This Woman's Accutane Transformation Photos Went Viral — Before and After Acne Photos

What's cool (and scary, at times) about living in the age that we do is the sheer fact that just about anyone — even Average Joes like myself! — have the potential to share personal stories and/or passions on social media and become famed for it for it.

That's precisely what happened to Kali Kushner, a 22-year-old who, over the last two years, has amassed more than 22,000 followers for sharing her journey using Accutane, a powerful form of acne treatment. What's ironic, though, is that Kushner never planned on getting so popular. She spoke with Marie Claire about her experience, telling the mag that she "honestly didn’t start the account with any idea or goal of getting noticed." Her original mission was to simply track her progress while taking her six-month course of Accutane, which for anyone wondering, was not the first form of treatment she tried in the hopes of clearing her cystic acne.

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In fact, she told Marie Claire that she had tried seemingly everything out there on her skin — which she says went ballistic one month in 2014, with cystic breakouts spanning her entire face — that she realized she had to try something else. (She'd even tried the "caveman method," which is a technique in which you don't use anything on your face at all.)

Once she discussed it with her dermatologist and made the decision to go on Accutane, things changed virtually overnight. "It was honestly like magic," she said, explaining that is started to clear up within the first three weeks of use. She does note, however, that she did experience two unfortunate side effects of the drug: dryness and aching. "It’d take me 10 minutes just to get out of bed in the morning, because my back was so sore," she said.

Despite the downsides, Kushner was ecstatic with the results and took to her Instagram, @myfacestory, to document the ongoing process and provide updates for her followers. She quickly began racking up the followers and now receives as many as 50 messages a day from people either asking her for advice and/or commenting on her progress, which she depicts through unfiltered before-and-after photos.

What I find particularly rad about Kushner's journey is that she discusses how misunderstood acne is as a condition, explaining how people sometimes assume the reason behind blemishes is due to the fact that don't wash your face enough. She adds that what so many people don't understand is that there are myriad other acne-causing factors, including, but not limited to, hormones, blood sugar, and genetics.

Now, albeit she's been off of Accutane for over a year, Kushner continues to post selfies and use her platform as a means to dispel the above myth — and ultimately offer hope for other acne sufferers. Check out some of her transformation photos, below, and be sure to throw her a follow if you fancy skin updates and unfiltered chats about the way we approach beauty.

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Follow Kaleigh Fasanella on Twitter.