My Acne Skin Treatment Story

Acne is completely horrible- it looks horrible and it makes you feel horrible. For those people lucky enough never to have suffered from it, they don’t have a clue how depressing it can be to that painfully self-conscious, I remember wondering if people were looking at me or at my spots.

It started for me at about 14 years old when the blackheads appeared around my nose. Pretty soon after that the spots started appearing on my face, jawline and chest- it was hideous! Being a teenager is bad enough without having to deal with this kind of thing!

But deal with it I did and got through school and university and then started my career in my early twenties. By then I had some cash to throw at the problem and I tried all sorts of solutions, pills, creams, lotions and treatments, all with varying success levels.

Now, a few years later I believe I have the ultimate solution which has given me near-perfect, healthy skin. I sometimes get a stray spot thanks to PMT but the days of multiple, continual and never-ending crops are all in the past. The days of hiding myself are gone.
And so what’s this solution? The magic cure-all? Well actually I don´t believe that such a magic cure exists. We are all different and live different lives and this means that the precise solution for everyone is something very specific.
While it’s true that we’re all human and that skin behaves more or less the same way across the species, I have found that it’s that “more or less” bit that causes acne in the first place! Two people, even from the same family can have wildly differing reactions to the same substances. Some are allergic to pollen, other to dust. If you need proof just take a look at the long list of adverse reactions noted in any medication- there are dozens of different problems that over time have been noted in different people. That’s because we are all different.

Therefore with acne the right solution for you is going to be a personal and specific thing. Of course there are a few basic areas that need to be addressed first, that’s what this article is all about. And I don’t assume that I have thought of all the solutions which is why I have a Q&A section which is regularly updated with new material- you never know, part of the answer for you might be there! But first of all get the basics.

I’ll share my insights with you in the rest of this article.

All-Round Good Health

Your skin is the biggest organ on your body and for many it acts like an early warning system. If you have spots then it’s a sign that some part of you is out of balance, that the way you are taking care of your body is not quite right and so your skin is complaining. Here are the adjustments that I have found to be the most effective.

Drink more water

Human bodies need water for all sorts of functions, and if you’re not getting enough then you’re going to have problems, it’s as basic as that. Drink water- that means bottles mineral water or filtered tap water, or just tap water! And just to clarify- this does not include fizzy or sugary drinks. I know water can get a bit boring, especially if you’re not used to it so drink herbal teas- either hot in a cup or cold as an iced tea- makes a great cooler in the summer.

Cut caffeine

OK, for me this is a tough one. Caffeine is really like a drug for me, when I have a lot of writing to do I can always rely on a cup of Earl Grey or real coffee to keep my brain buzzing and my fingers tapping at the keyboard. But addict that I am I go back for more the next day, even if I’m not writing that day, and so on. So when I feel a spot coming then I cut it all out, go cold turkey for a few weeks and drink only herbal teas. These days I drink black tea and coffee less and less and I feel a lot better for it. In many areas of life, if you are are addicted to something then you should give it up, it will make you stronger. If you “need” a cup of something to “get your going” in the morning then it’s a sign that you need to cut it out of your life, at least for a while to give your body a break. Caffeine, like other stimulants is a toxin that the body has to dispose of. Some people have more efficient systems than others- if yours is over-worked and showing its distress through your skin then give it a rest. No one is saying you have to give it up forever but if your skin improves then wouldn’t it be worth it? Knowledge is power and at least then you’ll know, besides Red Bush tea is a fantastic replacement (my sister dropped by last week and left me some- I’m a new convert!)

Alcohol

Now this used to be my drug of choice but these days I’m such a “lightweight” in the drinking department that I just don’t drink like I used to, I don’t enjoy it, or the after-effects. If you’re a consistent drinker or a consistent binge drinker then again, give it a rest. In my mid-twenties there were some weekends when I just felt so toxic that I went out and just drank water. It was kind of interesting actually, seeing the usual night out with friends through sober eyes. I didn’t make a huge habit of it, but every so often I would just float along with everyone else and have a good time and be kind to friends whose conversations slowly got less coherent. The liver is the main organ involved with clearing out alcohol form your body. If yours is overworked and in need of a rest then be kind to it and give it a rest. If this means giving up boozing for a while then just do it- your body will thank you, and you’ll save money too!

The Sweet Truth

The biggest diet-related culprit is sugar. In the bad old days I would eat half a tub of ice cream and then, like clockwork the breakout would be on its way. Not only did I feel sick after eating it, get bloated and inevitable put on a little more weight, but the spots would catch up with me and hang around long after the ice cream tub had been recycled. Once I figured that particular little trigger then it was good bye Belgian chocolate Haagen Dazs and cheerio spotty sugar breakouts. If you’re addicted to sugar, and I’m also including all those simple carbohydrates like white flour and white pasta, then cut it out. Just try it for even a couple of weeks and see if you can see any improvement. I’m convinced that the majority of people will see a bif improvement in their skin.

