before and after pic, years of active acne and my healing journey
This is about a 2 to 3 year difference and Im so happy to share this, the first photo was during a period where my acne felt completely out of control, mostly on my cheeks with constant redness that never really went away. I’m 24 now back then I was around 21 dealing with it daily.
I saw three different dermatologists during that time, each one had a slightly different approach I went through topical antibiotics, benzoyl peroxide, adapalene, oral antibiotics etc before eventually being put on tretinoin and spironolactone (I did not want to get into accutane). That combination is what finally started to stabilize things, but it took a long time to actually see consistent improvement,I also did microneedling sessions, which I think really helped and made a noticeable difference in healing my acne.Financially this whole process has been exhausting between appointments, prescriptions constantly trying new skincare hoping something would finally work, it adds up quickly. Looking back now, I think one of the biggest issues was not realizing how damaged my skin barrier had become from trying tooo much at once.
One of the things I did which helped me was simplifying everything and just sticking with it. I also started keeping track of what I was using and how my skin reacted over time because I kept repeating the same mistakes without realizing it and I think that for people that been dealing with the same issue as mee keeping track on everything its a very important step to include in our routine. I did started using an app for that as well skin analyzer one to check products ingredient, triggers of allergies etc now I use thea mostly to log my routine day by day and keep track, note when I introduce or remove products, and take progress photos in consistent lighting so I can actually compare changes week to week instead of relying on memory.
I’ll also jot down things like flare ups, irritation, even hormonal timing, which made it easier to connect patterns I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. It’s not something I rely on heavily I still visit my derm but having everything in one place made it easier to stay consistent and not second guess every small change its like having a bit of control on your own. I still break out occasionally, some acne scars are still there but it’s not constant anymore so that alone feels like a progress.