My skin story: How I went from hiding my skin to helping others heal theirs

Our skin is amazing and its our biggest organ of the body.

Did you know that the skin often reflects what is going on inside the body?

When we have a problem with our skin, being such a visible organ, it really can impact on our life.

In this blog, I tell my story about the skin problems I have had over the years, what has worked and what hasn’t.

It is not a ‘woe is me’ story it's hopefully inspiring, informative and shows that there is hope and a huge amount that that can be done to improve your skin conditions naturally.

It is also the reason that I now do what I do- helping other people with their skin problems with nutrition and natural skincare.

Childhood acne

My own skin problems started when I was at school -yes I had the usual acne that school kids have, but mine seemed to start much earlier than everyone else and seemed to be much more severe and inflamed. It is hard enough being this age anyway, without anything else that will make you self-conscious and uncomfortable with how you look.

The only option given by the GP was to take the oral contraceptive pill and/ or courses of antibiotics and use very harsh topical creams and gels which would really dry out and irritate my skin. It is also worth highlighting here that anything that dries your skin out can lead to more oil production and therefore more acne.

What you need to know about using the oral contraceptive pill and antibiotics for skin problems

The oral contractive pill has a number of side effects including depleting the levels of various nutrients in the body, which then impacts on your skin, so this can make the problem worse.

Antibiotics also make it worse. They may initially clear the skin by reducing the bacteria and reducing the inflammation but it ultimately it doesn't solve the problem and it just leaves you with an unbalanced gut microflora which leads to various other health issues, including more problems with your skin. It’s a vicious cycle.

Eczema

In addition to the acne, I also had eczema on my hands and lower arms for many years.

They were large patches of eczema and again they were very red and inflamed.                                   

It might be gone now but I still remember it like it was yesterday- wearing long sleeves that would cover my hands and always keeping my hands out of sight as much as possible.

After all, Your hands are on display for all to see. They are a way of expressing ourselves and can be part of how we dress or present our self- if we have our nails done or wear rings or bracelets.

It is very difficult to hide big patches of eczema or dermatitis on our hands and this can make us feel anxious which in turn can make the eczema worse.

The only option available (that I was aware of) was steroid creams, so that was what I used.

What you need to know about using steroid creams for skin problems

The steroid creams dampen down the inflammation that is driving the eczema and give a bit of relief, but they don't actually get to and resolve the root cause of the problem and when you stop using them, it comes back.

Steroid creams also thin the skin which over time leads to more skin problems.

They also impact on the adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands are really important for hormone production- hormones which impact on many different parts of the body.

If you want to have regulated metabolism, regulated blood pressure and be able to respond to everyday stress, you need your adrenal glands to be working properly.

Rosacea

The Rosacea appeared on my face in my early 20’s. There are lots of factors which cause and drive Rosacea, but in my case I think it was stress and anxiety- probably because I had used the steroid creams so much, amongst other factors.

I remember spending a lot of money on creams and ointments, all promising to give some relief to my skin, but what i needed to do was find ways to manage my stress and anxiety.

Taking control

I tried various things over the years to try and resolve my skin problems myself from articles that I had read or been told from other people about certain products, exclusion diets, internet searches and so on.

The problem is, what worked for someone else doesn’t necessarily work for you – it depends on what is causing it in the first place. Trying lots of different things and not really knowing what is working or working is frustrating and stressful.

Personally I believe that you can only really understand what it's like to be struggling with your skin or have a skin condition when you've been through it yourself because only then can you truly understand the impact that it can have on your self-esteem, your confidence and the way in which you show up or don't show up for things in life. It is not necessarily life threatening but it is hugely debilitating.

When you have a visible skin problem, you don't care what the solution is and to a certain extent you don't care how much it costs, you just want to get rid of it.

You want it to not be the first thing you think about and look at in the morning when you wake and the thing that influences how good your day is going to be.

In the end, I went to see a Nutritional Therapist for my other health problems and this really helped, not just those, but my skin too. I started researching in to the causes of skin problems and this interest eventually led me to training to become a Nutritional Therapist myself.

So, what factors impact on our skin?

There are lots of factors that influence our skin and whether we have problems with our skin and skin conditions.

Internal factors include

·        Good digestion and gut health

·        Hormones that are balanced- such as cortisol, oestrogen, progesterone and insulin

·        Stress management

·        An effective detoxification system

·        How nutritious our diet is

When I had the acne and the eczema I was also struggling with other health problems as well but at the time of course I didn't realise that there was any link or correlation at all between my skin issues and some of the other health problems that I was experiencing such as problems with my digestion and mental health struggles such as anxiety and poor sleep.

We also need our liver and other parts of our detoxification system to be working properly if we are going to have clear, healthy skin, alongside balanced hormones and a nutritious diet that gives your body what it needs to function properly.

External factors

Externally, this comes down to what you use on your skin to help to soothe, heal and repair it (rather than making it dry, sore and more irritated). There are some incredible plants with healing properties making them ideal to help with skin conditions without the need for synthetic ingredients.

Once you start giving your skin what it needs, you start seeing real results.

 What you can do

Go to your GP in the first instance. This is important for them to rule out any other issues and do any tests -for example when I went about my Rosacea, at the time it looked like lupus, so it was important for that to be ruled out. Get a diagnosis and then you know what you are working with.

You can then work with a practitioner who can help you and you can do this alongside what you are doing with your GP and consultant if you would like to.

The important thing to know is that there is so much that can be done naturally, you really don’t need to suffer in silence and you don’t need to rely on antibiotics and steroid creams or cutting out important food groups from your diet.

If you are ready to stop struggling with your skin (or watching your children struggle with theirs) and start taking the right action with support from me, I would love to help.

Go to my website www.naturallygrownhealth.co.uk and book a call to discuss the right way forward for you or your family member.

Hi, I’m Amy Woodcock, a registered Nutritional Therapist, specialising in the skin and a natural skincare creator with a skincare range created for sensitive and problem skin.

I work with adults and children. I am based in Worcestershire and i offer online appointments. My natural, handcrafted skincare range is available to buy from my website. www.naturallygrownhealth.co.uk