Among the many detrimental effects of long-term substance use is the impact on a person’s skin. How and why does substance use affect your skin? Will it heal over time?
Like many women in their early twenties, I had great skin. A combination of youth and a daily skincare routine kept my face looking bright and unblemished. Occasional breakouts did happen, but they were rare and never serious.
But then I started using substances. I became addicted and long-term, heavy substance abuse followed. Before long, I looked very different. Not only was I underweight and lethargic, but my skin took a heavy beating.
The good news is that, today, my skin looks great. To give you a better idea of how I got here and why this happened, I’ll take a little bit of your time to share my journey.
Early Days: My Skin on Substances
Becoming addicted was a gradual process for me. However, my skin started showing signs of deterioration early on. After just a few weeks of substance use, I noticed that the glow was gone. My skincare routine had not changed, but it no longer seemed to work as well as it had.
The first thing I noticed was dryness. No matter how much expensive moisturizer I used, my face felt and looked dry. I became self-conscious about it but was not too concerned just yet.
Then the acne showed up. I hadn’t had a serious acne issue since my teenage years. A zit or two was no big deal, but they didn’t simply fade as they once had.
Still, it felt like a problem that I could solve with the right products. Then everything got much worse.
Deterioration: Sores, Wrinkles, and More
It was when the sores started showing up that I connected my skin issues with substance use. I had seen similar blemishes on some of the people I hung out with who I believed had worse addiction problems than me. It struck me that my use of substances was no longer recreational.
The sores made me feel ugly, but still felt reversible. It was when I started noticing wrinkles, dark bags under my eyes, crows feet, and sunkenness that I truly freaked out. Looking in the mirror, I saw a much older person. I still had no motivation to stop using substances. How old would I look when (or if) I did eventually stop?
From the outside, this may seem like one of the more superficial consequences of addiction to substances. But it wasn’t just a matter of vanity. I worried people looked at me and saw a junkie. I started to consider myself ugly. My self-esteem plummeted.
People with addiction problems suffer with self-esteem issues and it becomes a vicious cycle. I used more substances to alleviate the emotional pain, which only made my skin worse.
Things seemed bleak. Fortunately, many of the skin issues caused by addiction are reversible.
Let’s get into why substance use affects the skin.
The Science Behind How Substances Affect Your Skin
Different substances affect the skin in different ways, so I’m not going to go too deep into the science of any particular substance. However, there are some common effects we can talk about in brief.
For instance, some substances can cause users to pick at their skin obsessively, leading to sores and infections. Many dehydrate the skin, leading to dryness, dullness, and flakiness and reducing the skin’s elasticity. Substances can also reduce the body’s ability to fight off infections, causing sores and abscesses that take a long time to heal.
There are also indirect impacts that substances have on skin. When addicted to substances, your eating habits may become very unhealthy, leading to nutrient deficiencies that affect the skin. Many people also stop taking care of their skin, with the ability to stick to routines going out the window.
This is only the tip of the iceberg. Since the circulatory system, blood vessels, and hygiene are all negatively impacted, the skin really starts to suffer.
So, how did I reach a place where I’m happy with how my skin looks? The answer is simple, even if getting there can be tough.
Getting Clean
My skin issues were not the final straw. By the time I went to rehab, my whole life was a mess. But, after I had detoxed and spent a few weeks off substances, my skin began to improve on its own.
Without the substances in my system, my acne began to fade. Moisture returned to my skin, bringing back some of the glow I’d once cherished. Sores closed up and started to heal.
I also committed to taking care of my skin again, with the ability to motivate myself and keep a regular routine. Gradually, I began to feel better about how I looked. My mental health was improving in general, and my self-esteem slowly returned.
Did my skin return to how it looked in my heyday? Not quite. I have a few acne scars and reversing the premature aging was only so successful. But that doesn’t mean I don’t look great. I look healthy and close enough to my actual age. My skin feels good and the extra measures I’m taking to improve it are working.
Conclusion
Substances affect your skin in a number of ways, leading to dryness, sores, wrinkles, and other issues. This can be very hard on your self-esteem. However, I’ve learned that these problems do not have to be permanent. While it is impossible to turn back time to before you used substances, detoxing and staying clean lead to a natural improvement. With a commitment to skincare, you can get back to looking healthy and full of energy.
