Scots skin clinic gets acne scarred US soldier ready to face world again

A US solider who travelled to Scotland for groundbreaking acne treatment says it has changed his life.

From the age of 11, Jeffrey Southards, 26, from Missouri, battled severe acne which left him with no confidence and hating himself.

Now, after treatment which removed the deep scarring from his face, he finally feels confident enough to follow his dreams to become a surgeon.

Jeffrey, who has been serving in Germany, attended the Ever Clinic in Glasgow, which has perfected a technique to separate acne-scarred skin and make it smooth again.

The soldier, who serves with the 2nd Cavalry Regiment in Bavaria, said: “As a teenager growing up with severe acne, I spent half my life looking in the mirror and hating what I saw.

“Acne didn’t just make me hate my skin; it made me hate myself.” Jeffrey said constant breakouts and the eruption of large, painful cysts which would bleed ­profusely caused him years of teenage angst, leaving his face with deep pockmarks and scars.

The soldier said: “Acne doesn’t just scar you physically, it scars you psychologically. It doesn’t matter how fit you are, how smart you are or how nice your hair is. When you have these giant cysts on your face and spots which bleed, it affects you deeply. I felt really bad when I was in high school. It was not a happy time.”

After trying every cream and treatment he could find, Jeffrey decided to travel to Scotland for specialist treatment at Glasgow’s Ever Clinic.

Medical director Dr Cormac Convery, an international aesthetic medicine specialist, said: “Acne is a common but problematic skin condition – 90% of acne sufferers have some form of scarring which is permanent. It impacts daily lives. In Jeffrey’s case this included bullying and a lot of negative emotions.”

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Dr Convery carried out two phases of treatment. The first involved meticulously separating the inner and outer layers of skin which had been fused together by deep acne scarring across Jeffrey’s cheeks and temples.

The second phase involved resurfacing scarred skin with lasers. Two weeks later, Jeffrey’s skin was healed, revealing smooth skin.

Jeffrey said: “I feel like a whole new person after all those years feeling embarrassed about my skin. It’s still a shock to look in the mirror and see the scar marks I hated so much are all gone now. I tilt my face this way and that and only see smooth skin. It’s amazing.

“I chose to stay awake during the procedures so I could watch. It was fascinating.

“I’d gone through years of pain having acne, I wanted to feel myself being released. I feel so much more confident now.”

After almost three years in the army, Jeffrey now plans to go to medical school to become a cardiothoracic surgeon.

He said: “I’ve already started anatomy classes. I’m looking forward to doing what really interests me now. I learned to have the life you want, you need to be happy with the skin you’re in.”

Dr Convery said: “It was clear from our first conversations that Jeffrey was deeply affected by his skin condition. We knew we could help him because we have invested significantly in the lasers and specialist equipment. We are the only Scottish clinic doing this work.”