Spots, those ferocious, red, little (sometimes not so little) bumps that stand out like the kid in his uniform on home clothes day. My first experience with these persistent fuckers was when I was about 10. Granted it was the odd one here and there but it was still enough for me to be embarrassed and desperate for any solution to cover them up.
It wasn't until I was about 13 that they got carried away and started spreading like wild fire across my face. I smothered them in cheap makeup, which more often than not I didn't even wash off unless I was in the shower or I had excess room on an eye makeup remover pad. And I wondered why my skin was so bad.. gross!
Almost a year later and I finally started taking the time to wash my face properly, a few months after that I went to the doctors to see what they could muster up for me. Their answer was oxytetracycline, a small yellow pill that resembled a smartie that I had to take 4 times a day.
It did next to nothing and a year later whilst I was on holiday I got tonsillitis and the call in doctor asked whether I was on any other additional medicines. When I told him what my dosage of this medication was and the length of time I had been taking it for he was almost picking his chin up from off the floor. Apparently if an antibiotic has had no effect after 6 months you should be taken off it and the dosage of oxtetracycline I was taking was one that I should have only really been having for the first few weeks. Nice going local GP!
I moved on to a variety of other medications for my acne but no result. I was referred to a specialist who recommended the pill or another type of drug but the side effects were pretty extreme citing skin drying and peeling off, migraines and extreme joint and muscle aches, insomnia and depression. Considering I had at the time just managed to tone down a spell of depression it didn't really seem worth it. I tried the pill but within a week didn't like it so I was back to square one.
In recent months my skin has calmed down a lot, I had been using a cream called duac and I'm currently using a rub on solution called Zineryt. I've tried every fancy cleansing and toning products out there and of late I'm using the Eucerin range which has been critically acclaimed. Apparently to give those products a fair chance you have to document your skin's change for up to 8-16 weeks.
I've noticed I'm much more laid back about my skin now, I wear less makeup and I try and go out as much as possible without using it although I haven't reached the stage where I would go to college without it on yet. Acne can be such an arse ache and a real knock to your self esteem but at the end of the day I've got to a point now where I don't see why I should let something as literally small as a spot hold me back.
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