So I think the hardest aspect of acne is to figure out what's actually causing it because sometimes it's uncontrollable like hormones or it can be sometimes things you eat, your gut health or even the environment that you're in like the weather or the humidity. So figuring out what actually helps with acne and what helps specifically for you is the hardest aspect in my opinion.
I think one of the hardest parts of having really bad acne is just how much it can affect how you feel about yourself and the confidence that you feel. It's just crazy that something as simple as acne can just have that effect on you and that's definitely a valid thing to be feeling when you know you have bad acne.
One of the hardest aspects that I've experienced when it comes to acne is my self-image. Especially when I was in high school, I had terrible acne and I didn't know what to do about it. My parents didn't either, so I never tried to make it better or research anything. And so I had terrible self-confidence and I never wanted to leave the house without makeup. And I can realize that that is something that everyone deals with. However, as I've grown, I've noticed that people really don't care. So it's hard because those beauty standards are so ingrained in our minds that we're really embarrassed and ashamed of our acne faces, but it's actually okay. No one really cares. And the best thing to do is, you know, be healthy.
Obviously, one of the hardest aspects with acne is just the self-confidence physical side of things. So just knowing that it's hard to feel confident when you have some maybe some acne on your face or whatever it may be. But with proper care and treatment and hydration and stuff, maybe it won't go away 100%, but it will hopefully improve. It's more important to make sure you avoid scars. That's a harder thing for me now. Another hard aspect of acne is sometimes it's painful. Oftentimes it's painful, especially if it's in a sensitive area like around the lips or around the nose.
It's definitely challenging when you develop acne. You live with acne for years and years and you see other people develop acne as well, so you know you're not alone. But then as the years go by, it feels like everyone else's acne clears up except for yours, and you're left feeling like everyone's staring at you. It's probably not the case, but that's definitely something I've experienced.
I think there are lots of hard aspects. One that comes to mind is just like the financial side of it. Like going to a dermatologist, trying different treatments and medications and lotions, and just not feeling like anything's working. I think that can be really hard. I think also just like self-esteem. You can just feel, I don't know, I felt ugly sometimes when I broke out a lot, and I just don't really feel like myself. But I think it's really important to realize that this is just like something that all humans, like we're gonna deal with, is struggles with our skin. And the most important thing is that we are working on ourselves and our inner beauty is showing.
As somebody who still struggles with acne in her 25th year of life, I understand that acne sucks and it's hard and I hate it. I think for me, thankfully I am female and I can cover it up with makeup and my hair, but for men I like feel bad that they can't cover it up. I think that can be a really hard aspect. I think just the fact that like I think for a lot of people it can blend in, but when I look in the mirror that's the first thing I see on myself and I feel like it's the first thing that people see of me. Even if that's not true, that's how I feel and sometimes it might be right. There are some people that have such bad cystic acne and it's not their choice. It's not what they want, but it's what we notice first and that can be really hard and create a lot of insecurity and I think just to just constantly being stressed over a breakout, whether it's changing products or what.
Something that my dermatologist told me is that it is so hard to have visible acne on your face and then something that you want to do is pop or scratch or scrape or anything and that just makes it worse. So the hardest aspect, one of them is that you shouldn't try to touch your face if you have acne because that'll just make it worse.
One of the hardest aspects of acne is comparison because I feel like you can be doing the most regimented routine with like 20 steps and you can still have more acne than the person who just uses a dove bar of soap and that is totally up to genetics and not at all your fault. So I feel like the hardest aspect is comparison.