I’ll continue my story about acne.

My first ones appeared when I was about 11 years old, and I went to school. There weren’t many, but I felt like everyone was looking at me and noticing my skin.

Then I did the worst thing I could have done: I started popping them myself, which in turn spread the inflammation further. Well, we’re all a bit silly sometimes, even when we’re adults, and 11 is far from being mature. Yeah, I wouldn’t do that now.

Unfortunately, my obsession with popping pimples became a habit, and I still suffer from it. Even the smallest, most inconspicuous pimple makes me want to pop it right away. You shouldn’t do that!

My most important advice to everyone! Don’t try to remove acne yourself; consult a doctor or cosmetologist. If you have to, do it right. Treat the skin with an antiseptic, put gauze or a bandage on your fingertips, and gently squeeze the pimple. Then reapply the antiseptic to the area. But I want to repeat: do this only as a last resort!

Another regret I had was that there were no adults around me at the time who would appreciate the seriousness of my primarily psychological problem and help me cope with it. Everyone kept telling me: it’s okay, it happens to everyone, it will soon go away! Ha! It still hasn’t gone away, but the current state is more noticeable to me than to anyone else, because even my friends say, “You have good skin; you look great. Everyone has skin problems sometimes.”

But it cost me years of near-despair and self-doubt. Only when I found a suitable way to combat acne did my life change and become easier. I could go out without fear, meet new people, and stop thinking of myself as ugly.

Maybe my case is unique, and others experience it more easily and quickly, but my life is my life, and for me, everything happened the way it did.

In future posts, I’ll write about my “discoveries” and life hacks. For now, I can only say: the most important things are cleansing, care, and self-confidence.

How was or are things going for you?