It was quiet a few years later when my acne started, I went off to a remote South African boarding school, when strange as it might seem exercise brought on my first acne outbreak. Rugby is a prominent sport in South Africa and the school boy training was pretty intense. What I used to find happen was after a heavy training session I would be soaked in sweat this seems to cause huge problems skin.

I always felt lucky because the majority of my ache was on my back and shoulders. I also used to get them on my backside and these are the worst, they hurt for days every time you sit. Apart from the discomfort the social embarrassment is also something that no teenager needs, it difficult to cope with all the other pressures during that time of your life.

The worst thing about acne and bad skin is that there isn't anything you can do about it, or at least that's how it feels. I tried everything I could, no matter how healthily I ate, no matter how clean I was ( Boarding School hygiene is a religion, woe on whoever gets caught out not being hygienic, trust me )

Unfortunately for you reader there is no one cure for acne, different things work for different people, for the most part it's just part of the changes that your body needs to go thought, but there are things you can do to get though this stage of your life, your doing it now by researching and educating yourself about your world, these are important skills which schools try to teach, but often loose the point on hard facts, by educating yourself you have empowered yourself with options. Options can be acted upon and that's the only thing you can do, but with the right information you can beat your acne.

What eventually worked for me was a combination of several basics like cleaning and eating well, combined with a course of prescribed skin meds. All in all the course took 8 months and I was in agony, both physically and emotionally the whole time. My skin became super sensitive to sun light, and shaving removed layers of skin, if was terrible. In most cases this isn't necessary, but my acne was bad enough that is was affecting my life. thinking back to those dark times I can say that it was worth it, but I'm sure I felt differently at the time, baring in mind that every other "cure" didn't work. The medication left me very depressed, I didn't enjoy that year very much.

Since then, apart from the occasional spot I'm 100% clear skin regardless what I eat or do. The main thing to get through the tough time, be it acne, financial or even relationship problems is to decide what you want, then do anything you can to reach that goal, by developing these life skills now, you will benefit ten fold in the future.

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