13 replies to this topic

[Conceptgrl]

I hope it is okay to post this here, but like the topic title says, I've been having this sensation on my forehead like someone is lightly touching it all the time. Then, after a week or two these large soft cysts appear in the places on my forehead where I feel this weird touching feeling. I also have folliculitis, well, lots of tiny bumps on my face that are difficult to remove. Is this the second phase of folliculitis? Has anyone else ever experienced this?

[allysaurus]

Does your forehead hurt before the cysts appear? I get a lot of forehead cysts and it always slightly hurts before they pop up.

I don't know much about folliculitis, I had it in on my armpits due to dry shaving but that's about it..

[Conceptgrl]

Yeah, and it depends on what I eat too. Sugars and starches make it feel worse, and almost give me a headache...if only i could stay away from that stuff... I just started having this problem like a few weeks ago and I'm just wondering if this is typical for cystic acne on the forehead or perhaps it's something more serious?...

I've had cystic acne before on my cheeks but it only hurt if I touched it so this is kinda new...

[allysaurus]

You might want to get it checked out as it may be more serious than just cystic acne. My forehead and nose are the only two places I get cystic pimples, but they're mostly concentrated on my forehead right in between my two eyebrows. They get huge and throbbingly painful, but not to the point where they cause headaches. It just feels sore around the area. Right before I get a cyst, it feels a tad bit sore (which is a clear signal that I'm about to get a cyst) but it isn't doesn't feel like someone is touching my forehead..

[PhoenixBalm]

My forehead is quite the home to these things, and I'll tell you what I do for it.

It's actually quite simple, I've found now, for my forehead:

I apply 5% BP across the entire forehead, and then moisturize, and when cysts appear, they appear, and I can't do anything about it, but I know what you mean, I especially get a feeling someone is sort of gently patting areas of my forehead when i run and things

I'm guessing that's due to increased number of capillaries in that area and high blood flow, so more thud if you get what i mean

[Conceptgrl]

allysaurus: Thanks for your replies . Yeah, you're right, I think I should probably get it checked by my doctor too...I'm just hoping it's not some kind of cellulitis, because it shouldn't be itching, burning, and hurting even when I'm not touching it...

PheonixBalm: Thanks for your reply . So I guess forehead cysts are usually more sensitive. I occasionally put bp on them to attempt to keep the bacteria down. I just wish it made the cysts go away... I haven't tried 5% tho so I could give that a try especially if my doctor tells me it's just regular acne and not something major...

[PhoenixBalm]

allysaurus: Thanks for your replies . Yeah, you're right, I think I should probably get it checked by my doctor too...I'm just hoping it's not some kind of cellulitis, because it shouldn't be itching, burning, and hurting even when I'm not touching it...

PheonixBalm: Thanks for your reply . So I guess forehead cysts are usually more sensitive. I occasionally put bp on them to attempt to keep the bacteria down. I just wish it made the cysts go away... I haven't tried 5% tho so I could give that a try especially if my doctor tells me it's just regular acne and not something major...

Well I'll tell you what irritates me - months ago, I was on a regimen that had no BP in it, i used ACV with selenium sulfide shampoo and other stuff, and I broke out, MASSIVELY. So, the past 3 months I've worked on a benzoyl peroxide/moisturizer regimen, and at the moment, there's not a single active site up on my forehead, so it's nice, but annoying to think that I didn't do it before.

Only thing to remember, if you want 5%, I strongly recommend intensively moisturizing, because when I dont, I become frosty the snowman, it's all flakey and powdery lol

Maybe if you put a picture of your forehead up I can help you better, because the forehead is basically my area of expertise at this stage *sigh* it's unreal how much acne i've had up there in just the space of 2 years

[Whale]

Try using Head and Shoulders shampoo. I was told it has zinc in it and gets rid of folliculitis. After a week of use it got rid of it then if you keep using it it will stay away. I just washed my face with it after washing my hair.

