Acne: My Beginning

Once upon a time, I suffered from chronic, above-average acne.

I was full of questions about my condition. Looking at others around me I’d often wonder what was so different about me and people with great or better-looking-than-mine skin? What was wrong with me and my skin, and why was it misbehaving so? And why in the world was I an adult and still suffering from breakouts?

Of course, everyone had suggestions for a solution. I had people suggest I try this regimen or that tip. Some even suggested I see a dermatologist, but even though I was miserable with my unhealthy skin, I didn’t think going to see a dermatologist was the answer to my problem. I didn’t know much about acne and its root cause at the time, but I knew an expensive trip to a dermatologist’s office would only be a short-term fix to a much bigger problem. I’d read in a book once that the reason people experienced breakouts was due to underlying problems or imbalances inside our bodies, and I believed that. A dermatologist would only focus on my face and the actual acne, and even though I wanted and needed relief for my topical skin, that solution alone wasn’t the way the I wanted to be helped.

There just had to be a reason my skin would not clear up no matter what I did. There had to be!

The most irritating thing about me having such bad skin was the fact that I was pretty much known as “the girl that eats healthy.”

A couple of years back, I’d discovered a few health books on natural healing and cures. The books taught that the lifestyles most of us were living were the reason we were getting sick. Some of the things the books taught me were how certain ingredients weren’t good for the body, why it was best to eat whole foods, and why it’s more profitable to big pharmaceutical companies for us to remain sick. These books really stressed the importance of detoxing for health, minimizing stress, addressing nutritional deficiencies, and even minimizing our exposure to electromagnetic frequencies, such as cellphones and computers. Utterly enlightened, I became that girl who used the stove over microwaves, because microwaves damage the quality of food, rendering it not only useless but dangerous. I ate bananas dipped in flax seeds as snacks at work, causing co-workers to look at me quizzically. I carried my large (plastic) jug of water with lemons with me everywhere. Almost everyone who knew me knew I had a passion for health.

Yet, my skin didn’t reflect that at all.

I couldn’t bear to look at myself in the mirror most of the time, even during times such as this one when I was washing my hands at the sink. The infrequent times I’d permit myself a glance in the mirror, I’d feel so unattractive I’d immediately look away before the despair fully set in. One glance at myself in a mirror–and God forbid it was a mirror in a fluorescent, brightly-lit room, made me angry, frustrated, disgusted, and disheartened. People tried to help. They offered “helpful” suggestions, but the more unsolicited advice I received about my skin, the worse I felt about it. People would tell me I was beautiful, and acne didn’t mean anything, nor took away from my looks, but that meant little to nothing to me.

Wanting clear skin absolutely matters! It does. And it’s OK to think, feel, and say so. It matters because having acne affects how you feel about yourself. It just does. And only those with acne can fully understand that. Self-image is everything, and your self-esteem can’t help but take a hit when your face is taken over by painful sores and unsightly spots. It was easy for people who didn’t have that problem to say things like, “oh, we don’t even notice your skin.” Well, I do, and that’s what matters. I knew they meant well, but they couldn’t possibly understand how I felt if they never struggled, or weren’t currently struggling with the same issue. And the most frustrating factor of them all: I just couldn’t understand why I still had a face full of pimples and the dark spots acne left behind when I was so very health-conscious. I nearly always watched what I ate. And I exercised–I was no couch potato. I was doing everything right, and yet I couldn’t help but feel I wasn’t properly representing what healthy was supposed to look like.

One day, things reached a turning point for me. After using the bathroom at home, I was washing my hands at the sink when I decided to be brave. I was determined to look at my reflection for at least 30 seconds. So, for the first time in probably over a month, I took in my reflection for more than 5 seconds.

And after 5 seconds, I just cried.

I forced myself to look at me–really see what I looked like, acne and all. I took in my cheeks, red and splotchy, with wide-open pores housing tiny, dark, pore-cloggers known as blackheads. I looked over my forehead, which still had some dark spots leftover from clusters of other pimples’ unwelcome visits. There were newly sprouted painful bumps that were settled comfortably and proudly here and there across the sides of my face. And my chin had several pimples that were filled with pus.

Gross, I know. But that was my reality.

I just stood there, taking it all in. When I saw how much help I needed in that bathroom mirror, my first impulse was to just bawl my eyes out. So I did. But once I was done crying, something inside me snapped. I dried my face, left the bathroom, and headed straight for my computer, and began Googling “natural cures for acne.”

Jesus was really with me that day. After seeing the usual remedies (mostly topical) to help get rid of acne, I came across a listing not long into my search. It was a site, claiming that it would be the last solution for my acne, and this was guaranteed to be a cure. Even though a lot of scams claimed the same thing, I was so desperate, I decided to check it out anyway. What happened next changed my life.

Do you know the feeling of having your prayer answered? A job–any job you may desperately have been seeking finally being offered to you after months or even years of famine or financial strain? Or maybe meeting the love of your life after you’d all but given up hope in people? It’s a feeling so strong, it can’t be denied no matter what anyone says. You know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the blessing was meant for you.

This is exactly how I felt like while reading the landing page I was taken to. The landing page alone taught me tons upon tons of information about acne. Whoever created that page seemed to know my life! This person seemed to have a great understanding of what acne was, what aggravated it, how to get to the root of it, and most importantly, understand exactly where I was coming from, having been an acne sufferer himself (I correctly assumed it was a guy who wrote the information). It didn’t take long at all before I was sold. And after I finally saved up enough money to invest in the program, I did exactly that.

