Acne

I was 17 years old. I was sitting in the cafeteria with my friend. A classmate decided to join us without asking. We did not like this classmate because she would always make cruel remarks. But of course she had brought her plate with her and we did not find it appropriate to ask someone to move while they were having their food. She immediately started remarks about everything. She stared at me for a few seconds. I immediately knew that I would be at the receiving end of a nasty remark.
While still staring at me she asked me, " is that a pimple on your left cheek?" she did not have to ask me that. She definitely knew it was a pimple but still decided to make a big deal out of it.
"What do you think it is other than a pimple? It is not a mosquito bite," I decided to fight with her with words. I wanted to make sure that she had understood that she had made an unnecessary remark. Unfortunately she did not catch the sarcasm.

This was one of my insecurities while growing up. I have light skin. My skin is really sensitive. Unfortunately from my age of 10 I started getting acne. Because of my light skin the acne would look very prominent. They would look like bright red bumps against my skin. There was hardly anything that I was able to do for acne. My doctor had told me not to apply anything over the acne because it would just suppress the acne and not cure it. The remedy that my doctor suggested was plenty of water, consumption of fresh fruits & vegetables, and avoiding junk food. I was diligently following my doctor's advice. Unfortunately the hormonal acne was very stubborn. But of course as per my daughter's advice I did not want to take any medicines for that, because they would only be suppressing it.

I would always feel very uncomfortable with acne on my face. Thankfully I would only get one or two pimples at a time but they would be very prominent. They would make me feel infeerior and embarrassed. I would feel very helpless in that situation. Whenever anybody would bring up the questions of "is that a pimple" it would make me really uncomfortable.

Worst was when people would start giving me remedies for acne. They would speak about acne as if it is as severe as leprosy or tuberculosis. They would tell me the medicines about which they had no clue. When I would say that my doctor had advised me against medicines they would tell me to change the doctor. In my mind I always knew that none of these people were speaking for my wellbeing. They were speaking only to make me feel inferior and to make them feel superior.

Thankfully in my 20's the hormones stabilized and the acne started reducing on its own. I would forever be thankful to my doctor who advised me to not take any medicines for the acne. I wouldn't say that my skin is flawless however it does not have the damage of supressed acne. I still get hormonal acne during some time periods but again I do not to apply anything over it.

In my 30s now I am confident in my own skin. I have embraced the reality and I accept my imperfect skin as is.