I don't have a ton of experience with meth addicts, but I am aware of what heavy meth use does to your appearance. Does anybody know if, once meth use is stopped, those effects are lessened at all? Or does your face just stay that way?
I have seen some people actually come back from a heavy Meth addiction and almost have their face back. That depends on the degree of the damage. Some people have acne while on meth and they pick at their face until it is scarred up and discolored. It gets bad once it get a hold of you and your body turns on itself. Most cleaned up addicts that I know that do look almost as they did before the Meth is usually not the same as far as their reaction time and their personality is different. They are normally never the same.
It takes about a 3 weeks to see a visible difference, 6 months to have a marked difference and a year to really see what the end result will be. Sadly, most people cause enough damage to never return to exactly how they looked, however, most can make some remarkable changes - essentially almost normal again. There are always reminders nonetheless. Moisturizers, acne-reducing cream and facial washes can help the skin recover and promote regrowth. As Joshposh has said, while physical scars can heal, mental ones are a lot harder...
I've never touched meth a day in my life. People are to quick to assume that if a person has sores or marks on their face they are on some sort of drug, and this is a result. I am a picker I'll pick at a bug bite til it's a big sore once I know it's there I'll just stay at it. For me it's a force of habit my son is the same way. He is 22 and has black heads and some acne. He picks as well just habit. I do admit I do wonder about some people because not only are their faces, and arms have sores. Their teeth are in terrible shape so I try, and look at the teeth.
I know some people who took meth and for a long time the face just remained the same and even when they stopped taking it, they just looked the same and were more healthy when they stopped, as they were able to sort their life out and do more with their life. I think it is interesting to see what happens and also the face can sometimes be weird looking, or it will be like if the person has been injured or the face got messed up. It can be strange when the person has a face which can be scary looking, when they stop taking meth and have some people who did look like that.
While some people can return to something that resembles their initial look, they will never look the same again. Also, meth turns you into a totally different person. Even if you recover your aesthetics, you will never be the same person ever again.
Wow, where do these people buy this stuff? Are we blessed in Canada or something? I've never seen the stuff you guys are describing, sorry. Yes, I've known people who have picked at sores and some do and some don't use meth. And no, their faces don't stay that way when t hey stop and start using proper hygiene again. Has anyone ever stopped and thought "Hey, I wonder if people have bad skin and bad teeth when they use, because they generally have real bad hygiene." It is usually not the drug itself, at least not entirely, it is the person's desire to look after themselves. They don't. Now, I will have to say, that meth, and other drugs, are toxins, and as they are toxins, your body is going to look for a way to get rid of it. How it does it is by sweating it out your pores. And when you don't drink enough water, and you don't wash up enough, these toxins get sweated out, depleting your body of even more water, which makes the toxins you sweat out the next time even more concentrated. What happens? Gee, lets think about it. Blemishes, sores, etc. Then you add insult to injury by picking at these things with hands that haven't seen soap and water since what? OK, lesson over.
Most of them definitely need some skin care services once they stop, mainly because their skin becomes highly dehydrated and damaged. While it's possible to look healthy again after a period of meth addiction, I don't think it's possible to fully recover. EVER.
There are some people that we might think are heavy meth users because of looking too thin, aged fast than usual and dehydrated. I think the recovery period for their looks will vary on various reason like severity and if there will processes for recovery to be involved.
It varies on people's genes sometime. Hydration, skin care products. A lot of water, vitamins and veggies are your best bet. Not only does it destroy your brain, you don't shower, clean and just bask in your sweat for days on end, ugh.
I have no idea what the use of meth does to the face. I have never come in contact with anyone who is addicted to it. I just know it has a serious effect on the brain so you lose consciousness of the day to day activities you normally do.
This is usually due to a combination of things like lack of nutrition, lack of hygeine, dehydration and constriction of arteries and blood vessels. Meth causes you to become dehydrated and malnourished very quickly. It basically makes you shrink and even if you do look after yourself, it's often not good enough to counteract the adverse effects of meth. Some people may improve once they quit and begin looking after themselves properly but there's no guarantee. In some cases it's already too late.
The best way is to not touch it or the sores. Leave them alone. Hemp oil works the best. Hot steam to draw it out. Scars can go away with the steam. Alternating the hemp oil and coconut oil. If the sores are open aloe vera will reduce the marking of scars. Drinking lots of water and working on the lymphatic system to get the skin going.
It really depends on what happened with the person when they were using. Some people do permanent damage picking at their skin and at sores. Of course this will get better when they quit but as the posters above mentioned, it can take some time to heal and no one will know for sure until they have been clean for awhile. Also, meth can cause a lot of tooth damage, this of course can be fixed but it will never be the same as the original healthy teeth, and it can be expensive just to have them looking nice again. That said I know some ex-meth addicts who have been clean a number of years and are very attractive, you would never know if they didn't tell you.
It is so sad! I have seen so many people get clean and they still always look different than before. However, some people do recover and you would never know.
I think that the odds of you recovering your face once you quit taking meth depend upon how much damage you actually inflicted yourself. Obviously damages such as teeth loss are irreversible, but the overall aspect of your facial skin might have a chance to recover, sure.
It's hard, I have seen how really good looking gals end up looking 30 years older or so... very very wrinkly! I think it's hard to go back to one's former self after such a thing... I mean, it is known that dehydration can cause wrinkles to appear early, but I think those who used meth long enough no matter how much water they drink or throw on themselves... they will never end up looking the same.
I'm going to say that in most cases it is to late with heavy use. You may be almost like before, but never again the same. Especially with damage to the skin.
Sorry to hear what you have gone through, but unfortunately people can be quit ignorant. A meth face is unconfusable, it goes beyond just sores on their faces. Their whole expression is different and they have a very vague look in their eyes and seem as if they are in pain.
After about a year of heavy use do the effects really start to set in- permanently, or almost permanently. Until then, and these are just estimated numbers, quitting would have great effects on one's face. I'm sure even after a year that quitting would do wonders, but it's best to quit early, heck, it's best never to start!