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mixing milk of magnesia with a moisturizer (i use CeraVe) has drastically reduced my oil production and i haven't gotten a single new pimple for 5 days now! the only way to stop acne is by starving the bacteria that causes it (p.acnes bacteria eat skin cells and oil). overall, this is very exciting for me, and if you have oily skin+acne, this is may be your solution.
please, read on....
if you're like me, you have oily skin. mine isn't the oiliest i've ever seen but it's up there. if you run your finger across my forehead in the afternoon, it feels like you just put a single drop of olive oil on your finger. bad but like i said, not the worst. i also get cysts (big ones that last for months) i've used Benzamycin and it helps to dry out my skin but its very temporary and it is VERY drying so i always have to use moisturizer with it.
recently, i started using Retin-A gel (non-micro) 0.025%
please note: DO NOT USE RETIN-A CREAM! USE THE GEL! the cream has ingredients that will break you out including isopropyl myristate. i read an interview with the creator of Retin-A (trentinoin) and he said the cream is for people that want to reduce wrinkles and the gel is for people that want to reduce acne! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
so i started taking retin-a again (i used it for about a year as a teen, i'm now 24) hoping that it would help with my oily skin and acne. i used Retin-A about 4-5 weeks every night and got terrible breakouts. i was really sad, frustrated, and shy. i didn't want to go out or be seen. bummer. but now im in week 9 or so and i'm not breaking out anymore at all!!
the reason i'm not breaking out at all anymore, i believe, is because i'm controlling my oil production. although its true that Retin-A gel is designed to help acne, it's on 50% of the battle. if you have oily skin there are 2 things you need to do:
1. help your skin slough off more rapidly
-it's my theory that people with oily skin also tend to have more "sticky" skin cells
that get stuck in the oil glands (and become food for p.acnes bacteria) and clog
pores.
this is where RETIN-A is important because it helps slough off skin cells.
in fact, that's all it's designed to do. it's not designed to kill p. acnes bacteria, only starve them by letting you get rid of dead skin cells more efficiently.
2. control oil production OR control the oil that is there.
-there is a very important difference between these two. to control oil production, you
accutane. accutane changes the DNA of your skin so that oil glands become smaller
and therefore produce less oil. to control the oil that's there, you need to apply
something to your skin to "suck up" the oil.
this is where milk of magnesia is important because it literally "sucks up" the oil your skin produces!! this is literally an epic breakthrough. the funny part is that it's all over the internet. just google or youtube "milk of magnesia for acne" or "milk of magnesia matifier" and you'll find PLENTY of results.
THEREFORE: to "starve the bacteria that cause inflammation (general redness) and acne, we need to get increase the rate at which our skin exfoliates (or gets rid of unneeded, dead cells) and control our oil.
my recommendations are as follows, A and B:
A)
use Retin-A. i know the initial breakout is a real bummer, seriously, it is. don't use more than just enough. you should only be able to feel the coolness of the gel [it has alcohol] as it dries on your skin. if it burns, even a little bit, you've applied to much!
B)
use milk of magnesia at night and in the day. mix it 1/1 or 50/50 ("equal parts") with your moisturizer. i use CeraVe (an excellent non-oil, non-comedogenic glycerin moisturizer). when you apply at night (before Retin-A gel), wait 30 minutes before applying the Retin-A. use the combination milk of magnesia+moisturizer right when you get out of the shower!
so that's it! by using milk of magnesia and Retin-A, you've begun to starve the bacteria that causes acne and should be on your way to clear skin (i hope, since i've only been using this regimen for 5 days! i will continue to post here on my progress)
some other notes:
searching on the internet for using Milk of Magnesia for controlling acne (a method proposed by a Journal of Dermatology in the 1970s), you may find some people that say that the pH of MoM (milk of magnesia), which is 10.5 or so, is WAY too alkaline for skin. the theory is that skin needs to be slightly acidic to reduce the growth of bad bacteria and by applying milk of magnesia, you are creating conditions (theoretically) for it to grow.
i have a theory for why MoM doesn't cause more breakouts even though it is making your skin alkaline:
the problem with the above theory is that it considers only the growth of ONE type of bacteria, p.acnes. the fact is that there are many different kinds of bacteria and yeasts on the skin. a type of staphylococcus bacteria also grows on the skin (and is partly responsible for the production of the skin's acidity). it is my belief that without the skin cells and oil that p.acnes want, the staphylococcus and others are able to balance the skin out. they essentially take the place of p.acnes.
of course, i'm no scientist, just an avid internet user and acne sufferer but the fact is that for 5 straight days, i haven't gotten a single new breakout. my skin is looking better everyday. i had 2 cysts that are now almost completely dried out!
fight the good fight my friends and remember, knowing is half the battle!
Edited by defy, 07 October 2010 - 01:23 PM.
