I never thought I’d share my journey with acne or photos of my acne scars with anyone but my mom. However, I’ve seen such significant results and received SO many compliments on my skin (hi 2020 zoom workouts & meetings) I feel more comfortable and confident to share.
I battled SEVERE acne in 2018 and then even worse acne scars in the following years. If I had found someone like myself to follow their struggles while I was dealing with my own skin struggles and lack of confidence, it might’ve been easier for me to manage.
I hope that whether you’ve got great skin and are just looking for some new product recommendations or are suffering from acne, acne scars, aging, or any other skin issues that you’ll find something useful here for you. If you do, please let me know in the comments below or shoot me a DM.
Here’s My Journey…
January/February 2018
I always had pretty good skin in my 20’s; with the occasional breakouts from drinking too much 😬 or hormonal and stress breakouts. After living in China for 1.5 years, I got walking pneumonia while visiting the US. It quickly turned into a severe lung infection and stomach virus upon returning to China. After nearly 2 months in and out of 4 hospitals, I recovered in February 2018. Read more about my experience being sick abroad here.
May 2018
While I thought I was past the worst of it, in May I began breaking out really bad.
I woke up one morning with my cheeks and jawline covered in stubborn cystic acne. They were large, inflamed, pus-filled, painful pimples. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before, the worst I’d seen in my lifelong struggle with acne.
I had already been getting facials on the regular, so when my esthetician came over for my monthly facial she was shocked to see my face. Not including the actual facial, she spent nearly an hour painfully extracting them. I cried so much, she had to stop to give me a break a few times. It hurt so bad.
Side note: you should NEVER ever ever try to pop or extract your pimples at home! When you try to do it yourself you risk pushing bacteria further into the pore and even worse scarring. Go see a professional, their techniques will leave your skin scar-free.
She asked me all the regular questions about product changes, lifestyle changes, diet changes, and I came up blank. Nothing had changed from the last time I saw her a month ago. At this point, I was only thinking of the immediate changes and I hadn’t had any.
June 2018
After sharing this photo with my mom, she set up appointments for when I was back in the US in June. She not only was concerned about my skin but also wanted to check up on my lungs.
I visited 2 separate doctors and dermatologists in the US to check up on my lungs and skin. They came up with nothing. 🤷♀️ But one thing was certain – there was absolutely no correlation between my lung infection and my sudden acne breakout.
July 2018
When I returned to China in July, my acne had only gotten worse. I tried again and went to see a dermatologist in Shanghai. He prescribed me a few topical treatments and a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) concoction.
Over the coming months, I would not only battle my acne but also my mental health. My self-esteem was at an all-time low. The helplessness and shame that came with my breakouts triggered my anxiety, depression, and stress. I lived with constant anxiety that people only saw my breakouts when they looked at me. Embarrassed by how I looked, I made myself small and invisible. I stayed in as much as possible turning down dates, nights out, and adventures with friends.
I’ve never been one to wear a lot of makeup but here I was caking on makeup to try to cover up my entire face just to go to the pool or for a workout with friends. Even with the loads of makeup, cystic acne is quite hard to cover and it was still very visible. As my acne got worse, my confidence plummeted.
After confiding in a few friends about my acne and mental health issues (as if they couldn’t see the acne, I mean look at it 👇) I was recommended to acupuncture and a new English-speaking female dermatologist. I’m not saying the male Chinese-speaking dermatologist was bad but I wasn’t the seeing results I hoped for over 2 months and I didn’t feel as supported.
August 2018
I went to the JiaHui Health Jing’An location to see Dr. Ruby Zhou. She’s fluent in Chinese, Korean, and English. Dr. Ruby has over 10 years of experience in general dermatosis, cosmetic laser, and injection treatments.
During my consultation, I broke down crying. We talked about what I’d been through seeing dermatologists, receiving no answers, and how embarrassed I was. I realized how lonely of a journey I’d been on because I was so embarrassed. Finally having a professional listen to me and empathize with me was so important.
After my consultation, she determined a treatment plan for me. It included an antibiotic, similar topical TCM creams, red and blue light therapy twice a week, and chemical peels every other week.
My insurance didn’t cover red and blue light therapy and chemical peels because they are considered cosmetic treatment. Out of pocket, this would’ve cost me over $1,000 USD per week. (Obviously, it’s a bit cheaper in China but still quite expensive on a weekly basis.)
But Dr. Ruby not only knew that she could help me but she wanted so badly to help me. So she did.
She adjusted the line description of my visits for insurance purposes. Instead of paying for her to administer the red and blue light therapy sessions on me, I paid for her nurse to do it. (It’s literally just placing a machine over your face and hitting the time button and then returning to switch to the other light.) I still saw her weekly for the chemical peel sessions and extraction process.
I cried a lot in her office and she was right there with me and so understanding of my struggles. As I began to see progress in the treatments overtime, we shared in those wins. I felt so supported by her throughout my entire journey.
For 8 months, from August 2018 to March 2019, I received my weekly treatments with Dr. Ruby and her team.
September 2018
In addition to my regular weekly visits to the dermatologist, I was finally able to get into the Acupuncturist my friend had recommended. There’s quite a long waitlist for Dr. Evan as he is the go-to for most westerners in Shanghai. He’s American and fluent in both English and Chinese and specializes in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine).
During my consultation, I showed Dr. Evan my progress pictures and we discussed the journey over the last year. The first thing he said was OF COURSE my lung infection is related to my severe acne.
Long story short, an infection of any type causes warmth within the body. Since heat rises and the pathways for qi 氣, or energy, were blocked it caused the toxins to release from the top – also being my face.
By using acupuncture points, Dr. Evan worked to access these areas and essentially “unblock” them and circulate an abundance of qi 氣 within my body.
Let me be clear though, this isn’t a one-time visit that just cures it all. Acupuncture in general can take anywhere from 6-8 sessions to see full benefits.
In the beginning, I went in weekly for a month while drinking a prescribed TCM tea. Comparing the August to September progress pictures there is a significant difference in overall inflammation.
October 2018
After the first month, I returned once a month for 6 months. Dr. Evan did a mini-evaluation each session. He checked on my progress with my dermatologist, monitored my sleep, and overall health.
I received acupuncture treatments from Dr. Evan for 7 months, from September 2018 to March 2019.
March 2019
I left China in March of 2019. Since then, I have not received any chemical peels, red and blue light therapy, or acupuncture sessions. As you can see in my October 2018 progress picture, the acne is nearly all gone. I was just left with awful acne scars.
While the scarring is easier to coverup than pus-filled inflamed acne, my next step was diminishing the signs of acne scars. I researched and tried a lot of products. I found products that work for my skin type (combination). Products that diminish signs of acne scars, prevent future breakouts, and the unfortunate signs of aging. My full morning and nightly skincare routine and product recommendations can be found here.
I’ve had friends and family ask for product recommendations as they’ve personally seen the huge results I’ve had. But I’ve also had many people comment on my lengthy skincare routine.
When I see results that make me look younger and feel more confident, why wouldn’t I want to keep that up? My skincare routine is truly one of my favorite daily self-care practices. After suffering from such traumatic skin issues, I will do anything to keep my skin healthy.
I hope that you found something useful here. I’ll continue to write about my skincare journey as I mentally struggle with signs of aging. If I was able to help you or you have any specific questions or things you’d like me to address in my next post, please leave a comment or shoot me a DM.
Find my skincare routine here or read about my journey with BOTOX here.
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