Growing Up With Acne Problems

Turning thirteen was suppose to be the start of something new and exciting in my life, I just couldn't wait till that BIG day when I was "grown up", at least...that's how I felt. Having "acne problems" was never even a thought in my mind back then and I certainly never dreamed that it would cause me so much emotional stress during adolescence.

I was the "pizza face" or "pot holes" as they called me in school and I just couldn't understand why this had to happen to me, it left me feeling insecure and my self esteem was down to an all time low. I found many excuses on why I never wanted to leave the house.

During that time in my life my appearance meant everything to me. My friends were pretty cool and couldn't of cared less if I had acne or not, everyone else however made my life miserable. Having a girlfriend seemed almost impossible. Mostly because I rarely left the house anymore, but inside I knew that no girl would ever go out with a guy that had severe acne as I did.

My parents did what they could to help by buying me cleansers and exfoliants, but these only aggravated the problem and my acne seemed to worsen whenever I tried using them. I would apply the cleanser and my face would turn red in 20 minutes and begin to itch like crazy, about an hour later my face would feel like a dried out prune not to mention the peeling skin and irritation.

By the time I turned 14 my parents did take me to a dermatologist. I was so excited and had such high hopes that I was going to be cured of acne that I didn't even think that it would not work out that way. Boy was I wrong! I received a prescription medication for my acne problem and was told to apply it to my face 2 times a day. The doctor said it was the most effective acne treatment to date, needless to say I was grinning from ear to ear and couldn't wait to get home and start using the acne medication.

The first couple of days were great, it really looked as though my acne was getting better, but soon it all came to an end, because not only did it not continue to work but it seemed as if my skin problems had gotten twice as bad. I was devastated. I thought if the doctor wasn't able to find a cure for my acne problem then no one would.

A few months later, a friend of my mother came to visit us from out of town, she was a nutritionist. I think she sensed how I was feeling about myself due to my acne problems and really wanted to help. She explained to me about learning how to eat right such as avoiding greasy foods, eating lots of fruits and vegetables and drinking lots of water. She said if I did that on a regular basis that my acne would clear up or at the very least be less noticeable. At this point I thought, anything was worth a try.

It was a struggle I must say trying to stick to the diet, but I did. I eliminated all greasy foods and did the water, fruits and vegetables thing for about 2 months. I really didn't feel as this was working until after the first month. By this time I noticed that my acne was starting to improve, and by the second month one probably couldn't tell that I even had any sort of acne problem. I don't know if this solution would work for everyone. Probably some may need a combination of both the diet, medications and cleansers. If however acne is causing you turmoil as it did me, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain to try it out.