My Skin Story

hello my loves, hope your well! 

I’ve touched on the subject before in my “Power Of Makeup Blogpost” about my skin but today I want to share my skin story with you all and tell you my journey I’ve been through. 
I’ve never been one of these girls who was blessed with beautifully clear, hydrated, soft skin and that’s okay because I’m very lucky compared to some when it comes too my skin but for me I’ve had a roller coaster of a ride with it. 

It’s continuously had its ups and downs but when I first fell ill that’s when my skin went into break down. 

2013: Due to three different infections, my face and neck was covered in what the doctors could only describe as “blood scabs”. They would begin as a big red mark, then they’d begin to burn like hell, they’d weep, they’d sting and then the scab would drop off – this all happened within one hour and by the time one scab had dropped off this cycle would happen all over again, this continued to happen for 3 months. 

I was in hospital at the time for my legs meaning it was easy to see the dermatologist. When meeting with him, I remember him being very rude and seem’d as though he couldn’t wait to get us out. After taking a very quick look over my face, he told us it was just purely acne and sent us on our way. I know, absolutely shocking! as you can see from the photos that wasn’t acne, never in my life had I seen acne like this or seen acne form like this so we asked for a second opinion from a different doctor. We met with her that same week, thankfully she was amazing! She sent swabs off of my skin which came back indicating a very rare and serious skin infection. 

after very strong treatment range which continuously had to be changed, different steroids, 3 sets of antibiotics, anti-fungi’s and creams my infections finally gave up and left me with horrid white scars covering my face (which if I’m honest made me look like a cow). In my mind I wasn’t sure what was worse, the blood scabs themselves or the scars they left behind. I’d spend days and nights worrying about what people would say and never took photos of myself or let anyone take photos of me or with me. It made me very low and feel so self conscious. Everyday i had to apply numerous amounts of steroid creams and anti-fungi creams to try to keep the infections away which thankfully did work for me.

It took a few months but thankfully the scarring from the blood scabs did seem to fade which was a miracle as we was told they never would as they was so bad. 

2013/2014: Although I was happy my blood scabs had gone, it didn’t mean my skin was sparkling clear and healthy again. Oh no… my acne then just went wild, my face & back was constantly covered in spots and small scabs (these weren’t infected) which certainly didn’t help with my confidence. I was then sent back to the dermatology department to meet with the same doctor who started me on some more treatments for my face. These were using: creams & shampoo face washes to try and stop the bacteria from spreading. 

2014: My skin all of a sudden went from very oily to extremely dry from the over use of different creams which worked with & against one another changing the complete texture of my face and this also happened because I was lacking nutrition (due to my stomach paralysis). I was given 3-4 of different dermatology moisturisers to try to hydrate my skin and stop it shedding everywhere. 

2014: I then began to get a new infection. It flares around the sides of my nostrils and spreads out around the surrounding area. You can physically feel the burning of the skin, you can feel it spreading outwards and when touching it’s hot. It will start a very dark red which then begins to get brighter and it will then become pussy/very scabby. The dermatologist started me on a new steroid cream, yes another one, which works amazingly well and within a couple of days which is a God sent. 

2015: all the things above continued throughout 2015, we was constantly in and out the dermatology department meeting with my doctor trying new creams, steroids and treatments which could all work together to try to make these things go away. Then, we came to a new problem which was my scalp. I’d constantly have an itch in my hair and when washing my hair my mum had began to notice that my scalp was covered in scabs which would explain my constant need to itch. It would be red raw, bleed and make me look like I had terrible dandruff which for anyone isn’t very nice and can be very embarrassing. My mum would constantly pic scabs or skin which had fallen out off me which made me very weary of what people would think of me. So yet again we plodded back into the doctors office for her to look and start me on a steroid based shampoo which absolutely stinks and stings like mad but does the trick. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a tendency to stay away long. Not long after it clearing up it would appear again. So damn annoying. 

Towards the end of 2015, we noticed my acne had began to clear up so nicely but unfortunately the extremely dry skin, the infection surrounding my nostrils and the scalp problem is still occurring today. The dry skin is a constant, I’m trying to find alternative treatments I can try to moisten my skin to give it some life back and the other two problems are things which come and go. It’s annoying but I’m so thankful my skin has cleared up amazingly despite all its been through and today although it has its problems, I really couldn’t be happier with how it’s healed and doing. Of course it’s not what you’d call “perfect” but to me it’s far better than what it was and I’m very grateful for that. 

I want you to have hope, if you go through similar problems to me, do know it does get better in time. Never in a million years did I think my face would heal as well as it is, but thanks to consistency with my consultant it’s the best it’s been in a long time. There are treatments out there that work, it’s just trial and error! It’s a long process believe me, I was so low about my skin, I hid indoors mostly due to hating it but the small steps I’ve taken over the last three years have lead to today and it shows there is hope out there. 

I really hope this helped give you some confidence back and you liked reading today’s post. 

If you’d like to check out my “The Power Of Makeup” blogpost, here’s the link; 

https://ellegracedeveson.wordpress.com/2016/08/03/the-power-of-makeup-challenge/

Sending tons of love as always, 

Elle xo