Health & Beauty

...by providing information to practitioners, health authorities and schools
* to raise money for research into the causes and treatment of acne and to encourage government funding into the study of acne treatment.

Their website can be viewed at http://www.m2w3.com/acne/.

At the risk of sounding incredibly corny, they were a light in the darkness for me. The fact that there were people who cared enough to write ... more

Firstly, I would like to thank Ciao because it has given me a forum to reach many people and an opportunity to do something I wanted to do for a long time, that is to let people know that today, there are alternatives to acne.

Today when I see people with bad skin conditions, my heart goes out to them because of my own experience. I have this overwhelming urge to walk up to complete strangers and hug them, tell them about my experiences and drag them off to their doctor. Difficult as it is, I have to surpress the urge, as my acknowledgement of their condition would probably devastate them. However, this is for them - give yourself a hug from me.

As a teenager I suffered badly from spots, I don’t recall my friends having the same problems as me, which kind of made things worse as I felt like an outsider. I didn’t feel I could talk to them about it – they wouldn’t have understood.

I had spots on both my face and on my back. As many sufferers I am sure will tell you, I felt unclean. I tried many products Clearasil, Oxy, Boots own brand acne products. For many years I had a drawer full of soaps, creams and lotions, pads that contained lotions, TCP, tea tree oil and other antiseptics. Some times I would use toothpaste because I heard that that would dry my spots out, sometimes, I would use all the products at the same time! I was desperate and I had no confidence. Acne is a severely debilitating condition.

One day after someone had commented on the condition of my skin I put neat Savlon antiseptic all over my face, which burnt my face and literally made it feel like it was on fire. For some weeks afterwards I suffered from red, dry flaky skin

The condition of my skin did improve considerably after this for a number of years. Rather than a face full of spots, I would get the odd bad spot but generally, I guess you would say that I had average skin for a time.

Then, almost overnight the condition of my skin changed. I had always considered that I had combination skin, that was very greasy in places but suddenly I was faced with excessively dry skin. My makeup looked dreadful. Imagine what it is like to apply make up to your nose when you have had a cold and it is dry and raw, then imagine what it would be like to apply it to your whole face if it was in that condition.

Then the spots returned, bigger and redder and more vehement than ever before. At the time I used to joke that they had a personal vendetta against me and that you could do join the dots on my face but it was no laughing matter. I was devastated, spots were for teenagers and here I was in my mid twenties. I started to wash my face several times a day and cried every time I looked in the mirror. People do not get spots because there skin is dirty and constant washing of the skin makes no difference, I personally believe that my own skin condition, especially in later years, has been triggered by stress.

I went to see my doctor, previously I had never been because I thought it was a teenage thing, that I would grow out of it and I had always believed that as you could buy products over the counter at a chemist they would think I was wasting their time. I would like to dispel that idea here and now. If you have spots and you can relate to anything I have written so far – go and see your doctor. There are many alternatives to over the counter remedies.

My doctor put me on antibiotics, unfortunately, I think it was too little too late and they didn’t touch the problem. I was referred to a dermatologist and given a contraceptive called Dianette, which helped more than the antibiotics. Later I was put on a course of treatment called Roacutane. It was after taking this drug that a real improvement took place.

In 75% of people who take the drug it clears the problem and the spots never return. However, there are considerable possible side effects to this drug and if it is prescribed to you, your dermatologist will monitor you over the whole time you are taking it. I don’t believe I suffered any of the side effects.

Roactutane is an expensive drug and at the time cost around £400 for the course. I was fortunate enough at the time to have private medical insurance to cover this, however don’t despair if you haven’t. My dermatologist told me at the time, that had I not have had private medical insurance, or had they refused to pay, because they considered it to be cosmetic, she would have had no hesitation in recommending it was that it was prescribed on the NHS.

Gradually, over a period of months my skin cleared up. For some time I had considerable deep scarring but with the help of a cream called Isotrexin, which I still use today, they also went.

I still get spots but they are thankfully, few and far between. Today I feel incredibly lucky I can’t believe the face I see today is the same one. However, I feel that I cannot be complacent. I worry they will return and I think that will be with me forever. Now, I use the simplest products available. Those that are unperfumed and dermatologically tested, soap and water. I do not use cleansers and toners and I drink a lot of water. Finally, I would like to mention the work of the Acne Support Group. Their aims are to:

• provide support and advice for acne sufferers and relatives of sufferers
• to increase public awareness of the problems of acne
• to promote better treatment for acne, by encouraging people to go to their doctors and by providing information to practitioners, health authorities and schools
• to raise money for research into the causes and treatment of acne and to encourage government funding into the study of acne treatment.

Their website can be viewed at http://www.m2w3.com/acne/. At the risk of sounding incredibly corny, they were a light in the darkness for me. The fact that there were people who cared enough to write and produce their magazine and to be able to read the stories of others in the same position as me, was a godsend. I hope this opinion will similarly effect peoples lives.

 

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