In The Clear (My Experience of Acne)

Member Name: Roxie_228

Product:	My Experience of Acne
Date:	22/12/02 (1265 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None what so ever

Disadvantages: Disappointment at false cures, Embarrassment , Loss of confidence

Acne, depressing and embarrassing yes, but try being a teenager at the same time! DISASTER. I am writing this op with my good friend Sarah:

We are both 14 and suffering from acne, admittedly it is not as bad as it could be, but it is bad enough to bring us down and lower our confidence (which could be a good thing because we were already over-confident anyway). There is a huge range in acne conditions, it can go from the odd spot and soon spiral into the full effect, this is where the piss-take hits. 'Pizza Face' 'Strawberry Fields' 'Spotty Cadotty' we've had them all.

If you know or have seen anybody with acne, please please do not ever say 'i cant really see it' or 'it doesnt look that bad' we do own mirrors and they do tell the truth, even if you dont!

Between us we have taken medications such as : Differin, Skinoren, Erythromycin, Dalacyn T, Benzamyacin Gel, and fnally we are concentrating on Oxytetracycline. Which we are finding the most frustrating of all medications, ok so some of the other ones had side effects but atleast that proved something was going on. But after approx 2 months of our new medication neither one of us has had an effect on our skin condition.

I'd like to take the opportunity to say that no facial wash / cream / scrub will help acne.
Spots maybe but in that case you do not have acne, when you get to the position when these products do not help you know you have acne.

As we have heard the best treatment for acne is

- As much sleep as possible
- The recommended 5 Fruit Veg Daily
- As much water as possible

but being teenagers, and generally lazy we cannot keep up the bare minimals of a healthy life and diet!

I read in many magazines that a bit of toothpaste on a zit helps, apparently the fluoride drys up the excess moisture and (excuse the graphicness here) the spot falls off (eugh). However i urge you not to
try this!! I did once and woke up to a red rash on my face which did not leave for a number of days.

A male friend of mine recommended saunas, he says that you can sweat the bacteria out of your pores, however we have also found this hard to keep up as a weekly routine.

If any of you know any home remedies (such as the toothpaste!!!) that actually could work faster than a prescribed drug please please tell us because we are past desperation! Until a cure for our acne is found we are clinging to the possibility that acne will leave with youth, and we shall be in the clear by the time we reach the end of our teenage years!

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