Severe Acne
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You are currently reading a thread in /adv/ - Advice
You are currently reading a thread in /adv/ - Advice
Does anyone know any treatments for acne that actually work? I have pretty severe cysts all over my face (looks like pic related). Bonus points if you have experience with severe acne.
>>16685712
cover your face in pizza slices so your face turns red all over
Accutane
I had bad acne in my youth
Nothing worked
My parents had mild acne well into their 40s so I was certain I'd be fucked
Went on Accutane and I've not had a single skin problem for years and years
Only side effects I'd experienced were easy burning and dry skin until I was off it, but that's inevitable. My skin is fucking beautiful now
>>16685712
Exercise and washing face with hot cold water trick.
Drink water. Like a shit ton of water. If you already arent on your 3rd liter youre doing it wrong.
Exercise supposedly has a lot of scientific reasons for helping. But Im going to give you my psuedo science reason.
It feels like the liters of sweat Im perspiring burns a lot. Like it burns the acne. I take that as a sign that the pores with acne are being flushed.
Drinking 4 liters of water is what probably did it the most though. I forget the scientific reason why drinking water prevents acne but a doctor actually told me off handedly that my acne is from me not drinking water enough.
>>16685733
How long did it take for the Accutane to work?
>>16685712
this was me in november of 2014. pretty bad aye?
heres what i used to clear it
>tretinoin topical gel
>erythromicin (mixed with benzoyl peroxide is best)
>salicylic shower wash
>face moisturizer
>>16685749
and this is me in february of 2015. much cleared thanks to the above mentioned.
Tretinoin goes on in the morning, it peels the skin or some shit that kills the surface acne.
erythromicin goes on at night, its an anti biotic applied to the face, killing the infection that causes acne.
salicylic is a hardcore wash that gets rid of the oil that causes it
face moisturizer of course keeps you moist.
i still get little bumps here and there but they tend to be quickly dealt with. the biggest issue is if i run out of the first two (btoh are prescription based, though you might find some online) then there is a lapse in skin care and it comes right fucking back.
because of that i will be attempting to get on accutane but im having insurance troubles as you might imagine.
I'm not sure how much of it was simply growing out of puberty, but my acne has almost completely gone after using products with benzoyl peroxide (but I guess you already know them).
>>16685749
Are all of those products available over the counter?
>>16685760
no. treotonoin and erthromicin are both prescription. generally they will prescribe a 3 month supply at one visit. if you absolutely cant you can probably find it online if you look around. ive been looking into getting tretoinin online and its around.
>>16685743
I don't remember but I think I was on it for roughly a half a year to a year. It worked faster than that (maybe a month or two for fairly clear, results sooner) but the derm said something about needing to continue to prevent it in the future idr. They'll figure out what's right for you.
You go on it in cycles if I remember right. This was a long ass time ago and I've never been gr8 for listening to doctors.
There is a long list of potential side effects but if I remember clearly they are actually much rarer than the bad rep stigma accurane has made it seem. Any Dr worth their salt will monitor you well on it, anyway.
It's a little miracle worker
>>16685764
How do you get a prescription? Do I just go to my doctor and he'll prescribe it or do I need to see a dermatologist?
>>16685755
I've been using products with benzol peroxide for months and my acne just seems to get worse
>>16685780
dermatologist is guaranteed but i got both prscribed to me through doctors at the 'urgent care' clinic. i jsut went in, said i had bad acne, and they gave it to me. i didnt even have bad acne at that moment but explained i was nearing the end of my treatment (stole a tube from me mum) and needed more. they arent particularly dangerous or anything so they can hand it out. they only recommended a dermatologist when i wanted advice on scarring and possibly accutane
>>16685785
it varies. i used benzoyl peroxide and it seemed to shrink my acne for an hour afterward but not heal it. i hear using moisturizer afterwards helps as well. all in all i recommend using something more serious like a prescription medication (which benzoyl peroxide might be mixed with for safe measure) or going straight for accutane. why waste time?
Is catbolic soap an effective treatment? A friend said that it helped him
>>16685836
*carbolic
>>16685712
get accutane, it ends this shit forever. It was a miserable six months, the skin on my face was peeling and shit all the time, constantly parched, but afterwards I only ever see a single pimple pop up when I gorge on chocolate or something. it's been more than 15 years since then and I get 2 or 3 pimples a year, just a single whitehead at a time.
The only thing that worked for me was to use no products. No face wash. Nothing. It gets bad right after but it clears up really well
BEFORE you try all minds of chemical shit, try this.
- shower every night before going to bed. Just rinse with water for maybe 15 seconds. No soap and no rubbing.
- stop using hair gels. Find an other way to style your hair. Try a blowdryer its fkking easy.
- never touch your face, let the acne dry out! I know its tough having those nasty white heads, but give it a week to heal. Touching just makes it worse.
-drinks loads of water
-avoid fatty junk food and shit like patato chips
Practice this like your life depends on it. It will definitely help. If you still have it after some time try the chemical shit. But only if you truly tried this way
>>16685733
>>16685743
I have cystic acne and two full courses of accutane didn't help me at all, just made my skin crack and bleed. Finally around 24 it started to get better, now I rarely get a cyst
>>16685755
This.
I get like one or two cysts a month as long as I keep up on the benzoyl peroxide.
I just need to find something to fade the marks/even out the scars.
>>16685733
Accutane is fucking GOAT
Sadly for me, it reacted badly for me and my anxiety and it felt like I was having a heart attack. Doctor won't give it to me anymore....
Spinach.
