Acne - The Lesser Villain of Covid-19
They appeared subtly, slowly and without obvious cause at first
Obviously, this is a bit of a gag because if we consider the Covid-19 pandemic, there are much bigger issues than a face full of pimples. However, as a doctor at an Australian hospital during the outbreak of Covid, I find myself facing a totally different issue than patient care.
As the initial panic spread throughout Australia in early March 2020, my hospital began planning for a pandemic. I was working in the emergency department at that time with sections of our work area suddenly being declared "dirty" (for any poor soul who rocked up with a cough or sore throat etc). New measures were put in place to protect us and our patients - wearing "clean" clothes/shoes to work then changing into a "dirty" set when we arrived, wearing full PPE when treating a patient with respiratory symptoms, washing our hands even more than before (no less than 5 times a minute). Inevitably, wearing masks and scrub hats at all times while working in the department became the normal. Thankfully, I was moved out of ED around that time and onto my new rotation - Oncology.
Throughout the months of March and April, I noticed a slow sprouting of red, angry pimples on my face, arms, shoulders and back. They didn't all pop up at once, rather, as a gradual emergence on my previously clear skin. By mid-April I realised this wasn't just a random breakout, this was the real deal! Somehow, without noticing it, I was reliving the puberty smackdown of my 14-year-old self. I immediately turned to cleansers and peels to eradicate the issue, but no matter what I tried, the pimples persisted. It seemed that every time one spot disappeared, two would take it's place. Every pimple-clearing product was useless and seemed to enrage them even more. I eventually decided to leave them alone and wait for whatever was causing them to stop.
Now in mid-May, the acne is ongoing but the multi factorial reason behind it has become apparent. During a conversation with my best friend despairing over the gross new party-crashers on my face and body, he had a remarkably simple answer for me: Stress. With a nation in panic and my hospital in sudden overdrive, the manifestations of stress in doctors can come in many forms. I thought I was doing alright with the busy days, the hours of unpaid overtime and the constant fear of outbreak in the hospital, but it seems my body is trying to tell me something. The current hospital climate is unprecedented, with daily changes to workplace structure in response to the fluid international pandemic. While this sudden pimple problem of mine is likely a result of multiple factors on top of Covid, I cannot deny the pressure that has been placed on my colleagues and I lately.
Covid-19 has changed us all in so many ways, and this is one of mine. I'm happy to accept a face full of pimples though, as I know this will end eventually. We all must maintain hope and solidarity in facing this crisis, and maybe one day soon, Covid-19 will disappear, and so will my raging acne.