11 replies to this topic

[Battle2011]

I am 34 - Eat no more gluten, no more dairy, and have cut down on sugar (only a fruit in the morning).
My acne has really cleared up. But I still get very resistent pimples and I hope someone can help.

Let me run you through the cycle of these pimples cause I have one of those right now (they appear one by one, not as a cluster):

Sunday afternoon: Pain appears on the chick, near the nose. Nothing can be seen.

Monday: Pain is still there, near the nose. I can feel something will come out. Slight redness appears where the pain area is located.

Tuesday: The area where the pain is starts turning red/purple, and I can see a pimple forming inside. Pain diminishes.

Wednesday (today): Pain disappeared (almost). The area around the pimple is still reddish and got swollen (elevated). There is a whitehead coming out (quite acute, small, elevated and "bright white").

Honestly, I do not know how to treat those and stop them from forming or evolving into these elevated whiteheads which are very obvious. Salicylic Acid - Tee Tree Oil - Benzoyl Peroxide. I have tried it all, and nothing stops them from growing or coming out.

Any ideas?

[CocnutCaramel]

I get the same kind when I get whiteheads - useually around my nose or chin. First the pain, then the head, and NOTHING i have tried so far will make them u-turn and dry out. I guess they might be the kind that's been preparing for really long? I read someone on here whose dermatologist had said that the whiteheads that appear on you face have been buliding for up to 12 weeks before they appear to the eye. There's really no stopping them once they're visible.
Aside from som kind of cortisone injections I read about in Vogue, that would shrink a zit in hours. But I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of thing requires official A-list status to get your hands on....

[Battle2011]

I have heard about those 12 weeks too. I don't know what can be done to make sure those pimples don't come out. It's really embarassing. I know I shouldn't, but I popped it. It was not fully ready I guess, but I couldn't walk around with a whitehead on top of a swollen red pimple.

People who say we should not pop might be right, but they never had to go to work past their 30s, with whiteheads, while no one ese around has any................

[Battle2011]

actually back to square one.
i popped it this morning, applied a bit of tee tree oil and Benzoyl peroxide on the wound.
tonight, the white head in the center is back. exactly as was this morning before the popping.
i don't know how this can be. it's like these type of pimples never end.
i don't know what to do. this really ruins my confidence.

[cvd]

Hi Battle --- I get the same thing as you do...this is what is called a "cyst". They are very deep pockets of infection where there is a plug in the pore that gets sebum building up behind it and then pus (pain). The pore wall breaks down spreading pus into surrounding tissue causing swelling. Then the pus pushes up and out and can take a couple of days to all come out.

Unlike pimples or blackheads which are more surface blemishes and should not be picked at, a cyst where there is a whitehead protruding on top can be pricked to ease out the pus. It will heal faster. This is what my derm said. The proper way is to disinfect it first, then prick just the tip of the whitehead with a pin. Gently press on the side with a Q-tip to ease out the pus without pressing down too much. The idea is to be as gentle as possible so as to not injure surrounding skin. Unfortunately it may fill up with pus again as it drains. I hate this too but there is no way around it.

I just got a spot treatment from my derm that seems to be working really well on the cysts but you have to catch them when you first see the swelling or feel the pain. It is called "Sodium Sulfacetamide 10% and Sulfer 5% Lotion. If you catch them early they just go down!

[Battle2011]

Thanks CVD! I might try Sodium Sulfacetamide 10% and Sulfer 5% Lotion. I live abroad though, so it might be hard for me to find it over here. How long have you been using it?

[gemmyjunebug]

I know so many will disagree with me...but maybe it's the fruit?
I have a clear face (as of now) with the occasional whitehead that disappears as fast as it appears. BUT, those angry, itchy, ouch, red, swollen, little devils, I get. I haven't had one since about July. Which is great. However I haven't had fruit since July. I love fruit. Watermelon is my fave, along with apples, bananas, and everything else. I had some last week. I ate lots of bananas and apples. I have 4 huge ass pimples on face. WTF? I'm calling fruit out.
I use to eat fruit all the time. Probably way to much, and was constantly plagued with these pimples. Mostly on my forehead and chin. Recently I laid off the fruit basket without honestly thinking about the correlation. Until now. I'm off fruit, only because sugar has always,always, been my demon pimple maker. Your body does not know the difference between sugars. I never, never, use to believe that line of crap. I'm beginning to think they may not be to far off base with such a statement. Artificial is another thing, but sugar-real sugar.

Edited by gemmyjunebug, 22 December 2011 - 02:18 PM.

[gia1]

i used to get cysts and the only thing that made them go away is exactly what cvd said. i would take a pin and put it right in the white head VERY CAREFULLY AND GENTLY (prick it) dont push to far and instead of squeezing push down lightly on both sides of the cyst. It was usually flat within 2 to 3 days. i also used to use dermify and acnomel on them which is sulfur and they were amazing.

Edited by gia1, 22 December 2011 - 05:59 PM.

[cvd]

Hi Battle --- I've only used the Sodium Sulfacetamide 10% and Sulfer 5% Lotion a couple of times on swellings that looked like they might become cysts and they did not develop into cysts...instead stayed minor red bumps for a couple of days which is okay with me. I just can't stand the pus part of cysts...a little red bump is not so bad. I used the lotion on a very small pimple and it came to a head overnight and went away in a day. I have to say that this stuff works well as a spot tx for cysts. And it was originally developed for rosacea so it is more gentle on the skin.

Hi Gemmy --- that is very interesting about the fruit. You may have high fructose malabsorption which if you eat fruit then upsets the gut and interferes with absortion of other nutrients so the body gets out of balance and inflames more. I have this and can not eat any fruit except for berries and a little banana. I've always had to avoid sugars but having to avoid fruit was an eye-opener. Doing this has helped my digestion and has helped my skin but hasn't totally solved the problem.

[gemmyjunebug]

@CVD~
I just woke up with another one...I haven't had these in like forever. I went through my journal. I ate fruit. Maybe? But I also used my teeth strips for whitening. I used them on a daily basis through the summer and was riddled with these annoying pimples. Used them last week for the first time since June/July and what do I see. 4 pimples all around my mouth. I'm glutton for punishment. I will try them again and see what develops...The whitening mouthwash seems to do no harm. Mainly because I swish for about a minute or less. These strips are 20-30 minutes plus. So maybe a possible cause for concern?

[Battle2011]

Hi!

I will have to try and find some of this lotion then. They don't have anything like this here. I've looked it up on google, and none of the brands exist here. The pharmacies are also not familiar with such a lotion. Tough luck.

On the bright side, my last cystic pimple emerged a week ago.
No new pimple has formed since then. No inflammation, no whitehead, no cyst.
I will try to keep it that way. 7 days without a cyst emerging is a new record for me here.

[Battle2011]

Still no new cyst emerging. Looks like I have a good regimen out there.
We will see how it progresses. My GF has her birthday on the 10th of Jan.
I'd like to stay clear until that, and not have a huge cyst out by then.......