21 replies to this topic

[takenimpulse]

I feel like I've got my acne under control since cutting out sugar, processed foods, junk, dairy, sugar, wheat/gluten & soy back in October. I feel amazing and I'm never turning back. I'm averaging about 1-2 pimples a week, with occasional.inflammation. Still learning new things and more about my body's reactions to foods every week.

Anyways, I still have a few red marks from my last breakout in October, and even a few from August! It's a bit frustrating because it makes me feel like I still have acne. What takes the body so long to heal hyperpigmentation?

[corgisoulpower]

Whenever you make a spot bleed, the dermis is damaged. Imagine you're out and about running errands and someone asks you to fold some towels back at home. If you ignore the weirdness of my example, it's kind of like your body is busy with various other processes and will "get around to it" later. It'll take time and/or treatments like skin peels (which I actually had done today, a light sensi TCA peel) to heal acne scars. If you aren't into those methods lemon juice helps spots fade as does calendula and camellia oil. Maybe look into a nice moisturizer or formulate your own out of ingredients you feel good about.

Edited by corgisoulpower, 19 December 2011 - 05:20 PM.

[takenimpulse]

That's a good explanation, thanks! The thing is, as long as I've had acne, I've never been one to pick at my face. These ones just popped on their own and bled. One of them is sun damaged and just weird looking. I've been trying niacinamide mixed w/ jojoba oil, but it's only been 2 weeks. Too early to tell if it's making a difference, especially since we tend to look at our spots every single day. Not sure if I'm even doing it right. I'll consider trying lemon juice again. I remember having good results with the red marks I put it on right away back in August, although they might have faded just as quickly on their own. *shrugs*

Edited by takenimpulse, 19 December 2011 - 09:23 PM.

[Chestercool]

hey there! corgisoulpowers post explains why it takes so long to heal, when the stratum corneum is damaged, it could take a long time to heal, when its not damaged it takes 2 months. If this helps, when i cured my acne 6 months ago, most of my red marks dissapeared within 3 months, one of them havent dissapeared already, but i remember that pimple was hell, I popped it (carefully) 3 times i remember. I'd say pustular acne red marks takes 4-6 months to heal. Try lemon juice, chemicals peels are way much better than lasers.

[jennifer36]

I've been using chamomile tea topically for about a year to fade my red marks. It's a slow process, but it's natural and it works for me. Actually even more recently I tried chamomile lavender tea topically, and that helped a noticeable amount overnight... It's going to be my new toner morning and night (lavender and chamomile both help with active spots as well).

[tim12]

Ah, good ol' PIE. If you haven't visited this site, I highly recommend it! http://www.stoppickingonme.com/

Probably the best bit of information that helped me kick the picking habit, as well as understanding and ultimately being patient with it,

Quote

Skin is the largest organ in the body and is roughly 15% of your total body weight. If you could lay it flat the average ‘skin’ would cover two square meters or 18 square feet.
One small square inch contains:

• 19,000 nerve cells,
  
• 1250 pain receptors,
  
• 19 yards of blood vessels!
  
• 625 sweat glands,
  
• 94 sebaceous glands,
  
• 60 hairs,
  
• and approximately 19 million cells.

Wait – did you get all that? I will repeat it because you really need to start understanding just how intricate and delicate your skin is. One small square inch contains:

• 19,000 nerve cells,
  
• 1250 pain receptors,
  
• 19 yards of blood vessels!
  
• 625 sweat glands,
  
• 94 sebaceous glands,
  
• 60 hairs,
  
• and approximately 19 million cells

For me personally, topical sulfur/clay mixtures do a great job at speeding up the healing process. If I apply it right away to a new spot, usually the PIH goes away in weeks and doesn't darken as much, versus 2-4 months.

[Thehoper]

ha that's crazy shit tim. Yeah clay masks are the shit for red marks, I mix it with some ACV which it actually says to do in the directions, works great.

