38 replies to this topic

[Marie1]

I know everyone here complains about small bumps on their skin. But when i see other people's photos of it, they look completely different to the bumps i have on my skin.

CAN SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT I HAVE + WHAT I CAN DO TO GET RID OF MINE?

My bumps are like small tiny rice grains that sit in the skin. They are no bigger than 1 or 2 millimetres wide. They are like tiny blackheads but without the black tip on top.

They are not inflammed and they do not puss. They are ALL over the chin (from the edge of the lip to the bottom of the chin) and around my nose and inbetween my eyebrows. I get some on my forehead but NOT quite in the same coverage like my chin.

I feel my chin is disgusting to look at. When i touch my chin i feel it is like touching fine sandpaper - as these grains are all over and there is no smoothness to my chin.

Dermatologist
My dermatologist noticed it but said it was part of normal skin and just gave me an exfoliator prescription and differn cream. This has not got rid of them and neither do other products ive tried. And it is not normal, otherwise why would people constantly point them out to me?

Picking them out
Sometimes i can pick these tiny rice grains out if they are on top of the skin, but on my chin it is much harder to do this as there is no real fat there to make the squeezing easier like on the cheeks. Plus there are 1000s of them so i would be there for days at the mirror.

Photos
I have attached some photos to give you guys an idea. Unfortunately they are not clear and do not show what you would see if you observed me face to face. However, Im hoping you might be able to see something though. (I took loads of photos and these were the best ones with my old digi cam).


PS i know as you cant see much in the photos some of you will think this is nothing, but it really does upset me and I've already had inflamed acne in my teens so I know what that is like too.

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[Marie1]

Gosh you really cant see much in the photos.
The first photo shows a little - on the top part of the chin you might be able to see some dots, but it doesnt show the bumps on the lower part of the chin.

The last photo is completely useless


MANDELIC / GREEN CREAM ETC
Anyway I was thinking of taking Lionqueen's advice and getting the Green Cream + Mandelic lotion or serum. Its extremely expensive though so I wanted to know if you think it would even work? Or is what I have just too different?

PILL
PS I am on a birth control pill (Dianette) to regulate my hormones. Whilst it has cleared up the normal spots i get it has NOT had an effect on these bumps i am referring to. The dermatologist thought that it would, but it has not.

This is why I am unsure as to what will work to get rid of whatever it is i have. ANY ADVICE IS APPRECIATED.

Is it a build up of excess sebum? Is it the sabaceous gland that is protruding? I dont know.

[NEC2234]

It's interesting that you bring this up because I have the same problem.

It's likely an issue involving blockage embedded deep within the pores, of which topicals just can't reach.

Even when I shave these tiny grain like pores don't disappear. If I had to guess, I'd say whatever the solution is it'd have to be internal. Or, if we're going the topical route, something VERY strong that would have to peel the skin -- like a strong gycolic peel.

[Jry0318]

I have the exact same problem as you, but it is worse on my nose. I still have not found anything that works to clear this. I could sit in the mirror all day and try to individually pull each one out, but they will just come back days later. I am just as clueless as you. It bothers me terribly and i wont let anyone get close to my face or touch my nose because it feels like sandpaper.

[Marie1]

Thanks for your replies. I hope you actually have what i have, and not what most people have when they talk about small bumps.

I too get them on my nose all over it, especially on the edge of the nostrils + the sides of the long part of the nose (I can rarely get any of the ones on this latter area out by hands or other instrument - no fat there whatsoever).

ACCUTANE??
What about going on ACCUTANE will it work on these tiny bumps? I dont have severe acne so I know my doctor will not willingly give it to me w/o a fight. But I feel I have tried most topicals so i feel i need to try accutane to at least find out if it is overactive oil glands that is causing every pore on my Tzone to be filled with sebum gunk (which is not retractable).

Have any of you 2 been able to get your doc to prescribe accutane and did it work on these tiny bumps?

[Jry0318]

Thanks for your replies. I hope you actually have what i have, and not what most people have when they talk about small bumps.

I too get them on my nose all over it, especially on the edge of the nostrils + the sides of the long part of the nose (I can rarely get any of the ones on this latter area out by hands or other instrument - no fat there whatsoever).

ACCUTANE??
What about going on ACCUTANE will it work on these tiny bumps? I dont have severe acne so I know my doctor will not willingly give it to me w/o a fight. But I feel I have tried most topicals so i feel i need to try accutane to at least find out if it is overactive oil glands that is causing every pore on my Tzone to be filled with sebum gunk (which is not retractable).

Have any of you 2 been able to get your doc to prescribe accutane and did it work on these tiny bumps?

My doctor just prescribed accutane to me, i start taking it wednesday. I'll let you know what happens.

[Marie1]

Cheers JRY that would be very helpful. Definitely come back here if it does or doesnt make a difference.

Do you think that in the mean time i should try something like mandelic acid?

e.g this one from Diana Yvonne?

