An
Interview with Sue
I
was able to interview Sue for another addition to our success
stories. Sue was in the sample group conducted by AcneRecovery
in order to get feedback from people who suffer from moderate
to severe acne. She is one of the thousands of people who have
struggled for years with acne and never found something that worked
consistently. Her acne troubles started while she was an adolescent
and continued to plague her 30 years later.
But
it didn’t get her down. Thanks to her perseverance, she
feels she may have found the perfect treatment. She has much better
control over her acne now that she has been using AcneRecovery.
I found her story inspiring, and I hope you do too…
So
how long would you say that you have been struggling with acne,
Sue?
I’ve
been dealing with acne ever since I was twelve years old, so exactly
39 years. I don’t have horrible acne. I’ve always
had horrible breakouts, but not real bad acne overall. There are
people that are out there like that -- they don’t have “acne”
but have really bad breakouts. I have acne
scars on my face from the breakouts. From trying to fix it
ever since I was twelve I’ve spent so much money it makes
me sick.
What
are the most difficult aspects of it?
It’s
been the feeling that everybody sees what I see. If you think
that everyone else can see what you see it makes having acne horrible.
It’s a self-confidence issue. I can’t help but wonder,
when I have a bad breakout that everyone around me is seeing the
exact thing that I see in the mirror. I am always self-conscious
of what others are seeing.
Have
you been able to find ways, besides prescription medication or
OTC treatment, that you felt were helpful in controlling acne?
Any routines?
There
were no real routines. Stress is a major part of my breakouts.
When you’re young it is hard to realize that. You’re
trying to figure so many things out at that age, and with the
social aspect of growing up, I never really thought about stress
as being a problem. I was told that chocolate was responsible.
That’s a lie. Or caffeine. But I think that stress is the
most common factor. Just trying to stay unstressed is hard enough.
You’re
right, kids don’t understand the role of stress in acne.
So, what are some OTC treatments that you’ve tried in order
to help control your breakouts?
You
name it. I’ve tried it. All the store brands, Noxzema, Clearasil,
more expensive brands like Clinique and Shiseto. Also Mary Kay.
I actually had pretty good luck with Mary Kay for a while, until
they changed the formula. That was true with Revlon too. In the
70s I had a wonderful skin cleanser with egg yolk. It actually
worked! Then they quit making it with egg yolk. That happens a
lot. It seems every time I find something that works they reformulate
it. I had more compliments on my skin using that product than
I ever had in the past, until they made it better (laughs). If
it works don’t fix.
I’ve used Proactiv too. It had side effects. It gave me
very dry skin. It even made my hands flaky, dried them out and
didn’t clear up my skin. I guess maybe it helped a little
but the side effects made it not worth it.
How
about prescription treatment?
I
used Retin A. There was also a topical solution. Along with that
there was a topical antibiotic. It was horrible though. I can’t
use antibiotics and it didn’t react well to my system. There
was redness and severe irritation. I had a reaction to most medications.
To me, if a treatment is working it should keep these reactions
down to a reasonable level. And what I consider reasonable is
very little.
You
were a part of the AcneRecovery sample group. How did you hear
about AcneRecovery and get involved in it?
I
started that last March. I believe I heard about it first on the
radio. There was a commercial offering a chance for people to
be involved in a sample acne medication and since I’ve tried
just about everything, when I heard that ad on the radio, I immediately
called that number.
What
were your first impressions of AcneRecovery when you started using
it?
It
was a wait and see process. I think that one of the products didn’t
agree with my skin. The skin repair lotion. But the treatment
lotion still cleared my skin even though I think that the repair
lotion was causing some irritation.
So
you had a reaction to the skin repair lotion. Did that give you
any concerns about the product?
I wasn’t sure what it was at first. I was just starting
out the process. Most people say that your skin will get worse
before it gets better. My concept is, if it’s going to work
it’s going to work. Using it for only a week doesn’t
let the treatment get into your system that much. So I decided
to wait it out and finish the sample group to see if it worked
better. So I use the treatment lotion (with the strength set at
50 percent), the instant illusions, and the face cleanser consistently.
But then I dropped the repair lotion as soon as the major study
was done. I wanted to give it a fair shot and I used it until
the study was over.
Overall
then how effective has AcneRecovery been for you?
It’s
just wonderful. As soon as I stopped using the repair lotion I’ve
maybe only had one or two breakouts in the last 3 or 4 months.
Being in a one-person office is very stressful. A lot more stressful
that most people think. So with high stress all the time I usually
get a lot of breakouts.
For
those who are going to read this interview on AcneTreatment.md
who may have a similar story that you do, what advice would you
give to help them control their breakouts using AcneRecovery?
It depends on your skin sensitivity. Early on, I think you will
get a clue on what strength you can use the products at. It is
really important to understand your own skin because nobody knows
your skin like you do. If you start using AcneRecovery follow
through with the program. It works differently with different
people. Like, my skin didn’t do terribly well with the repair
lotion, but my face did great without it. If there is something
that seems like it works better than anything else, then stick
with it. For me it’s AcneRecovery.
-
By David Tolbert
