Tried everything for acne? Try this!
My skin has never been perfectly clear. I’ve suffered from mild breakouts my whole life, usually on my forehead and and nose area that would clear up in a few days. I could easily turn the few bumps virtually invisible with just a little makeup. But this past summer, I broke out worse than ever before. This acne was deep, cystic, on my cheeks and jawline. And there was tons of it. Tons of huge, clustered, swollen, red bumps that took weeks to go away. Not even all the makeup in Sephora could hide this acne. I tried every drugstore and prescription face wash and cream you could think of. Nothing worked.
So, I was a little freaked out, and a lot embarrassed. Why would I get this sudden, extreme, new acne at age 21? I’m not a teenager anymore! I had to be doing something differently to cause these sudden crazy, neverending breakouts. My dermatologist wasn’t interested in talking about what could be causing the acne. She just wanted me to buy the prescription meds and get out. I had to take matters into my own hands.
Before
So like any anxious young adult with a health issue these days, I scoured the internet for answers. I found a web page that suggested acne could be caused by certain foods. I thought back to the past few months. Is there anything I’ve been eating more of than before? Then it hit me: the huge bowls of cereal and milk in the mornings, the large glasses of chocolate milk at lunch, the thick slices of American cheese in the afternoons, the late night ice cream runs. I definitely eat a ton more dairy products living at home during the summer than I do at Berks.
So I did a quick google search and sure enough: I found dozen of blog posts about girls with cystic acne who cleared up their skin by skipping dairy. I stopped consuming all dairy products immediately: milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, ice cream, sour cream, creamer. It was NOT easy. Trust me. But if it was choice between clear skin or that bowl of mint chocolate chip, I was definitely choosing clear skin.
After
In only a week I’d seen dramatic improvement in my skin. It felt like a miracle! I was amazed (and a little angry) that I had gone my entire life without knowing that dairy products cause breakouts in some people. I don’t know exactly why, but I suspect it’s the cow’s hormones in the milk that are screwing with our own hormones.
I can’t say this will work for everyone, but it’s worked for me and countless others. If you’ve got cystic acne (especially on your cheeks, jawline, and neck) that you just can’t shake, why not try ditching dairy? Trust me, it’s worth skipping Friday night pizza in exchange for clear skin.