My july ordeal

Long overdue post. And a long one. You have been warned. If you have clear good skin most of your life, you will be bored. If you are looking for some consolation on your battle with problematic skin, dive right in and I hope this post can help and comfort you in some way. 

Been a very bad birthday month. Remember my unfortunate bouts of insomnia which started before the wedding and unceremoniously went on (and on and on...) after it? Well, not surprisingly, it took toll on my already stressed out skin, my whiteheads multiplied and rapidly covered a good lower half of my face. Stupidly, under desperation, I took the advices from forum to visit one of the highly raved dermatologist who is supposedly not only kind but also understanding to the plight of hormonally unbalanced gals liked me.

They could not be more wrong. She was, at best, patronizing. Sheesh.. if my eyes can roll 360 degree I would, at her attempt to be sympathetic. She did her usual "remedy" - cocktail of antibiotics, chemical peel and topical ointments. I rejected antibiotics. But agreed to the rest. Everything went downhill from there. I think the only positive thing I took out of the consultation is the chance to see the biggest diamond ring ever. I don't know sparklies well but man, that is one big diamond and the x number of the smaller ones surrounding it only enhance the size further. For a non-jewelery gal, I got a glimpse of how excited diamond gals must feel with their blings. It certainly tugs some heart string of mine.

Anyhow back to my tragedy, I am not sure which actually did the job of ruining my face. The chemical peel or the Benzac Dr-bluff-nice prescribed. My few cystic acne on my jawline spread and in just a couple of days, the lower half of my face was scaly, peeling, bleeding and swollen.

It was liked a combination of bad allergic reaction and acne outbreak. I went to another GP and succumbed to antibiotics and whatever he prescribed. It did stabilized but the big bumps stayed and stayed and stayed.

It was horrible. Truly horrible. Liked a nightmare except it is played 24/7. The hysteria I experienced only made my insomnia worse. And insomnia did not helped my healing. And the vicious cycle continued.

It was only, when I got to know about a hydrotherapy spa place from a colleague which coincidentally is right opposite my house, that there was a glimmer of hope.

I was skeptical. How would doing water spa help? But I still went out of desperation (and water sounded much less menacing than acid) and after a week of doing spa everyday the swelling and bumps went down abit. I was slightly heartened but it was still far from okay.

THEN I met my current beautician, who is the sister of the hydrotherapy spa owner. It is kind of a family business. The spa thingy is the main business but there are some rooms which you can also do facial as well as TCM (administered by yet another sister). Anyhow I have digressed. My beautician is a godsend. She has been in the business for 20 over years and specializes in problematic skin. And man, she really helped the recovery!

Apparently the GP's advice of "don't do anything to your face except to wash it" was not sound at all. The bacteria and pus within the bumps need to be cleared out! Otherwise you will have to wait. And wait. And wait till they are "ripe" and fall out by themselves. By then, the bacteria would have eat into your pores and not only you will have marks which are bad enough but also horrible horrible scars.

By the second week almost all of the bumps are gone. I was left with loads and loads of red marks and some scars/indentation. But I was thankful. To me, after a month of red angry pus-filled bumps and peeling skin, the transformation in a week was no less than a miracle. No more bleeding and swelling. I can put on my concealer and look normal. Well, normal problematic skin person.

It was tough dealing with hormonal unbalance at a ripe age of 31. But I am glad it is over now. I know the looming possibility of having that ordeal all over again during pregnancy but it is too far for me to think. I just want to get my body back right again. Once I am done with my antibiotics, I will prob start on TCM to balance out my highly stressed out body.

For those still in the battle out there, hang in there. It is just a phase. And it will be over soon. Be patient and let the medicine/ointment/facial/etc take time to heal your face. And most importantly, learn to let go of your stress. I am no expert on this field but after going through this little war with my body I learn that everything in your body happens for a reason. Very often we do not know we are stressed and our body would react in different ways to warn you about it. 

In a way I am thankful of this experience. It makes me highly aware of my health now. And how unhealthy i was before. Both physically and emotionally.


I have learnt a few tips on taking care of problematic skin through my wonderful beautician and I will do a separate post on them. I will also include my experience with dealing with dermatologist, GP and TCM doctors and the valuable (and not so valuable) advices from them.  Stay tuned.