Severe acne nearly slowed my life down

“My acne journey started when I was 11 years old. I was a little girl in a family of 10 kids growing up in Siaya county. My parents were teachers. I was in class five when I got these little rashes all over my forehead and cheeks. They were red and had a white dot in the middle. My Dad would hold my face in his hands and look at them saying, Hizi vitu zinakupenda aje. He’d squeeze them and they’d pop. Popping them was painful! I wasn’t bothered though

“I naturally have oily skin so no one imagined it was acne. My sisters got mild cases at puberty but their faces cleared later. I went to an all-girls Catholic high school and did very well. I got a scholarship to Strathmore University for a diploma in IT. My Dad and I took the bus to Nairobi in January 2003, and I went to live with my older sister in her bedsitter.

“School intimidated me: I was in a class of 80, all of them from Nairobi and a higher social class than me. I seemed like the naive village girl – the one who kept to herself, wore long skirts and short hair.

“The acne worsened and that’s when it started to bother me. The little red rashes became bigger pimples. They weren’t painful or itchy but I was aware they were on my face. I believed it’s what people saw when they looked at me. It ate at my self-esteem. I became very shy and withdrawn. I was comfortable around only two girls from my class.

FRESH FACE

“I bought a variety of cheap skin treatments from the supermarkets. They harmed my face more than helped it. One morning, early April 2004, I was in the matatu going to school when a woman passed me a note before she alighted. She’d written that she knew how to help my face, to call her if I was interested. I went to her office that afternoon. She was a network marketer and had products she said would work for me: tablets to detox my insides and a range of facial products to cleanse, moisturise and tone my face. They cost Sh30,000. My Dad bought what he could afford.

“I started using them right away. They didn’t clear my face as she’d promised: I got these huge, fresh and septic pimples instead. They’d remove blood and pus and my face would stick to the pillowcase when I slept. Some skin would tear when I pulled the pillow away in the morning. The lady reassured me that that’s how the products work. I kept using them but I was sceptical. The pimples joined together to become bleeding wounds. I stopped the products after a month.

“I looked like a scary ghost! I couldn’t leave the house anymore. I wasn’t going to school. I slept all day. When I got the courage to go sit my finals in June, I wore a buibui to cover my face. Everyone who caught a glimpse cringed and asked me what was wrong with it. It really hurt me. I flunked one exam and didn’t do well in my final project.

“My older brother offered to take me to a dermatologist in Kenyatta Hospital. Dr Maimba prescribed antibiotics, soap and a cream to apply. It didn’t cost more than Sh3,000. My face immediately improved – it became clearer, my skin tone evened out and no more fresh pimples appeared. I stopped seeing Dr Maimba after three months. The acne returned, only this time harsher.

“I joined the University of Nairobi in September 2004 for a degree in computer science. My self-esteem was still very low and the scarring was worsening. I looked as if it were burnt. I didn’t take photos and I didn’t look myself in the mirror. I cried a lot. I dreaded standing in front of my class to make presentations mandatory for our course work. Being 19 meant I was growing into a young woman – there were boys in school I liked but they didn’t like me back. I stayed away from those who liked me because I felt they were settling – had they not seen my face?

“I tried home remedies: drinking a lot of water, washing my face with bar soap and not applying anything. Fresh pimples just keep coming. The acne even spread to my back and arms. I used some of my tuition bursary to see a popular dermatologist but the money ran out after a few visits. Then I went to see a quack doctor in the backstreets of River Road.

POSITIVE ENERGY

It was toward the end of uni that I stopped fussing – I had a likeable personality and had made several friends. I was so much more than the face I imagined people stared at. I accepted myself.

“I graduated in October 2008 then got a permanent job as a software engineer a year later. I was on a good salary with medical cover. I decided to address this acne issue once and for all. I returned to Dr Maimba in June 2010. He scolded me for interrupting my regimen then put me on a new drug for a year. Roaccutane dried me up completely. I had to use eye drops and a special balm for my cracking lips. I moisturised the rest of my body with a cream called Physiogel. There was a noticeable improvement, it gave me the positive energy to keep at it.

But a year and a half later, in 2012, I got tired of taking the drugs. I stopped again and tried other products: I tried this expensive range made from Dead Sea creatures. Little quantities cost me Sh30,000 a batch, plus monthly facials at their spa for Sh5,000. They didn’t work. I visited a cosmetologist who suggested we do a surgical procedure to scrub off the dead skin.

I eventually returned to Dr Maimba early this year. I’m still moisturising and taking two new drugs – Glucophage and Aldactone.

“Acne has showed me what a determined and persistent spirit I have. It’s been a 20-year long journey but there’s more to come.  I’ll keep trying. I feel very beautiful and I’m dating. I love myself for who I am and I know my boyfriend does too.”