How I Cleared My Adult Cystic Acne Naturally By Trusting My Body
Acne has been a source of great sadness, pain, and frustration in my life, as I am sure you can relate to if you ended up here. Today, I'm opening up and sharing my journey, including some vulnerable pictures of my struggle with cystic acne. I'll also reveal how I managed to heal it at its core, and you might find the real cause quite surprising! I’m here to inspire hope and new possibilities, and also offer my expertise to help you find lasting relief for your skin.
Spoiler: I did NOT end up healing my adult acne with fancy or expensive skincare products, elimination diets, cleanses, restrictive food eating, or supplements. I DID try those things (list included) but that’s not what helped me find lasting results. If you’ve tried those things too and are still looking for help with your skin, you may find my totally different perspective and treatment approach for adult cystic acne and skincare just the answer you’ve been looking for.
This article is a blend of my own experiences and responses to questions I have been asked by others going through cystic acne. Keep reading to discover how I successfully cleared my adult cystic acne naturally by trusting my body. Embarking on a journey to clear your adult cystic acne naturally is possible for you too.
“My relationship with [my acne] is shifting. I’m beginning to feel more compassion and acceptance towards my skin, and I just want to understand it rather than fight it.”
Before We Dive In
My name is Anne, and my goal is to help people feel good about themselves and “at home” in their beautiful, unique skin. I do this by guiding emotional healing that works in partnership with the body, mind, and heart. I love it because it gets to the heart of what we are truly seeking—greater love and freedom. Something no cream or cleanser can give us.
During my struggle with cystic acne, I blamed my skin for the pain I was feeling. Yes, my acne had a significant impact on my well-being, but as a I reflect, I've realized that the true source of the pain went deeper, arising from the conditional love I placed on certain aspects of myself. I was picking and poking at myself on the inside. It didn’t feel good, and in response, I tried to fight the acne believing that would solve my problem. When I tended to my emotional pains and reconnected with parts of my being asking for attention, it was a turning point. For the first time in years, my skin had the chance to heal completely. And as a bonus, a loving relationship with myself blossomed, which was what I wanted all along.
If this is something you are interested in, I’m here for you, and I would love to connect.
My experience with adult cystic acne.
I have always dealt with my fair share of acne, but it culminated into the worst of it in 2011 (I was 25) — about a year after I had a copper IUD placed, gotten married to Steve, and we started our own business. My face was covered in painful (and embarrassing) cystic acne, specifically all over my jawline and chin. This severity of acne was new for me, and I spiraled into a dark place emotionally because of it. I refused to go anywhere without makeup on, but the saddest part for me was that I was so embarrassed that I didn’t even want Steve to see my bare face. I wanted to hide behind makeup, my hair, and in darkness. I don’t think I truly understood at that time that I was, on some level, depressed. It was completely out of character for me, and on top of it all, I was mad at myself for being so vain. I would tell myself, “It’s just my skin! There are so many others out there with much more serious issues.” But for me, this was serious, and I was desperate for an answer.
What I was told the cause of my acne was and what I found in my research at the time.
I’ve been into holistic health most of my life (thanks, Momma!), and I wanted to get to the root cause of my acne. So I spent hours researching and even sought out holistic practitioners to help me find answers. Here’s a list of most of the things I thought it was linked to, and with each of them I spent time and money treating my acne from that point of view.
Me and my husband, Steve. He guides this somatic healing work too, and he is brilliant at it if you feel more drawn to his energy. :) While we help individuals with a range of health challenges, Steve has a special niche with chronic pain, digestive issues, and lymph challenges.
Candida
Touching my face too much
Sleeping on my hands
Leaky gut
Copper toxicity (metal toxicity) from my copper IUD
Hormone imbalance (estrogen dominance)
Stress!
Too much ‘heat’ in my body (from a Chinese Medicine perspective)
Adrenal fatigue
Parasites in my intestines
Inflammation
Bacteria trapped in clogged pores
Eating ‘improper’ foods (dairy, grains, sugar, greasy, etc.)
🌕 Here’s what was in my blindspot. Hiding plain as the acne on my face right in front of me:
I was fighting inner parts of myself because I believed that they were unsafe so I felt the need to protect myself and defend. I made parts of myself inaccessible, either to myself or to others.
I did not want my vulnerable side to be seen.