Diana Yvonne - Mandelic acid

Ive read here it gets rid of blackheads very well. And although what i have is not blackheads...im thinking it could help - more for my nose than my chin perhaps.

Its really expensive tho (after shipping + tax into the UK) so Im nervous about spending what will add up to £50 on a 15ml bottle.

Alternative is Mama Lotion which i can buy in the UK.

BUT I dont know if the serum would be better than the lotion though ??
What do you think?

[Jry0318]

I'm always one to try something new for my skin. If you can afford, I'd say try it. I've never heard of Mandelic acid before though.

[allblaxfan69]

I get this too kinda. Mine don't last for very long. I wouldn't really fuss over them to be honest!!

[Marie1]

Mine have lasted for 8-9 years and you cant clearly see the affect on my skin in the photos. So it really is something to fuss over for me personally. If they only last you for a short period then obviously you are very lucky.

[melkayb]

Everybody has those dots. Even people who don't get acne. I think it's just from the everyday environment. I did however notice that when I wear makeup and take it off at the end of the day, I get bumps that similar in apperance to that. Then when I don't wear any for months, they become less noticeable in apperance.

[zen.garden]

I have very similar looking issues, except mine are down my cheekbones. If I squeeze them, a tiny tiny string of white stuff comes out. My derm says those are clogged pores, but they haven't clogged enough yet to cause an actual pimple. Still, it keeps my face from looking smooth and it drives me absolutely crazy.

I've been using mandelic acid for about 3 months and it is bringing all that gunk to the surface. It sucks because it makes your skin look worse overall, but once the spots come up and the gunk comes out, they flatten down and go away. I use Nucelle 10% serum but I've used samples of the Mama lotion and it seems to be stronger. You have to be careful, though, because it will make you peel at first. I would start out using it twice a week. You even have to wash your hands with soap after you touch it because the palms of your hands will peel! Once you adjust to it, mandelic acid is good stuff.

[pdanilo66]

I have the same problem. I cant't use any soap on my face because it gets white. I wash my face once or twice a day with a soap-free gel cleanser. I don't have anyy pimples at all, but the tiny rice grains are around my nose. My dermatologist told me the name, but I don't remember, I think it is called ceborrea. It is an acne reaction problem, they appear on areas with hair like eyebrows. My dermatologist prescribed me differin, but I am not using it.

Luckily I don't have scars, but my pores are too open, and my face is oily, so it get worse. I don't want anyone to get close enough to me because they can see that. Since I started to use Mederma it reduced the tiny rice grains, it really works. I also used proactive but only step #3 (repairing lotion).

If you have tiny rice grains in every pore aroun you nose and your eyebrows, and you wash yor face with soap and it becomes "white". So you have the same problem than me.

Sometimes you can't see the "rice grains", it is because you are under soft light. You are gonna think "ha people can't see that", but you are wrong. Try with the sun light with a mirror and you are gonna see it how people does.
Try to don't stand on places with hard light or under the light bulb, why? just get a mirror and you will se why?
I discovered that the light sometimes "hide" the "rice grains" but sometimes expose them.

AH, MEDERMA IS A SCAR TREATMENT, I USED THAT BECAUSE I WANTED TO REDUCED MY PORES SIZE. MY DERMATOLOGIST TOLD ME IT DOESN'T WORK MUCH, BUT I THINK IT DOES.

And also remember you are gonna see you like you "wanna see you", your bain is powerfull, "he can hide or expose your acne problems", it depnds how you are gonna see them.

[TNgirl]

I have huge pores on my noes, chin, and forehead ... and I have what you described as "white rice grains" in the pores. I can't speak for you or others, but for me, I think my pores become irritated and dialate when being too harsh to my skin. About 5 yrs ago I had an amazing clearing up of my skin for about 6 months ... even these "white things" went away and my pores shrunk to normal -- then it got bad again. I thought I was just growing out of the bad skin stage ... but when my skin got bad again I tried so hard to figure out what I was doing different.

All I can come up with was that I wasn't eating very much, riding my bike a lot in the sun (it was the summer vacation) and I got a really great tan and I wasn't putting anything on my face cuz I was fed up with the whole thing... just washing with regular ivory soap in the shower. When I went back ta school I was inside most of the time and not excersizing as much. I remember my skin looking horrible again by xmas.

I've moved since then, to a colder climate, so I'm not able to get out in the sun in the winter ... and that is when my pores looked clogged with that white stuff the most. I think getting outside and excercising might help this when winter is over.

I read somewhere that the clogged pores with that white stuff is your normal sebum that has dried ... it is normally clear I think but somehow maybe dead skin gets in your pores and mixes with it and if you put anything on your skin to dry it out ... like bp ... it will make your natural moisture in your skin shrival around those dead skin cells and form this white stuff we see in our pores. Not sure if this is true, but sounds reasonable. I've stopped putting any kind of acne topical on my skin and just have been using a blue/red light box to treat the acne and wash with oldfashion mild lye soap.

