'I'd just sit and cry': Woman's before-and-after acne photos show her 'painful' journey
A woman has shared photos of her severe acne online, saying the painful condition makes her feel like a “monster.”
Mother-of-two Steph Klassen, who is 29 years old, said her acne appeared unexpectedly in September and has been getting gradually worse ever since.
“Yep that’s right, almost 30 freaking years old and this happens,” said Klassen.
“It’s #painful it’s #ugly it’s #debilitating,” she wrote on Instagram, alongside a photo of her swollen face.
She continued: “I’m trying my absolute best to be #positive to not hide myself away but carry on. I won’t lie, it’s not easy. Some days are sunshine rainbows and puppies lol others are bawl in a fetal position for hours.”
Klassen developed severe cystic acne when she was 25 years old and pregnant. However, tragically, she ended up losing the baby at 18 weeks when she contracted sepsis and doctors had to fight to save her life.
Now, she’s on 20 mg of acne medication isotretinoin, two daily hormone-balancing capsules, turmeric capsules, iodine drops, and hormone balancing cream (not applied to her face).
She also uses aloe vera gel straight from the plant on her face, and she has cut out inflammatory foods.
“It’s so hard to not assume that everyone is staring at me and thinking ‘omg look at her face.’ My sense of self-confidence is slightly askew,” she wrote online.
“I go out and I’lI have a hard time making eye contact or even holding my head high. I end up exhausted from trying to keep myself from bawling or just straight up losing it,” she said.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Steph said she has a “warped” image of herself now, and some days she feels “like a monster.”
“The cysts were so deep they were hitting the nerve endings in my face,” she said. “The feeling was like a million lightning bolts shooting all across my face. Sometimes I felt so helpless I’d just sit and cry.”
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
‘Acne doesn’t make you ugly,’ blogger says in empowering post
Saoirse Ronan Showed Off Her Acne Scars in ‘Lady Bird’ to Represent a Real Teenager
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