me to see if it would work. So I started taking that and went back after a month. Nothing had changed, it was still the same. So the doctor gave me some other pills that could help. And those pills worked for me. I took them for almost a year and after that I was allowed to  stop. But not long after my acne can back, not as severe as it was before but still. So I went to the doctor again and got the same pills as before. I used them again for 6 months this time. While I was on this treatment I went abroad for a year to study there and I ran out of pills. For about two months I stayed clear of acne but again it came back.

When I returned home from my year abroad I didn’t go to the doctor because I didn’t want to do the same treatment as before. So I searched the internet for tips. I found some useful ones and some not so useful ones. First I bought some pills that were supposed to help at a local pharmacy. That did help a bit but not as much as I would have liked it to. Then I changed my cleaning products to a new brand that I had not used before and I bought a whole package. And surprisingly it worked in a way that I liked. It wasn’t harsh on my skin but it made my skin  look less red.

Before when I was still very insecure about my skin I wore a lot of make-up but now  since it has become a lot less red I don’t have to wear as much make-up as before. So now I’m 19 years old and I am confident about my skin. My skin isn’t a 100% clear yet but it’s getting better each day and I’m getting more confident each day.

So here are my tips for you:

1.       Wash your face twice a day (there was so much improvement when I started to do this.)

2.       Do not use soap but instead use products made for washing your face like facewash.

3.       Use a mask once a week (look at what a mask can do for your skin and choose one that matches)

4.       Try to have at least 1 day a weekl in which you don’t wear make up to let your skin rest.

5.       Try our different brands to see which one works the best for you.

6.        Do not use a towel on your face but use a tissue instead.

7.       Try to not touch your pimples ( I know how difficult it can be, but reward yourself when you don’t)

8.       Try to sleep at least 8 hours a night (it will help)

9.       And try to drink at least 1 liter of water each day, it will be like a miracle

10.   If all of this doesn’t work for you try to see a doctor and ask for help.

 

I hope this will help the people who are dealing with this problem. I can tell you it isn’t the end if you’re dealing with it and once you win the battle it will be worth it all.  But please do not think that you are ugly when you have acne cause you are not. You are beautiful!

 

See you next time

 

Leonie

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