Basic Background
My name is Sharyn, and I remember the very day that my "skin problems" started. It was a Sunday shortly after the birth of my youngest sister in 1996. We were on the way home from church when a comment was made about a blackhead on my nose. I was totally oblivious, and being an individual of incredibly low self-esteem, fretted as to what this thing was that clearly was not a good thing. Once home, I raced to the living room which contained the only full-length mirror in the house. I discovered what must be meant by "a blackhead" and in my dismay, spent a considerable amount of time staring at and berating myself over it's presence. I still have a small scar on my nose that is a permanent reminder of that day. My mom was rather sweet about the whole ordeal. Of course she told me not to pick at facial blemishes (I still occasionally think otherwise). She bought me a washcloth specifically for my face and took me shopping for a Neutrogena Facial Bar and a facial loofah. I felt better about myself for while, but soon started experiencing other outbreaks. Another trip to the store scored me some benzoyl peroxide cream, which to this day is too harsh for my skin. During the following weeks I couldn't help but wonder why all of this was new to me. There is an entire aisle at the store devoted to this stuff. Is this as normal as buying shampoo for your hair. I delved into some of the books I had on teenage issues, and learned that this thing called acne often stops being an issue in the 20s. I held on to the hope that someday in the distance future, all of these facial problems would simply disappear overnight...
Fast-forward to 2011. I am now 25 and have recently earned my Master of Arts Degree in Music. During college, my issues with acne got progressively worse. In addition to my face, I started getting breakouts on my back and sometimes on my upper arms. Towards the end of my bachelor studies, the breakouts started manifesting themselves in cyst-like clusters along my jaw. Unlike the normal little pimples, these were stubborn and took forever to go away. And even if they were left alone they left scars and hard spots. I dreaded getting up in the morning because I didn't want to see what my face would look like. I went through phases of rigid skincare programs, natural products, harsh products, no makeup, oil-controlling products. Nothing really helped. I often resorted to manually draining larger cysts because, oddly enough, after doing so they healed up and left very little scarring. (I kept Neosporin on these at night, the only topical product that ever seemed to help with anything). It was almost if my body didn't know what to do with the stuff inside of these cysts...and so they just sat there on my face. Campus doctors merely told me that stress can aggravate acne and that keeping the skin clean should help. Information that I already knew...and still left me without a solid solution. (I do realize that the chances of there being one solution is unlikely...I just am unable to accept there being no solution.)
Clearly, the 20s didn't magically resolve my skin problems. My hunch is that this isn't an external problem, but I am determined to get to the "root" of the issue. I hope to share some of the journey within this blog. :)
Fast-forward to 2011. I am now 25 and have recently earned my Master of Arts Degree in Music. During college, my issues with acne got progressively worse. In addition to my face, I started getting breakouts on my back and sometimes on my upper arms. Towards the end of my bachelor studies, the breakouts started manifesting themselves in cyst-like clusters along my jaw. Unlike the normal little pimples, these were stubborn and took forever to go away. And even if they were left alone they left scars and hard spots. I dreaded getting up in the morning because I didn't want to see what my face would look like. I went through phases of rigid skincare programs, natural products, harsh products, no makeup, oil-controlling products. Nothing really helped. I often resorted to manually draining larger cysts because, oddly enough, after doing so they healed up and left very little scarring. (I kept Neosporin on these at night, the only topical product that ever seemed to help with anything). It was almost if my body didn't know what to do with the stuff inside of these cysts...and so they just sat there on my face. Campus doctors merely told me that stress can aggravate acne and that keeping the skin clean should help. Information that I already knew...and still left me without a solid solution. (I do realize that the chances of there being one solution is unlikely...I just am unable to accept there being no solution.)
Clearly, the 20s didn't magically resolve my skin problems. My hunch is that this isn't an external problem, but I am determined to get to the "root" of the issue. I hope to share some of the journey within this blog. :)