This program took my meager knowledge of natural healing to an entirely different level. I was completely blown away by all the information in the program! The program taught me the reason I was breaking out and exactly what was going on in my body as it pertained to acne. The program taught me to get to the very root cause of my acne. It discussed things such as:

• Normalizing your out-of-whack Hormones
• Optimizing your Digestion to aid in Healing
• Cleansing and Detoxing, and Taking Care of your Bowels
• Eradicating Candida and Parasites
• Building Liver Function up to Par
• Dealing With Stress

Once I purchased the program, I started doing the things it said to do to eradicate my acne. Step by step I got the supplements, began to cut out the foods that I thought were healthy, but were actually aggravating to my skin, began to detox, and followed most of all the information in the program. And it worked! After a month or so, my face began to clear up beautifully!

All that information set me firmly on the path to ridding myself of acne, and natural healing. My passion for holistic healing was always there, but at that moment, there was no turning back for me. I was completely and firmly an avid believer in natural healing.

Unfortunately, the path to healing naturally is not an easy one. After all, you’re battling a formidable opponent: Yourself. It took me a total of 10 years to completely be free of acne. Don’t let that discourage you, though. It’s not the program’s fault. The fault was entirely mine. I started out strong with the acne program. I was following the book to the letter, and my skin never looked better. I was doing everything I was supposed to do.

Until… I wasn’t. I started to become inconsistent.

Besides stress, the thing I struggled with the most was my diet. I’d learned in the program what foods I had to give up for optimal health–foods like sugar, dairy, hydrogenated oils, and refined flour foods such as pastries and bread. And who wants to do that?? Who on Earth wants to gladly and willingly give the cheesy bread, fried chicken, and chocolate cupcakes??

While implementing the program, I discovered I wasn’t quite as ready to give up my banana puddings, nor my stuffed-crusted cheesy pizzas as I thought I was. Not to put the blame on anyone else, but when no one around you is on the same path as you are, it makes it harder to stay on track. And NO ONE I knew, save for a few co-workers here and there was eating the way I was trying to.

And so began the nightmarish healthy/unhealthy merry-go-round. For years, I’d do all the things in the program, and once my face started to clear up and look nice and pretty, I’d relapse and go right back to the food and things (namely stress) that broke me out in the first place. I let this happen for years. You’d think I’d have learned my lesson, but it wasn’t until I developed another hormonal-related condition that I realized just how serious acne was–uterine fibroids. I’m not saying acne is life-threatening per se, but if not approached and addressed the right way, the hormonal imbalances of acne could reveal other potentially dangerous disorders down the line. As bad as my skin was, it wasn’t enough to get me to say, “Ok, ok! Enough!” It took other more serious issues to get me to stop playing around with it, and take control over my body and for all.

Once I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids, I began to take my health more seriously. I joined a group that helps women heal naturally from uterine fibroids, and through their program, and fasting and praying, the curse of acne had finally been lifted, beautifully and permanently.

I ate according to their delicious, plant-based, hormonal-free menu. As I mentioned before, I fasted and prayed. I began to take care of myself emotionally and spiritually, and put myself and my needs first. The funny thing is, I wasn’t even focused on healing my skin at that time. I focused solely on eradicating the uterine fibroids the doctors said were in my body. It’s kind of funny that once I stopped obsessing over my skin, everything just fell into place.

And that’s where I am today.

After over half of my life, I’m finally cured of acne once and for all. People who knew me still ask me how I did it and what did I do to get rid of acne. My face hasn’t looked like this naturally since I was a pre-teen and before. I say naturally because when I was on birth control for 2 years or so, and my skin looked great then too (however, the ramifications of birth control really took its toll on my body). When people ask me what I did to heal my skin, I tell them the truth: I tell them the things I did, but I always add that it was God who healed me from that curse, because, yes, I was eating a plant-based diet for the first time in my life, and yes, I was learning de-stress tools, but it wasn’t until I started fasting and praying that that curse finally lifted. I no longer wanted to be known as the healthy girl… with skin issues. So, thanks to consistently taking care of myself, I’m happy to report that my skin and I are no longer at odds.

You too can have a healthy relationship with your skin. And I’m here to help you get that. Me. A girl who had acne, and knows your pain and struggle. Not some guru who never suffered with the debilitating curse that is acne, said for an occasional couple of pimples.

To the acne-sufferer reading this, I want to tell you, from one ex-acne-sufferer to another, how special you are. I know it’s hard to believe sometimes. I know it is. But you, my lovely, are so strong! Do you realize how much strength you must have to be able to face everyday life with acne? I know exactly how it feels to be fully aware of your skin condition at all times, and yet still somehow manage to get on with your days the best way you can Every. Single. Day. I know exactly what it’s like to have to put on a brave face and pretend like you’re OK with yourself to others, and even yourself, but you know deep down you’re not OK with yourself and your skin looking the way it does, and you wish things could be different as you face the world. This kind of pain dealt with on a daily basis for years takes some strength. It makes you a freakin superhero, and a blessing waiting to happen to others. From the bottom of my heart, I mean that.

I know that may be hard for you to believe right now. I didn’t believe it. But it is so very true! I’ve been there. I know among other things you may be dealing with, at the top of your wish list is for the acne to go away. I know you may be having a hard time right now, but healing is already within you to overcome this! Our bodies heal themselves. We just have to do some things to help it to do its job of correcting itself. You have to believe there is hope for you! You 100% CAN tell acne to get lost. You don’t have to go through this alone. We can walk this walk together.

I know I often refer to acne as a curse–it is. HOWEVER, it can also be your blessing in disguise. Just wait until YOU gain the upper hand over your body, as it naturally should be.  Acne will have no choice but to kick rocks. And I’ll gladly show you how! I can’t wait until you see what that feels like. You’ll see how overcoming your skin issues naturally is going to set you on the path to more healing and greater blessings to come.