[takenimpulse]

I'm going to try spot treating the red marks with freshly squeezed lemon juice for the month of January. We'll see how it works out!

Edited by takenimpulse, 27 December 2011 - 08:47 PM.

[Ukulala]

Things to help with red marks (also, please check out the Red/Dark Marks Forum -- it has lots of helpful information!):

Manuka Honey
ACV
Lemon Juice
Turmeric

Those things have helped me. A combination of them has really been beneficial and I have seen lovely results -- I feel your frustration! As your skin gets better, your standard for your skin gets higher, and those dang red marks can really be a bugger.
BUT! Do take heart in how far you've come from where you were before! Don't lose sight of the road behind you just because what's ahead of you looks so long.

PS -- To go into more detail: I made a mask I applied for a few nights in a row that I found really beneficial. I mixed oats (ground up is good), turmeric, and fresh lemon juice (from a lemon - none of that preservative filled yuckiness), then applied it to my face and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. It takes some good rinsing or the sacrifice of a towel to get off (that turmeric's a really yellow bastard), but I think it works like a charm.
ACV I diluted with a 1:1 ratio of green tea and then added about 10 drops of tea tree oil,
and manuka honey I just slather right on there.

[takenimpulse]

Quote

BUT! Do take heart in how far you've come from where you were before! Don't lose sight of the road behind you just because what's ahead of you looks so long. ../../..//public/style_emoticons/default/smile.png

Yeah, it's become much more than just clearing up my skin at this point. I feel amazing. My energy levels are high, depression/anxiety has been non-existant, and I even feel a little high at times (is it just me? probably serotonin being released). I tried turmeric on a spot once, but like you said, it stains a lot! I became afraid of all the scrubbing. I do eat it a lot, though.

[FSAS]

can anyone suggest any really good clay masks? i actually cant find any in my area and might have to try online :0

[Ukulala]

FSAS, on 30 December 2011 - 06:15 PM, said:

can anyone suggest any really good clay masks? i actually cant find any in my area and might have to try online :0

Though I haven't used it myself, the aztec clay one has rave reviews - it's available on amazon for quite cheap. :}

[wicky]

Im in the same boat as alot of you..my red spots irritate the hell out of me. Mine are tiny and are on my cheeks and lower jaw. I have many of the ingredients that you mentioned...ACV, Aztec Clay mask, lemon juice, green tea and tumeric. I have rosacea as well so i dont want to apply the tumeric as i dont want to rub that hard to get it off...I was applying a sulfur mask on the spots and letting it sit overnight..did nothing at all..I also have some niacinamide that I crushed up and mixed with some aloe gel with water and again nothing..Im a little confused on some of the methods with the ACV. Do you apply this like a toner on on your spots? I like to make pastes out of things and let them sit on the spot for a while...Also how do you do the lemon juice thing?

[dejaclairevoyant]

My red marks sometimes last awhile too. Eating a lot of flax and drinking tons of fresh organic juices helps erase them quicker for me. Building strong beautiful skin from the inside out is the key. Sometimes they don't even leave red marks anymore, whereas back when my diet was unhealthy and I smoked a lot of cigarettes they'd last for YEARS.

[alternativista]

Ukulala, on 29 December 2011 - 03:04 PM, said:

I mixed oats (ground up is good), turmeric, and fresh lemon juice (from a lemon - none of that preservative filled yuckiness), then applied it to my face and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. It takes some good rinsing or the sacrifice of a towel to get off (that turmeric's a really yellow bastard), but I think it works like a charm.
ACV I diluted with a 1:1 ratio of green tea and then added about 10 drops of tea tree oil,
and manuka honey I just slather right on there.

So with mixing all that, did the tumeric stain your skin at all?

dejaclairevoyant, on 02 January 2012 - 01:45 PM, said:

My red marks sometimes last awhile too. Eating a lot of flax and drinking tons of fresh organic juices helps erase them quicker for me. Building strong beautiful skin from the inside out is the key. Sometimes they don't even leave red marks anymore, whereas back when my diet was unhealthy and I smoked a lot of cigarettes they'd last for YEARS.

