 |
| Source: Wikimedia Commons ~ Bekstet (author) |
Topic advisory: I promise this post is not remotely anti-religious, but it does contain coverage of "dermatological derangement" against a backdrop of ecclesiastical turmoil.
Back in 2016 I wrote a post on a couple of skin issues, namely dark circles under my eyes (I don't remember ever having them in fact!) and acne. In those days I used a multi-faceted approach to subdue the spots, including antibiotics, probiotics, fish oil (to tamp down inflammation generally), and a suite of La Roche-Posay products: Effaclar Duo (a spot zapping cream), plus an astringent exfoliant of theirs and a spray called Serozinc, and finally, jojoba oil.
For anyone who doesn't remember the original post - which I am guessing is more or less everyone reading! (otherwise skip down to "The antibiotic remedy I was given") - here are some extracts from it again (it's 52 rather than 43 years now...):
"...I have suffered from acne continuously for 43 years. A GP once described me, with perhaps a little more candour than was indicated, as, technically speaking - from a hormonal perspective - 60% man. Another breezily remarked that in my case, puberty might well segue seamlessly into the menopause and beyond. And blow me, but he was right too. I don't know what percentage of the population experience uninterrupted skin eruptions well into middle age, but I know that acne in adults, especially women, is more common than you might think. Spots tend to be confined to the jawline and chin in adulthood at least - when I was 18 I had them all over my face - topping out at 64 in total during the 'acme' of my acne, as it were. It is hard for non-sufferers to imagine the extent of pain and discomfort involved, not to mention the blow to one's self-confidence - even now, it isn't easy to socialise when I get major breakouts, as for one thing having acne seems downright incongruous at this time of life.
One unexpected upside of my problem skin was the fact that it turned out to be my passport to a year spent as a teaching 'assistante' in a school on the Riviera. At an interview to decide whereabouts in France I was to be deployed, I had a chance to defend my top choice of the Cote d'Azur. I think my reason surprised the judging panel, for instead of mentioning the usual suspects of a chance to 'swan about on yachts' or 'go celeb spotting at the Cannes Film Festival', I piped up: 'The sun will be good for my acne', and that was that.
...Oh, and following an overnight explosion of some 30 pustules(!) the day the Pope died in 2005, I managed to secure an emergency appointment with a German pharmacist, who - using only an enormous encyclopaedia and a winning smile - knocked up a wonder blend of two antibiotics in cream form, that had the rash subdued within a week or so. Meanwhile, I kept my back to the window in meetings at all times, and cupped my erupting chin pensively in my hand."
The antibiotic remedy I was given was really quite ingenious, and my doctor back in Britain said he would never think to make a paste out of two antibiotics, or even use antibiotics in cream form to start with. The handwriting was so sketchy on the red and white plastic "sippy cup"-style receptacle the mixture came in that it was several years before the doctor twigged definitively to what it said, and he made a point of telling me at my next appointment: erythromicin and metronidazole.
Around that time I happened to be working in Germany near the town where the pharmacy had been, so I made a detour to go back and thank the lady concerned. She really was a star, even though the first couple of days were still cringe-makingly embarrassing while the cream got to work.
These days, at the age of nearly 66, my complexion is much better on the whole, and Effaclar Duo+ Unifiant is the only skincare product I use for breakouts now. It is a foundation-coloured cream that stings a bit and dries the spot out very effectively - often overnight or in a couple of nights at most. It can also be layered quite easily with foundation - it blends in well, and even on its own the colour happens to work with my skin tone. It is a little drying, so you need to keep your skin hydrated the rest of the time, but I tend not to moisturise that area at night when treating the spot, so as not to dilute the product's drying efficacy. It is worth experimenting to find the way to apply Effaclar Duo that looks unobtrusive by day, while allowing it to work optimally at night. Unless a spot is really bad, I tend to only treat it at night when I don't mind what I look like. The other great thing about the product, apart from how well it works, is that the tube has a very finely tapered top, so you can dispense minute amounts just where you want them.
As you may have inferred, the trigger for this post was the recent passing of Pope Francis. Since the death of John Paul II, which coincided with my original outbreak, there was Benedict XVI, though he retired of course rather than died, so I don't count him. Meaning that Francis is the only pope to die in office since that fateful day in 2005.
Well, you can imagine that on the day the news was announced I peered anxiously in the mirror to see what mayhem might have appeared on my chin overnight. There was one lone but quite red and angry spot that had yet to come to a head, so I'd got away lightly this time. ;) And let's hope the next pope is pretty young (as they go), such that when he finally joins the Holy See in the sky, I will at last be well past puberty in dermatological terms.
Oh, and I can thoroughly recommend the film "Conclave"...!
 |
| 1903 Conclave ~ Source: Wikimedia Commons (unknown author) |
Editor's note
The timing of this post is in no way a predictor of future posting frequency, but I ran with it on account of its being "topical", plus my last post was only really an announcement of something in the press...
Photo at the top is of the cathedral in Xanten, where the original incident occurred.
