5 Key Things to Know on Your Acne Healing Journey

1. Acne healing is not a quick fix; healing takes time.

I get it, I’ve been there with wanting my acne to magically be zapped away and gone for good. It is very alluring to move towards trying a new quick fix to heal your acne. Especially when you feel sad and frustrated with having acne, and the breakouts are continuing for you as an adult when you thought it should be just a teenager phase.

A quick fix of using medications or aggressive topicals with the promises to clear up your acne can feel like a great step forward when you’re feeling desperate for answers and a quick solution. Unfortunately, in a lot of cases, these quick fixes can worsen your skin barrier and continue perpetuating the acne breakout cycle. Many of the medications commonly prescribed for acne do not address the root cause of acne and why acne is breaking out in the first place. It’s a Band-Aid approach of only addressing the symptoms and surface level of acne. There is no judgment if you have tried acne medication for your acne. I have taken the birth control pill to help my acne – the problem was my acne came raging back once I came off the pill. When it comes to acne, it’s a sign that your body internally needs healing and attention (mentally and physically). It is important to focus on the long-term game when it comes to clearing up your acne.

On average it can take about 3-6 months to heal the skin from the inside out. It takes time to heal the gut, reduce inflammation and harmonize your hormone health within the body. All of these aspects are linked to your skin health.

The skin is the largest protective organ in the body and is constantly in the process of repairing itself and turning over. Skin cell turnover is a cycle that happens naturally for your skin to look healthy and glowing. Proper cellular turnover reduces your risk of developing acne. If cellular turnover is ineffective and there is an accumulation of dead surface skin cells acne can occur.

The cycle of your skin cells takes about 28 days for replacing old skin cells with new skin cells. As one ages, the skin cell renewal process slows down. In your 30’s the process can take up to 45 days and in your 40-50s the skin renewal process can take 45-60 days. Therefore, it takes time to notice changes to heal your acne pimples, papules, cysts and scarring! It also takes time to see if your new non-toxic skincare regime is working.    

2. There is no such thing as perfect skin.

Trying to achieve glass like and perfect skin is an unrealistic goal. Perfect clear skin is not a permanent state of being. It is a great reminder to stop beating yourself up for not achieving this state of perfection for your skin. Despite what the air brushed photos in the media look like and what the market is constantly trying to sell us in order to buy expensive acne products and treatments; the concept of having flawless skin is an illusion. What is beautiful about being human is that we are not perfect. No one is perfect. We all have imperfections. It is important to learn how to love yourself and your skin exactly as you are in this moment.

The skin is a living organ, that is constantly fluctuating throughout your life regardless of whether you have acne or not. Your skin cells are always doing their best to work for you and not against you. It is working to always repair and provide you with new healthy skin cells to the best of the body’s ability and resources to do so. Be kind to your skin. You are here to live in your skin every day for the rest of your life. Nourish your skin and learn to love every inch of it while you’re here on this planet. We tend to focus so much on the flaws of the skin. But if we reframe our mind-set, we can look beyond the flaws to see how much beauty there is in how our skin works for us. Our skin is waterproof, fends off infections, it is our first line of defence from the outside word.

You can learn how to take care of your skin and body to obtain a healthy state of being. Working on taking care of your skin and body means we can handle small little zits that pop up and can prevent a full-blown acne outbreaks or cystic acne from coming back again. Zits can pop up from time to time depending on what was going on in your life i.e. lacking sleep or experiencing excess stress.

As our skin ages we develop wrinkles and laugh lines. We can develop sunspots and freckles on the skin from our time in the sun. Instead of constantly trying to rid our skin of spots and wrinkles, we can change our perspective around how we view our laugh lines. Our laugh lines being a sign of a life well lived and many memories and moments of shared laughter and fun. Yes, we can take care of our skin to prevent sunspots and wrinkles, but we also can learn to embrace who we are and love our skin throughout our lives. Eliminating the illusion that if our skin is not perfect then we are not good enough. We are always good enough in the skin we are in.

3. Take care of your mental health.

Acne is very common, yet acne is associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, feelings of loneliness, isolation and avoidance of social situations. Acne has a major impact of self-esteem and self-image. Especially when society makes us feel that perfect skin is expected. Acne can feel distressing and make one want to hide their skin from the world.

A study published in the journal of the American Academy of Dermatology shows the negative impacts that poor skin perceptions can have on adolescents. Girls and boys with acne reported “significantly more depressive symptoms, lower self-esteem, more feelings of uselessness, fewer feelings of pride, lower self-worth and lower body satisfaction than those without acne”.

Taking care of your mental self-image is very important when dealing with acne. Knowing that you are good enough and not failing even when acne breakouts are popping up on your face. You can learn to practice self-love and self-compassion towards your skin while healing the stress and shame around having acne on your acne healing journey.

4. Acne healing is not linear; expect some ups and downs.

When you are in the process of healing your body, for some people your acne may get worse before it gets better. When your body is purging toxins and killing pathogens, you may experience an acne flare up depending on how much your body needs to detoxify and eliminate unwanted toxins in the body. Healing reactions can be a sign of healing, and therefore acne may worsen before clear skin is achieved. This is all a part of the healing journey. Be patient with the process and compassionate with your body during the healing process.  

5. Compliance is key.

Taking small daily action steps towards your goal of healing your skin will help you to bridge the gap between where you currently are to where you want to be in the future. Compliance to your acne healing plan is key to achieving the results you desire. This plan will help you close the gap to getting to your goal of healthy, glowing and clear skin. The key to modifying any habit is to make the deliberate and conscious decision to make the change and then take action to do so.