The ugly "A" word...

Acne.  Yep, I said it and I have a problem with it.  As in I hate it, and as in I have it.
Blah.  Overweight and acne?  Aren't you jealous?
I was one of those people in high school that never had to deal with that and never got all my friends struggle with it.  I didn't have to wash my face, I could wear whatever make up my heart fancied...and then I hit my 20s and something...changed.

It started as a simple break-out every now and then, nothing really more than occasionally bothersome.  Then it started to be small bumps on my forehead.  Finally, it got the the point that I wore a band-aid to work on my face {gasp}.  In my defense it was an inservice day with no kids.  After hearing multiple co-workers tease me, asking me things like, "Did you cut yourself shaving?"  (Are you kidding me?  Who thinks that is a good idea to say to someone who is clearly dealing with something bad enough to wear a Disney princess on their FACE?!)  I was talking to a co-worker and went ahead and addressed the elephant in the room telling her I was dealing with 2 really bad pimples in the same area and was trying to treat them with antibiotic cream (don't do that, evidently it makes it worse).  She said her daughter had the same issue and went and saw a dermatologist.

Me go to a dermatologist?  No....well, maybe it wouldn't hurt.

I felt like to going to  a dermatologist was admitting that I had acne...which hello, I did, but hadn't fully accepted the extent it was taking on my self-confidence.

Anyways, I made an appointment and the doctor addressed how bad I was for my own skin.  Here is what I learned:

• Your skin type is not determined by your face, but by all of your skin.  I always considered myself to have greasy skin because I got the T-zone grease, while the rest of my skin was dry...meaning I had dry skin and was treating it totally wrong.
• The stuff you see on TV, i.e. Proactive (which yes I tried and it made my skin worse...awful) is really bad for your skin. Your skin becomes dependent on it and if you try to go off of it your skin becomes worse. It also increases your chances of scarring tremendously.
• The best brands for you skin are Neutrogena, Dove, and Cetaphil.  My dermatologist even said to not get the kind made for acne, but instead go for the sensitive skin option.
• Don't use antibacticial creams on your face. They only address the surface and acne develops deep down.  Using the cream doesn't let the acne dry out, it actually lets the bacteria deep down multiply...eww.
• If you have acne, go to the doctor.  I dealt with it for a year or more.  More than a year of being embarrassed and self-conscious.  I went to the doctor and got what I needed. 
• P.S. My doctor said (while doing a scan for cancerous moles, etc.) that  I had pretty breast because the sun had never touched them....ummm, really?  You say that to clients?  Awkward. Moving on.

Yes, I went to work like that. 

The doctor prescribed two things for me:  Aczone and a very mild antibiotic (in pill form) and it has tremendously changed my face. 

So, if you have dealt with it know you aren't alone, but I highly recommend addressing it and going to the doctor. I promise it will help.