Skin Imbalance = ACNE

     So far today has turned out rather well. I made good progress in all my work and even managed to squeeze in a 50 minute power walk around a lovely little community that is so articulately quaint, that you would swear that you had gone back in time. I took a lot of pictures so that you could enjoy my walk as well, but sadly, I am currently sitting at the coffee shop of the community, TCB, with my mother while writing this, and I forgot my camera cord. Oh well, when I get home I will post them.

     Today I want to specifically talk about skin problems, most specifically acne. Up until my 14th birthday I had a perfect, olive toned complexion, but afterwards my worst nightmare developed, acne. And mine wasn't just mild teen acne, we are talking cystic acne, not just on my face, but on my shoulders and back. I was so embarrassed that I covered up my back and shoulders and caked make-up onto my face, and tried to   do my hair in a style that could cover as much of my problem areas as possible. As a result a became quite pale and the little self-confidence I had dwindled to nothing. 

     At the time I was still on the vegan version of the SAD diet and not in the right mind set to think about changing by diet to alleviate my symptoms and so I started using ProActive. At the time this worked nicely and lightened my facial acne considerably, but did nothing for my back or shoulders. It wasn't until a started eating a raw plant based diet in combination with the ProActive, that all my acne disappeared.

So at the beginning of this past summer I decided to try going off the ProActive since I felt that I wouldn't need it anymore. Let me tell you, my attempt didn't go so well. The first week in, my skin dried out so badly it felt raw and I broke out acutely. Before you know it I was back on ProActive, but this time it didn't clear up my skin like it did before. Instead, the ProActive barely managed my break outs and I was forced to revert back to wearing make-up in public. 

While staying on the ProActive I searched for a new facial regime that would work for me. I tried oatmeal and strawberries with Witch Hazel, Carrot Soap, Baking Soda, the Alba Facial Pack, a tea tree oil scrub from Lush, and a couple others, none of them helped. In October, I got ahold of Burt's Bees Acne Facial regime and turned out to give me the best results, being that it managed my break outs a bit better then ProActive, so I switched to it and quite the ProActive for good.

      Still, I couldn't figure out why I still couldn't get my skin back to the smooth, blemish free skin that I had once achieved. I was exercising, eating lot's of fresh fruits and vegetables, drinking plenty of water, avoided wearing cover up (even though it embarrassed me to know end) and getting no less than 8 hours of sleep. Finally though, I believe I have discovered the answer! One thing I didn't think to take into account was that around the same time I quite the ProActive, I had also begun to swim in the morning, three times a week at a PUBLIC pool. Public pools, because of their intense usage of it by numerous amounts of people, has to be heavily chlorinated. Swimming in this water can dry out even the oiliest of skin as well as getting absorbed into the body, building up my bloods toxicity levels. Not good! This past week, other obligations have kept me from going to the pool so I was forced to find other means of exercise via running. Within two days, I woke up and found my skin to be getting clearer! It has now been a week since I've swum and my face is almost back to peaches and cream!


     The point of this story is that acne usually does have a root problem, even id you are genetically inclined to it. The process of elimination, of trial and error, coupled with a bit of research, or just accidental stumbling, may lead you to the source of YOUR acne problems. :)