[PhoenixBalm]

Try using Head and Shoulders shampoo. I was told it has zinc in it and gets rid of folliculitis. After a week of use it got rid of it then if you keep using it it will stay away. I just washed my face with it after washing my hair.

Yeah people seem to find that works - word of warning, however - make sure the shampoo you buy does NOT, i repeat, DOES NOT have Sodium laureth sulfate or sodium lauryl sulfate in.
I tried to get some selenium sulfide H&S and they only had selenium sulfide L'Oreal and I got pretty much the worst breakout I've ever had.
Ammonium Laureth Sulfate/Lauryl Sulfate seems to be fine - I've had no problems with it, and right now, although I have many, many red marks from that l'oreal breakout, I have to say, for the first time in about 2 years, there isn't a single spot on my forehead!!!!!!!!! Now I just have to wait for the red marks to go away, and get accutane (*prays to god*) when I go see my dermatologist the week after next

[Conceptgrl]

PheonixBalm: Well...I'd post a picture but I'm a little afraid of posting a picture of me, even if it's one of my forehead. I guess if you googled acne conglobata...that's kind of what mine looks like, large flesh colored to reddish colored cysts...plus pityrospourm folliculitis. I had been using proactive for about 5 yrs I think and then it stopped working. I just went to my doctor a couple days ago and he prescribed doxycycline internally and clindamycin. I might take them and probably should..but I worry that it might lower my immune system even further than it is. I'll try that bp %5 like you mentioned, I know they sell some strong ones over the counter these days. Oh and yeah I've tried baking soda with ACV afterwards and ended up with a horrible breakout too. Maybe perhaps I didn't try it long enough to get any benefit but it hurt too much to try again. I also used head and shoulders with selenium sulfide to the point where it doesn't work anymore for me either. Although I've been off it a while so maybe it'll work again. I'm happy to hear that yours is continuing to clear. Hopefully accutane will be the last step in making yours clear for good .

Whale: I do continue to use head and shoulders with pyrithinone zinc...or however you spell that. I haven't tried that on my face though. I'll try it on a small patch and see what happens.

[Whale]

I have been using it everyday for about 6 months IIRC. I just use it as my shampoo and then also wash my face with it and let it sit for maybe 10 sec. then wash it off when I was the shampoo out of my hair. Cleared my forehead up of folliculitis. Though mine was pretty mild. It was just near my hair line and where my nose and forehead meet.

[PhoenixBalm]

Hey just checking up on how things are - if you need anything just say - I saw my dermatologist yesterday for the first time ever - she gave me a blood test and recommended accutane without me even begging!

Really hope everything is going well for you, really do - I know how much of a pain foreheads can be, to say the least.

[Conceptgrl]

PhoenixBalm: Sorry it's been a while since I replied to this thread. I went to my derm and he put me on minocycline since he had a coupon for it and I started using the clindamycin topically. I then found that I might be allergic to them since I started to have headaches and nervousness so I stopped using them after about 3 days...Its kind of frustrating, especially the pain. I'm back to using proactive and bp again, since like you, the regimen I was on before I had the cysts had no bp. I guess the only reason i stopped using proactive before and started looking for other alternatives was because I developed eczema and some small itchy bumps that were hard to get rid of.

I hope that accutane works for you with no side effects . I have a friend who's been on it for a while and she seems to be doing okay and her acne is clearing up.

Whale: After trying a little bit of the head and shoulders on my face, that spot became kinda greasy. Nizoral did the same thing and I'm not sure if that's what's suppose to happen. They did respond when I tried some over the counter psoriasin tho.

[Robot Rock]

When i had cystic acne .. i used to notice that feeling aswell. U just know when ure next cyst was coming before it came to the surface. Was always the same place on the forehead aswell with me. Dead frustrating

Anyways , .. all the best on the proactive and the bp. Hope it works for ya.