I tried to cover up shame and embarrassment, especially with makeup. I couldn’t find a thick enough foundation to hide it all.
I thought acne was to blame for the shame that I was experiencing. I had no idea I had been experiencing shame about myself for my entire life.
I was so hard on myself and constantly strove for perfection – I was completely inaccessible to unconditional love for myself.
I was afraid of my own potential and had weak inner certainty.
Acne treatments and remedies I tried in the past and eventually felt the disappointment from.
Removed my Copper IUD
30-Day Candida cleanse (this was so restrictive and difficult to make it through)
NutriBody Analysis
Supplements! (so so many supplements, of all kinds)
Saw an esthetician (spent SO much money on products and facials)
Trying to balance hormones on my own via Chinese herbs and my diet
Eating fewer ‘heat’ related foods and more ‘cooling’ foods
Laser peel (extreme & very painful...to improve scarring and rough skin left from acne)
Apple cider vinegar toner
Dry brushing my face
Oil cleansing
“Green Drinks” (ya know the kind, packed with green superfood powders like spirulina, chlorella, & wheatgrass)
DIY Turmeric “Bombs”
Reducing sugar intake and balancing blood sugar levels
Bought an expensive juicer for cleanses (researching for HOURS if I should get an auger juicer or centrifugal, asking friends about it, really lamenting over if I was going to heat up the vegetables “too much” and risk all of the beneficial vitamins in the juice)
Trying to find the thickest foundation possible to “cover up” my pimples. (This isn’t getting to the root cause, but I remember feeling like all the makeup was too thin, it was never thick enough and my pimples showed through. I remember sitting in Sephora asking, “what is your thickest foundation?”)
Eating fermented foods and making bone broth
Acupuncture & cupping therapy (I still stand behind acupuncture and its amazing benefits. Unfortunately, it’s often not covered by insurance and is not accessible to everyone.)
As you may interpret from that list, I was hell-bent on healing my skin and I was willing to do almost anything. Including suffering. To be honest, at the time I believed that was how healing was meant to be.
I believed each treatment and remedy helped on some level because I did notice changes. But, inevitably I found myself in a cycle where my acne would improve and I thought I had finally figured it out, and then after weeks or months, it would get bad again. That’s when I would begin researching again, trying another new thing, constantly seeking an answer.
In hindsight I can now see that in addition to not finding the acne relief I was after, the perceived dead-ends internally created resentment, more complications, feelings of failure and depression.
When I had a breakthrough.
It took me about 6 years of trying everything that I listed above to get to a place where I wasn’t even 100% thrilled with my skin, but it was far better than it had been, so I thought I could just live with it like that.
But the dissatisfaction kept me seeking…
In 2018, what seemed like out-of-the-blue, I started getting cystic acne along my jawline and chin. (Looking back, it wasn’t out-of-the-blue at all. What I can’t stress enough is that my skin was a direct reflection of the thoughts and feelings I was having about life and about myself, and at the time I had absolutely no idea!)
After months of frustration, and my skin continuing to get worse, again, I was desperate for a solution.
The mounting dissatisfaction and seeking eventually led me inwards. Instead of giving up I went within.
This time, I decided to try my new-found knowledge of processing my feelings using energy and somatic healing techniques to help solve my acne dilemma once and for all. I couldn’t believe the results; the more repressed emotions, disempowering beliefs, fears, and negative self-talk that I processed, the clearer my skin became!
Through this journey of trial and error, I learned that dealing with acne goes beyond just finding the right product. It requires patience, self-compassion, and understanding that clear skin is not the sole definition of beauty or worth. While the disappointment from failed treatments was real, it also taught me valuable lessons about self-care and acceptance in a world where flawless skin is often equated with success and happiness.
The path I found to be most beneficial.
Somatic healing techniques (tuning into the body’s sensations and working with that wisdom/energy) have been life-changing for me. Not only were somatic practices the turning point in healing my skin, but they also sparked such a passion within me I became an emotional healing guide – with a passion for helping others struggling with acne.
I first felt the powerful somatic healing effect of truly feeling the visceral sensations of emotions via “Tapping” (Emotional Freedom Technique). This was literally life-changing for me! All my life I’ve felt emotions very strongly. And then I got into Human Design and learned that I have an undefined Solar Plexus so I’m also very in tune with the emotions of those around me. Yet, for most of my life I never had a way to deal with all of these feelings – at times they were physically unbearable or would spontaneously erupt through tears because I couldn’t hold them all in anymore.
