How to Have a Clear Skin


How to Have a Clear Skin

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What we see in the mirror is not always what the world sees.

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Having clear skin is so important to the way we view ourselves.

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I just literally have these spots

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all of the time and it's so annoying.

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85% of young people get spots.

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There's a lot of people out there whose lives are changed by acne.

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-I know it changed my life a lot.

-Morning!

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Am I your alarm clock?

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-'This is...

-Gemma Cairney...

-BBC Radio One.'

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I'm Gemma Cairney and I'm at the Lovebox Festival in London

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to find out just how big a problem skin is for young people.

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So, I'm doing a documentary about acne.

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Is it anything that's bothered you ever in the past?

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We had this massive discussion before we came,

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because I had a break-out recently and I was like "Oh..."

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But, no... But I don't know, you just deal with it, don't you?

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-Does it get you down?

-Yeah, it does, me, all the time.

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-I had backne for a stage.

-Really? On your back?

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-Yeah, a little bit of backne.

-And how did it make you feel?

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Pretty rubbish at the time,

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but then most people, fingers crossed, get through it.

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-You grew out of it?

-I grew out of it.

-Turn around.

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-Oh, no, this is...

-And now it's all smooth.

-Is it all right?

-It's lovely.

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'This is 15-year-old Will.

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I don't mind the cafe down there...

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'He has severe acne that he says affects his whole life.'

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I had loads of blood on the back of my shirt from where one of

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the spots had popped. It had gone all over my shirt,

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which is pretty painful.

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That's probably the worst bit about having shoulder spots is just

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the pain of putting a bag over your shoulders - it's horrible.

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So, I'm on my way to meet Will. He lives in Selby.

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So, what lotions and potions have you got in here?

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Start out with this, a face wash for men.

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Never works, though.

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I'm getting them on my back,

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really big ones on my shoulders, down my back

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and then, like, more on my cheeks as well, like bigger.

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I wouldn't call them cysts, cos they're not that,

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they're not as big as that,

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but they are fairly big and there's a lot of them.

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What do you think to the attitude that,

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"Oh, spots, it's just a teenage thing,

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"it's something that will pass, don't need to worry about it,

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"you're just being a bit angsty because you're still a kid?"

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There's a lot of people out there whose lives are changed by acne.

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I know it changed my life a lot. So, yeah,

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it should be taken seriously. Very seriously.

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After two years of unsuccessful treatments,

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Will's mum Serena's paying for him to have private treatment

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and I'll follow how he gets on.

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But I want to find out what options are available on the NHS.

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I'm meeting GP Dr Radha Modgil.

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So, how many people have acne?

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So, about 9/10 teenagers will have acne at some stage

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and about 3/10 of those will need some sort of treatment from their GPs.

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It's a really common problem, but it can be helped, it can be sorted out.

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-Massively common, isn't it?

-Huge, huge, absolutely.

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I probably see about three or four people a week, actually,

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coming in with acne and spots.

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Mainly young people, mainly teenagers or under-20-year-olds.

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Really distressed, often, about their symptoms and how it's affecting them.

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For milder forms of acne, there are lots of topical things we can use,

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and by that I mean creams or ointments that you just put on the skin.

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If that didn't work, we'd then move on, perhaps,

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to a different one or we may talk about an oral antibiotic,

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an antibiotic tablet, which you would take.

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Would you suggest that people definitely speak to their GP, then?

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Absolutely. You should definitely go and see your GP,

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because the sooner we see you,

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the sooner we can start any treatment you might need

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and the less chance there is of scarring

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and permanent damage to your skin.

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Here's Dr Modgil's top tips for battling zits.

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Get advice from your GP or a local pharmacist ASAP.

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Start with an acne cream from a high-street chemist.

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Keep positive and try and stay stress-free.

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20-year-old Ravi from Leeds is a journalism student

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who used to have severe acne.

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Now she's getting over it and offers up advice for other sufferers

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through her popular beauty blog.