Yes, I've heard others say flax faded their redmarks. Usually they were specifically talking about flax oil with lignans.

[Ukulala]

alternativista, on 02 January 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

Ukulala, on 29 December 2011 - 03:04 PM, said:

I mixed oats (ground up is good), turmeric, and fresh lemon juice (from a lemon - none of that preservative filled yuckiness), then applied it to my face and let it sit for 15 minutes or so. It takes some good rinsing or the sacrifice of a towel to get off (that turmeric's a really yellow bastard), but I think it works like a charm.
ACV I diluted with a 1:1 ratio of green tea and then added about 10 drops of tea tree oil,
and manuka honey I just slather right on there.

So with mixing all that, did the tumeric stain your skin at all?

Heh, it can take quite a bit of scrubbing/draping of a hot towel to get off -- and after one particular night, where I steamed *then* applied turmeric, my friend asked me why I was yellow the next day -- but generally, it comes off.
You do run the risk of looking like a Simpsons' character, it's true.

Edited by Ukulala, 02 January 2012 - 05:35 PM.

[dejaclairevoyant]

For clay, I use this:



It can be a little irritating as it makes your skin sooo clean and tight. I do it twice a week, and mix raw apple vinegar in. Works wonders on sucking any crap out of your pores....

[takenimpulse]

takenimpulse, on 27 December 2011 - 08:46 PM, said:

I'm going to try spot treating the red marks with freshly squeezed lemon juice for the month of January. We'll see how it works out!

It's been about 4 weeks. I think I'm noticing a difference. Still bit of a slow crawl, but a crawl nonetheless. Should I continue going until the marks completely fade, or should I give my skin a rest? Damn, if it weren't for this hyperpigmentation, I'd pretty much have clear skin. Oh well, patience. I'm well on my way. )

Edited by takenimpulse, 23 January 2012 - 06:28 PM.

[Ukulala]

takenimpulse, on 23 January 2012 - 06:27 PM, said:

Damn, if it weren't for this hyperpigmentation, I'd pretty much have clear skin. Oh well, patience. I'm well on my way. )

I know how you feel! It's a strange mixture of relief/frustration for me. Relief that the activity has calmed down; frustration that those red spots are so insistently ... red. Haha.

So the lemon juice seems to be helping, eh? I'm wanting to help speed up the process of my red marks -- but at the same time, as it was stopping all topicals that has so much slowed down the breakouts (and, d'oh, the makeup I was using), I'm wary to put *anything* on my skin. Aside from pure aloe (from the leaf), which I use pretty much daily.

I have some Manuka, but it's only 15+. I read 16+ is what you REALLY want ... damn. Spent 30 bucks on that sucker, too.
ACV is purported to be good for marks, and is generally good for you... period. I made a ACV/green tea toner that I applied for a while. You could give that a shot - about a 1:1 ratio.

[takenimpulse]

Ukulala, on 25 January 2012 - 02:16 PM, said:

So the lemon juice seems to be helping, eh? I'm wanting to help speed up the process of my red marks -- but at the same time, as it was stopping all topicals that has so much slowed down the breakouts (and, d'oh, the makeup I was using), I'm wary to put *anything* on my skin. Aside from pure aloe (from the leaf), which I use pretty much daily.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I've just been spot treating with a q-tip. I definitely don't feel comfortable applying it to my whole face.

Ukulala, on 25 January 2012 - 02:16 PM, said:

ACV is purported to be good for marks, and is generally good for you... period. I made a ACV/green tea toner that I applied for a while. You could give that a shot - about a 1:1 ratio.

Yeah, I've heard good things about ACV. I was actually thinking of switching it up for the month of February, but I dunno; I feel if I just continue what I'm doing that they'll be [near?] gone by the end of February.