[CAKES^_^]

i may be completely wrong but these could be blackheads in thier latest stages. When I do not squeeze my blackheads they then kinda come through the surface and are like you described look like white rice grains. One really good thing to do is to exfoliate. Maybe once or twice a week you can exfoliate with something like St. Ives exfoliating scrub and if that one is too harsh for you then you can get the gentle version and they are no more than 5 dollars so they are cheap. I love it, after i use it my skin it feels so much softer and smoother and others who have sneaked uses of mine have said that it leaves thier skin very soft and they do not have acne. You can also use tweezers to pull them out. i know it sounds nasty but, just make sure you sterilize it before each use (alcohol), it leaves no scarring or redness as would happen if you were to try to squeeze them out. If you ever squeeze out a blackhead then you know that it looks like a grain of rice. I am addictied to getting them out so they never can turn into sandpaper except for in the middle of my mouth and chin, its to hard to get them out there so i just let them be cause they cannot even be seen, however they do go away after i exfoliate. You also may have too much oil accumulating in that particular area (after all ur chin is part of your T-Zone) and if that is the case you can buy oil blotting sheets (Elf has very cheap ones) and carry them with you and blot them on your face about every 3 hours or however often you may think you need them. Good Luck. Hope i helped a bit.

[Daffodilia]

Yes! I know exactly what you mean. I have those on my chin and my brothers and sisters have them as well.

I've tried using Mandelic acid on them (the garden of wisdom brand) but it just made them stick out more, and extreme exfoliation only helps for a day at most before they come back at full strength.

Question: why would the sebum harden and dry into these things when our faces are so oily???

[titosmommy]

Yes! I know exactly what you mean. I have those on my chin and my brothers and sisters have them as well.

I've tried using Mandelic acid on them (the garden of wisdom brand) but it just made them stick out more, and extreme exfoliation only helps for a day at most before they come back at full strength.

Question: why would the sebum harden and dry into these things when our faces are so oily???

these are closed comedones or whiteheads. i have them too. i do microdermabrasion which has helped on some of them on my cheeks. i get them on my cheeks and chin only on one side of my face, yuck. my derm gave me differin to use. i havent started it yet because i'm due for another microdermabrasion next week and you are supposed to stop all that stuff for at least a week before. i tried salicylic toner pads but i broke out from them - i think it was too irritating? i now switched to neutrogene pore cleansing toner as i think it has only 1% SA and the pads had 2% . SA clears the pores. I also use glycolic cleanser and that helped a bit too. Glycolic sheds the skin. I hate these. I think MA is a form of SA but better for sensitive skin. I should try to find that. Good luck, I'll let everyone know how the differin works. My derm says it will do the job

[Marie1]

Hi

Im back for an update.

Got the mandelic acid, which has been nothing but awful for my skin - it just makes it incredibly dry and flaky and does nothing for the clogged rice grain sebum blockage i have. Ive tried lots of things now (from OTC, externlal prescription medications, to beauty treatments like microderm and facials) and nothing works - over the last 9-10 years. The only thing that made a slight difference is the exfoliator which helped smoothen any superficially clogged pores, but not these deep ones.


ACCUTANE
So am wondering if I should ask my doctor for low dose accutane? As I dont have acne, how likely is it that he will refer me to a derm and that the derm will actually prescribe it?

And how do i go about convincing him to refer me to a derm to get it?
I'm afraid he's going to laugh about it (in his head at least). My problems pale into insignificance when he's been seeing old dying grannies coming into his surgery.

Anyone got any thoughts?

[HTX_2008]

try using dan's glycolic everynight...i had the kind that you can squeeze out on my nose for years, then it changed where i couldn't really squeeze it out but you could see it sticking out....i started using the glycolic in dec and i've been clear of them for a few weeks already.

the only other thing i use on my nose (well on my whole face) is neutrogena's acnes stress salicylic acid cream wash, every morning. i leave it on for about a minute and a half and then wash it off. I'm pretty sure the GA was what was really helping though.

[dennis77]

I think it's just some dead skin that clogged pores and aggrevate acne. Exfoliation can help brighten the skin and promote circulation. Your chin and neck are areas that benefit from daily exfoliation. Use a liquid or cream based exfoliant that's made specifically for the face.

Wash your face with a mild facial cleanser and warm water. Remove any makeup that remains on your cheeks, chin and neck. Apply exfoliant to your face while it's still wet. Focus on covering the chin and neck.

Move your hands in a circular motion over the areas to exfoliate. Apply gentle pressure to ensure the exfoliant is worked into your skin. Leave the exfoliant on your face for a few minutes to allow it to penetrate your skin before completing the process.

Wipe the exfolation cream off of your chin and neck using a warm, damp washcloth. Use gentle circular motion to remove the exfoliant and all of it's particles. Splash cool water onto your face and pat dry with a towel. Apply facial moisturizer to protect the exfoliated skin and complete the process.

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