Diet Triggers

So in terms of diet these are my biggest triggers:

  • dairy
  • sugar
  • alcohol
  • caffeine

Doctors, Books and Internet Health Gurus

Like any sane person I went to the doctors to see if there was anything to be done about my skin. Insanely, they prescribed me creams that burned holes in my face. One time I woke up with a huge red rash exactly where I had put the cream on the night before. Trust me, it was not a good look.

The only other they wanted to give me was dangerous-sounding pills that could potentially damage vital organs. I forget now if it was kidneys or liver, but whatever it was I said non merci and decided to investigate this skin thing myself.

So I spent a load of time with various health guru books and got really into supplements for a while. Some of the advice I garnered from so-called health gurus pointed to a number of trendy ailments such as food allergies and candida, but after running around in circles for a while I realised a couple of simple truths:

For great skin you need great health

For great health there are no short cuts, magic supplements or potions- just eat a plant-based whole foods diet.

There’s a bunch of help out there in internet land for how to dump the junk from your diet. If you are reading this because you have tried just about everything then be open-minded enough to make these changes to you diet. Do it for a month or 6 weeks- you have nothing to lose except some excess weight, and everything to gain.

For me, when I dumped the dairy and meat it was like a miracle for my skin. I now know that for me, the best way to get spots, blackheads and congested, oily skin is to drink cow’s milk and eat cheese and butter. So guess what- I don’t do that any more! Hmm now let me think, a cheese sandwich or flawless skin?

Exercise

So we’ve looked at what goes into your body, but now what about how you use your body. When I was having the worst time of it with my skin I found that regular exercise- just going to the gym twice or three times a week helped loads. So why not make a commitment to do more exercise and reap the rewards- one of them might just be that your skin starts clearing up.

Home Treatments

Something that used to help was taking a bath in the evening. It’s relaxing, soothing and makes you feel clean, it also helps get you to sleep as your body cools down afterwards. This brings me to my next “home treatment”, namely sleep.

Get Enough Sleep

The health gurus tell me that the body does most of its repair and detox work when you’re sleeping. While I can’t verify that assertion, I will say that sleep seems to be a critical factor for me. If you have been burning the candle at both ends then make sleep a priority-make sure you’re getting enough hours of sleep and that you have a routine you stick to.

Stop Touching It

I had a friend who worked as a beauty consultant and she was suffering from bad acne breakouts. She realised that she was constantly touching the affected areas and that this obviously wasn’t helping so to force her hands to stop she would put on oven gloves when she wasn’t with a client, and that way she managed to kick the habit! Perhaps your daily situation won’t allow such a drastic intervention, but just be mindful of what your hands are doing. Don’t touch the skin when it’s trying to heal. Don’t exacerbate and pick at your skin, it will only make it worse.

Shower regularly

Like once a day. Change your towel regularly too. If you use face cloths then don’t keep using the same ones over and over. I have a stack of about 15 that I use to wash my face and I use about one a day. Facecloths are great for exfoliating- they’re not too harsh. Remember- never scrub your skin.

Skin Products

Now we get to the really complicated bit- which products to use on your face? I shudder to think at the amount of products that I have used over the years! But it’s good news for you because I’m now going to give a run-down of the ones that turned it around for me, in the next section which I will be adding very shortly.

The way I see it, to get rid of acne you need to attack the disease from both directions i.e. by healing your skin from the inside by eating a nutrient-packed diet full of fresh fruit and veggies, but also from the outside by halting the spread of acne and healing the skin with products you apply. Most people concentrate on the outside parts only and imho this would be a mistake as it’s actually the first part that is the most important and is what will set you free from acne permanently.

Betadine

Many of the products out there work by killing germs. I can highly recommend a product thta I used when things were at their worst for me and it’s something that every hospital worker ought to be very famiiar with: Betadine. Betadine is an iodine-based skin disenfectant. Surgeons use it on the skin of patients to clean before operations because it is an extremely effective germ killer. Within the Betadine family of products is a skin cleanser and this is what I used for several years and was simply the best anti-acne product I have found.

You will probably have to order it in specially at your pharmacy, but it’s worth the hassle. Plus it’s MUCH cheaper than many of the other fancy label skin washes with impressive marketing claims. The other great thing is that it doesn’t dry your skin out- some other products leave your skin feeling “stripped” well Betadine skin wash doesnt do that, at least it didnt with me- track some down and give it a try.

One word of warning- don’t let it come into contact with metal as it causes tarnishing!

Dermalogica

Gentle Cream Exfoliator is a product that chemically sloughs off dead cells. It’s extremely gently though- not like any other “chemical peel” you may have heard of. I follow up with Multivitamin Masque- this is a lovely soothing masque that sinks in and restores suppleness to dehyrated skin.

to be continued…

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