Stopping and becoming present with what I am feeling in my body allows me to feel so much more emotionally balanced and stable, rather than being a victim of strong uncomfortable emotions.
How I learned about the underlying cause of acne.
Learning how my emotional and mental spaces impact my physical body was, life-changing. I don’t say that for dramatic effect. I quite literally mean that it changed everything for me in the best way!
Acne is described as “not accepting the self/dislike of the self.”
When I first read that, I couldn’t help but see a connection. Being truly honest with myself, that’s the lens I viewed myself through. I know now that my acne was a message from my body that I needed to change my self-perception, improve my self-esteem, learn to radically accept all parts of myself, and heal old hurts by addressing my emotions rather than running away from them or pushing them down. Plain and simple, I needed to learn to love my whole self. My acne invited me into deeper love and acceptance of myself. I’m so glad I finally said “yes.”
The challenges that I experienced on my healing journey.
It takes TIME to heal. And as much as I wish I could change this, healing is not linear. My skin would clear up and then suddenly get bad again. At first, it seemed the more energy work I did, the more breakouts I would get. I now understand that this was simply my body healing – “detoxing” from deep wounds and suppressed emotional baggage that needed to surface. Eventually, my skin evened out and cleared up.
This is deep inner work. It took commitment and continuing to show up for myself. It took courage to face fears, to face the shadow part of myself I may not always want to admit is there, and to face my ego, which ultimately tried to keep me from change because it felt scary and unsafe.
On the other side of all that, however, is self-empowerment, self-love, and personal freedom (AND clear skin, a physical reflection of my self-acceptance). In my opinion, all of that is 100% worth the effort, time, and loads of tears that surely fell from feeling (to my core) all those feelings. ;)
How I am feeling these days.
I’m now able to confidently leave the house and post photos on the internet without wearing makeup!
Today, I have a completely different outlook about my skin and life in general. I used to be desperate and obsessed with my skin. The minute I would wake up, before I even got out of bed, I would touch my face to see if I had any new acne pop up overnight. Then, I would get out of bed, go to the mirror, and assess how my skin looked. I thought about my skin every free moment I had — a constant negative thought loop running all day long. ALL I wanted was clear skin.
Since then, my skin has cleared up and I no longer get the deep cystic acne that lasted for weeks. I feel so much more comfortable in my skin that I can leave the house (or post a photo to the whole damn internet) without a stitch of makeup on and feel confident doing so. And when I do get a pimple from time to time, I am far less obsessive about it, and I now know how to assist the healing process (pretty quickly).
When I look in the mirror, I truly see myself and now I can say I fully love the person I see in the reflection. And that’s a HUGE shift from my reality in 2011. I now choose to look at my acne as a way to learn something about myself. For example, what is my body trying to communicate? Or, what in my present life triggered a wounded part of me that my body is asking me to see, hear, and love?
Simply put, now I’m able to recognize my acne as my greatest teacher. My skin provided the invitation into deeper love for myself, the very heart of what I was seeking all along.
Now It’s Your Turn
It's common to feel like your confidence, mood, and even energy levels are impacted by the condition of your skin. You might tell yourself, "Once my skin is clear, I'll be more social, sure of myself, and finally feel happy and free." However, trying to fix your skin so you can feel these states is a never-ending battle.
The old-school formula, “Acne + Healing my skin = I feel good about who I am,” leaves you at the mercy of your skin and what you see in the mirror. It's why so many acne sufferers struggle to feel confident in themselves, as they are now.
Instead, I help people flip the outdated approach on its head. Rather than fixing something to feel how you want to feel, we work with your emotional body to create how you want to feel first. The Feeling First approach creates a solidness in yourself, a strong, open heart, and a softened shell that empowers you and transforms your skin.
The new formula becomes: “Acne + Feeling sure of myself = Healing my skin.”
This works with your heart to create an inner environment that prioritizes a healthy relationship with yourself and serves as the foundation for clearer, healed skin. Tending to yourself in this way is a spiritual experience that sustains the health of your skin and self-relationship for the long run.
Interested? I’d love to support you with a first step.
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