Acne is a common problem, that not only causes embarrassment but often low self-esteem problems as well.  It is not easy to accept that you have skin problems, especially during the teenage years, when your appearance often determines your social standing with peers.

Miss Teen American 2004, Chelsea Fahey, all together won more than ten beauty pageants and was a celebrated child model.  Unfortunately Chelsea, who was used to being considered very beautiful and becoming, faced a huge setback once she entered her teenage years.

During the seventh grade, Chelsea suddenly came down with really bad acne. It was so bad, and she was so humiliated and embarrassed that she had acne, that she did all she could to avoid people from having to look at her. She would hold her hair in front of her face, or only look down when people were talking with her, so that she would not have to see their horror when they looked at her face.

Unfortunately, acne not only affects the sufferer’s face, but also their emotions and personality.  Even though it is such a common problem amongst teenagers, still even the strongest teen has a hard time coping with it’s effects. Most teens, between the ages of twelve to seventeen will suffer from one form of acne or another, and as many as forty percent will be diagnosed with severe acne. This causes scarring of the face, which lasts well into adulthood, causing the emotional effects to linger that long as well with some people.

In Chelsea Fahey’s case, she stopped seeing her friends and did not go out on dates. She did not want anyone to touch her face, and she even covered all of the mirrors up in her house so that she did not have to face herself. Even though she tried using various pills and creams, nothing seemed to work. To further compound the problem, Chelsea’s mother said that she refused to talk about her acne, or even admit that she had a problem. This made it very difficult for her to try treatments, as she did not want to even admit she had a problem.

Most teenagers who do have acne are usually able to find some of the best acne treatments that works, but in order to do so they need to be able to discuss their acne and possible treatments with their parents and health providers.