Dealing with my acne

Believe it or not, growing up, I didn’t have any acne. I joined the clan much later. Looking back, it was like winning the lottery, because every other friend of mine suffered deeply.

When I say suffered, I mean it. There’s something that is not only viewed ghastly in appearance but also extremely painful growing on your face. I call that suffering.

If you are told time and time again that there are cures to your problems, in the form of a serum or any other million bottles of self care, yet you aren’t benefiting from any of them, you are probably part of us in the world that suffer from bad skin.

No matter what you do to hide the fact that you have acne, people are going to know. So, let me apologise to anyone who has tried to give me more solutions in the form of a bottle or a clinic’s phone number–when I gave you that side eye I was crippling with defeat.

It’s honestly the most frustrating and hurtful experience when someone squints right at your new rosy bursting pimple, and every time, to my dismay, they go “what’s that?”

Ugh!

I just wanna scream back, “I have acne, and sometimes it catches me by surprise. It literally grew overnight. I have had no control over the situation,” but then again do any of these idiots deserve an explanation?

So,more often than not, I stop myself and ignore the person asking me questions about my face.

Let me tell you about the time I finally went to a dermatologist. When I say finally, I really mean it. It took me 4 years of struggling with acne to put myself voluntarily in a dermat’s chair.

After I was done. I got a prescription for my gut bacteria and a whole new skin care routine. It took 3 weeks for my skin to finally heal.

Luckily the acne didn’t leave too many scars and the pits were barely visible.

I also eventually understood why it took me so long to go to a doctor about this.

Firstly, everyone is so quick to give me advice and remedies that I didn’t think I needed an expert.

I mean, if it worked on their skin it should have worked on mine.

Wrong.

Everyone has different skin and everyone’s lifestyle can be unbalanced in their own ways.

I also understood that maybe I didn’t want to put myself in a situation for yet another person to critically analyse my skin.

So it took me 4 whole years to go. But, phew! My doctor really helped and I’m so happy I went.

Unfortunately that really wasn’t the end of my acne.

Recently, I had a very bad break out after the holidays. I went a little overboard on sweets, junk food and alcohol. Covid cases everywhere were also on the rise. This upset me deeply and self care became hard.

My skin got worse and I had to call my doctor again. She really helped me understand that taking care of myself was a priority if I wanted good skin. It all starts within.

And ofcourse, it isn’t easy to transform overnight into someone who has healthy patterns. Even though I would really like to keep my good habits, life is messy and things get in the way.

I am learning to stop being so critical of myself. Because even through the unwanted marks, imperfections can actually be quite beautiful.

Honestly if you see anyone with skin problems, stop and think before giving advice. They’re very aware of their skin condition. There’s absolutely no need to bring it up.

And if you deal with acne,

You are literally amazing and absolutely stunning, before, during and after the breakouts.

When I say literally, I mean it. It’s just upto you to embrace that.