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Well, I've had acne since I was, I'd say, maybe 13, 14.

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That's when I first started getting it.

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It doesn't make me feel very good looking at these photos.

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I think I've come a long way since having really bad acne like this.

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Like, looking at these photos, I think,

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"Was my skin really like that?"

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I went to the doctors and for acne, he prescribed me a topical lotion

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which I had to apply twice a day and he gave me a course of antibiotics.

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Although the medicine worked at first, Ravi's spots came back.

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I felt a bit, kind of, a bit hopeless all the time

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because I kind of thought there wasn't actually a cure for it

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and I just wanted it to go straight away.

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Next in her acne battle Ravi, tried a cream from the pharmacist

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and that did the trick.

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I found that that one worked immediately

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and it's been the best thing that I've used.

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You don't need a prescription for it and it's less than a fiver.

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On London's Harley Street, Will's having his first treatment.

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So you're probably going to feel the treatment...

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'Suzanne runs a private skin clinic.'

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We're going to bring out all the...

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'She uses a mix of chemicals and enzymes on Will's skin.

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'He'll need many more treatments for it to work

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'and he'll also have to use creams at home.

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'A complete course costs £800.

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I still want to find out a bit more about acne.

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So I'm on my way to see Dr Tony Chu,

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who's one of the leading dermatologists in the UK.

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So, Dr Chu, what is acne?

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Acne's an inflammatory condition

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affecting the hair and the oil gland in the skin.

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The key to it all is you get a blockage in the skin pore

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and it's nothing to do with dirt and grime.

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It's due to a growth change in the skin cells

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and that's all part of the disease, so that restricts the oil flow

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and the oil then pools under the skin, bacteria start proliferating

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and then your immune system reacts and you get inflammation.

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-And these days, people are still made to feel responsible.

-Mm.

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You know, "You're not a nice person, you eat the wrong things,

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"you don't sleep enough and you don't wash." Complete rubbish.

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What I think we need to realise

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is that acne is an incredibly treatable disease.

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I'm on my way back to Harley Street to see how Will is getting on.

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-Hello. How are you?

-I'm good, you?

-Give us a hug, it's been ages!

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-You all right?

-Wow, look at you!

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-How are you feeling?

-Yeah, good.

-Yeah?

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So how many treatments has it been now?

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Uh, seven or eight. I can't remember.

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-And what's it been like?

-Yeah, it's been good.

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-Really good, yeah. Awesome.

-Your face looks really good.

-Thanks.

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After three months there's a real improvement in Will's skin.

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He's halfway through, and it's cost £400.

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What kind of change have you noticed in Will?

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Oh, he's back to his normal outgoing little self.

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He goes out and about more again now with his mates.

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Yeah, just a whole different Will.

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Like Will, Ravi's moving on with her life.

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Back in Leeds, she's lined up a meeting

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with one of the city's top radio journalists.

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You're lucky you've got yourself a make-up artist as a sister.

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Go on, sit on top.

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Ravi's older sister is on hand

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with expert advice on how to hide problem skin.

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I'm just going to apply an oil-free moisturiser

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and then I'm going to apply the foundation.

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Quite light coverage, because you don't want to have something

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that's too cakey, too heavy.

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I've got the concealer, which I'll apply over any areas

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where the foundation hasn't been able to cover it properly

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and then top it off with a powder to set it all in place.

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You look beautiful! Your day will go fine.

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Hello! I'm Ravi, nice to meet you.

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At 12 o'clock, I'm Lisa Allison.

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I had so much fun.

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I liked so much just talking to Lisa, how she got into the industry

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and the things that she had to do and advice that she gave me.

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I know my skin's not completely perfect

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and I've still got a long way to go,

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but I do have more confidence than I did, say, five years ago.

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Hi, I'm Ravinder Ohsan, I'm a journalism student...

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'I think to achieve anything, you have to stay positive.

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'Your life is too short to worry about your skin.

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'Your skin will clear up eventually,'

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so why should you let that hold you back from doing what you want to do?

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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