>>16685712
I'm going to give you some info from the skincare general on /fa/, which is for basic acne. It sounds like you need to take accutane or some retinoid.
General info: http://hastebin.com/raw/jakoyizayi
Popping pimples and blackheads: http://pastebin.com/MufDiSfy
Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (dark spots): http://pastebin.com/GXYPdwMf
Diet and acne: http://hastebin.com/raw/zuqabalomu
Retinoids: http://www.skinacea.com/retinoids/retinoids.html
>>16685743
I took one six month cycle and have had zero acne problems since.
>>16685743
3 months and muh face was cleaner than ever
>>16686713
Try washing your face once a week with an exfoliator gel/soap/whatever
I did accutane when I was in HS didn't work much. Mainly because I was still growing even at 15/16. I had acne all through college and thought it was gonna be permanent. Last year I went to get accutane again and my face cleared up permanently wthin a week/two.
I almost cried of embarassment. I did all the cleaning/exfoilating/bed towel/dieting/mediating etc. It made my skin a really great quality but still have acne but taking that stuff for two weeks got rid of it all, fast.
It's worth every penny. Don't quit on the medicine even if it clears up fast. The medicine is meant to cripple the acne glan and you might get a rare flare up in your treatment. I did six months to make sure it was gone for good. About seven months later, my face is still spotless.
I still clean but not as crazy as I did before accutane. I still do exfoil masks and lotion but extra stuff is done.
>>16686078
There's really no scientific evidence supporting the idea that fatty or greasy foods, chocolate, or other sugars/carbs cause acne. None. It's pretty much just a myth. The rest of your advice is solid -- to it I might add that you should change your pillow case every few nights -- but the thing about acne is it's ultimately a bacterial infection. Bad hygiene can cause or exacerbate it, but if you have overactive sebaceous glands then you can have the best hygiene in the world and still have chronic acne; there will constantly be new pockets forming for bacteria to grow in no matter what you do.
OP, if your hygiene is adequate, then you really just need to go see a dermatologist. Tell them what you've tried so far, especially if you've been using over-the-counter gels etc, and he'll probably prescribe an antibiotic (erthromicin, doxycycline, etc.) This has a pretty good chance of working in the short-term, because it'll knock out a lot of the existing bacteria causing problem. In the longer term there's a chance your acne will come back, because it doesn't address the possible root of the problem (overactive glands -- though your glands might be fine, and so the antibiotic might be all you'll need.) If so, when you go for your followup appointment, as you finish the course, your dermatologist will probably prescribe a retinoid, which are vitamin A compounds, of which accutane is the most extreme. Retinoids help regulate the skin in a bunch of different ways; accutane is hard on the body, which is why it's sort of the "last resort" treatment, but there's an excellent, excellent chance that it'll work, and that the problem will stay gone after you stop taking it, forever.
(comment briefly continued below)
cont'd
Accutane does have side effects. They can range from barely noticeable (dry skin and lips, light sensitivity) to unpleasant (hair loss -- usually temporary, muscle pain) to very dangerous (Crohn's disease, depression/suicidal thoughts). The dangerous side effects are very very rare. Frankly the evidence that they exist at all is a pretty sketchy, and a lot of the scary rumors concerning them stem from allegations the media & a certain congressman made without a whole lot of basis in fact. Still, doctors take them very seriously and so if you go on accutane you're going to be monitored for the whole course, probably have to take blood tests and fill out questionnaires a few times a week, but it's a pretty fair tradeoff for having medical professionals constantly monitoring you and making sure you're safe. They don't just hand you your medication, say "the side effects suck, bye lol" and throw you to the wolves. Ultimately if your doctor recommends accutane I don't think the potential side effects are a reason to refuse the treatment -- and as people in this thread have attested to it's very effective -- but it's your call.
That's a long time in the future, though. Basically the point of this way-too-long-winded post is, go see a fucking dermatologist. Don't just try folk remedies, "healthy living" and over-the-counter topical creams etc to treat this yourself. It's a real infection just like any other illness and if you've been struggling with it for a while you should see someone. I hope this post clarified what exactly your dermatologist will be doing, though.
Oh -- and sorry to post yet again, but the name of the first antibiotic I mentioned is erythromycin, with a Y, if you want to look it up. I saw an anon had mentioned it earlier and just copied and pasted it because fuck spelling that shit.
>>16687383
This advice is pretty good but do some more research before a dermatologist. A lot of them are gungho on accutane and might rush it and the dosage too fast. You can't be on accutane for a long period of time but it's enough time to get steady dosage increases.
>>16687391
I agree, although I hope you mean "do some research on this and THEN go see a dermatologist, so you know what to ask them and what to balk at," rather than "do some research and figure out if you want to see one at all." If this problem has been going on for a long time, I really doubt anything OP can do by himself is going to make much of a difference. Certainly he should be well-informed and also vet the doctors in his area to make sure he's going to see a responsible and qualified one.
Personally I'd be surprised if they jumped straight to accutane without trying antibiotics and maybe a milder retinoid first. I'd balk at jumping straight to the most extreme solution like that, myself.
If you're a girl, birth control pills worked extremely well for me.
Moisteurize to reduce reddness.
Find a wash tempo your skin likes.
Cold water occasionally.
>>16685712
Hey, I'm a doctor. I have two questions: How old are you and post a picture of your face. Then we can begin if you are quick enough, because I'm not gonna be on here forever. I'm on call.
>>16685712
Acne into my 30s. Wiping my face with white vinegar sorted it for me. Dried my my skin a little to begin with but it stopped the spread.
