8 replies to this topic

[MatrixGravity]

Okay, I took this picture with my camera flash so it exposed my acne pretty nicely so you can get a good idea of what my skin currently looks like. From what it appears, it looks like I have a lot of reddish scars all over my face, and my skin is generally really red, and when I look at my acne in the mirror under low-light, it looks like I have a lot of icepick scars as well. So I don't really know whats going on with my skin. But what treatments are available to get rid of this acne? I've tried alot of topical creams and Tazorac, etc, and my skin got somewhat better but still I hate looking at myself in the mirror I can't handle my skin looking like this.

Just what is this!? It's fucking red everywhere and I never pick at my skin and I never touch it, and I drink a ridiculous amount of water everyday, and I just don't know what else to do to remedy this. I have no idea whether these are acne scars, or just plain acne. It doesn't make sense.. I have used so many creams over the past few years and this problem still persists. I just need it to go away entirely.

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[1upOnu]

I've been using Manuka Honey +16 I found at Vitamin Shoppe and it has worked wonders for me in just one week

[gtturbo2]

hey that's not so bad you know

It looks like mild acne with some residual hyper pigmentation and a little scarring.

You say that you've used topicals. You need to get aggressive with it if it bothers you this much. Get yourself to the doctors / derms and try anti-biotics and retinoids if you haven't already. use a systematic approach if the first one doesn't work for you after you've given it a good amount of time then move onto the next one. Something will work.

I know the red marks bother you as they do me but you should focus on treating the acne first, get it healed. It will look ten times better when its all the same color / fading.

[MatrixGravity]

gtturbo2, on 05 January 2012 - 06:55 AM, said:

hey that's not so bad you know

It looks like mild acne with some residual hyper pigmentation and a little scarring.

You say that you've used topicals. You need to get aggressive with it if it bothers you this much. Get yourself to the doctors / derms and try anti-biotics and retinoids if you haven't already. use a systematic approach if the first one doesn't work for you after you've given it a good amount of time then move onto the next one. Something will work.

I know the red marks bother you as they do me but you should focus on treating the acne first, get it healed. It will look ten times better when its all the same color / fading.

Thanks for your input. I essentially used Benzo creams, and Topicals, as well as Tazorac, and some other over the counter products for over 2 years. For the last few months or so, I stopped using everything completely. I only wash my face now with cleanser and apply moisturizer daily. That's all I do really. I think my skin has gotten significantly better since I stopped using those creams honestly. They were rather detrimental. They helped a bit, but overall I don't know what to do anymore. You're saying I should back to the Dermatologist again for an evaluation and ask for "Retinoids"? What exactly are those? Sorry I'm not familiar.. I'm just afraid of getting new prescriptions for my acne and they'll fuck my skin up again. I've been doing really well without them. I just don't know what to expect anymore. I mean, I spent SO much time applying all these various creams all year long, and it pisses me off that my acne STILL remains intact. I mean, yeah it's gotten better but I want it gone completely. I'm tired of it all. I just need clear skin already. I've been suffering enough with it since I was 13. I'm almost 19 now. This is fucking crazy.

Edited by MatrixGravity, 06 January 2012 - 04:49 AM.

[MatrixGravity]

So I'm just stuck..

[MatrixGravity]

So what do I do?

[Bgeorgop]

MG,

You have the exact acne that I had. Mine might have been a little worse bc of how 'aggressive' I was at 'treating' it. Now that I'm 27 and gone through what seems like EVERY single treatment, I found out that the reason my skin was getting worse was because it was trying to fight all the nasty chemicals I was using. Nature is best. Your body goes through hormonal changes and shouldn't affect your skin as greatly into adulthood. I also have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome so I still fight it once a month. Let's assume you don't have it. The best routine for skin like ours is e-x-a-c-t-l-y what you've been doing lately. My specific recommendations are to use any Neutrogena product to cleanse. They use natural acne fighters instead of synthetic (i.e. silicic acid). It's hard to come by but the grapefruit cream cleanser is best. If you can't find it in stores, you can substitute it with the green labeled redness fighter with soothing aloe to calm your skin down.

My dermo told me that the number one way to age your skin is to dry it out, and that's what all those OTC topical creams have been doing to your face. Your skin is screaming for moisture. It make seem counter intuitive but it's true. Your sebum glands are over-producing oil to make up for the lack of natural moisture you should be making, therefore causing acne. My suggestion for your daily routine should be to only wash your face at night with either of the aforementioned cleansers and only rinse with water in the AM. Apply Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF right after you rinse. If you wear makeup, do NOT use powder. Powder is made to soak up oil and dry out your skin even more. Use something with vitamins, SPF and a cream base, like Revlon's anti-aging makeup. In essence, don't fight what your body should naturally be doing, which you seem to have somewhat figured out so far.

After your get your routine down, you can work on repair. You want to make sure that you've got your active acne under control. As one of my dermos put it perfectly: "You can't redecorate the house while it's on fire." As for the scars, I have chosen to get chemical peels and my skin has NEVER looked better. It sounds expensive, but there are Groupons all the time for them. I got 2 for $99. You need about 4-6 to get after the deep scars, like red marks and the divit looking ones. I recommend the sillicic acid ones at first and then the peels that even out skin tone.

Diet helps too: keep to greens (like spinach), unprocessed nuts, edamame and fish. Alcohol and fried food are awful bc they are inflammatory.

Hope this helps and wishing you happy, healthy skin.

Edited by Bgeorgop, 11 January 2012 - 02:07 PM.

[riley925]

MG-
I think that what you are asking is more for the actual scars the acne has left behind. That is called post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. Here is an excerpt from About.com on what it is:
"post Inflammatory hyperpigmentation, or PIH, is the medical term given to discoloration of the skin that follows an inflammatory wound. It is the skin's natural response to inflammation. PIH presents itself as a flat area of discoloration on the skin (macule) ranging from pink to red, purple, brown or black, depending on your skin tone and depth of the discoloration.
PIH develops when a wound, rash, pimple, or other stimuli causes skin inflammation, which triggers the skin to produce too much melanin. Melanin is the protein in the skin that gives the skin its color. The excess melanin darkens and discolors the wounded area. This discoloration remains even after the wound or rash has healed."

I think the only thing that you can do to help with fading these scars is using bleaching creams such as hydroquinone (available in 2 percent OTC or 4 percent as an RX) This is the main ingredient in Obagi's Clear product.
Also there are some laser treatments that you can do such as Itense Pulse Light (IPL) that help with brown and red spots.

I have a few and they drive me nuts. they appear as soon as the pimple is gone and leave me a nice reminder of each pimple I had.

Hope this helps

[jennifer36]

Your cheeks look like mine did/somewhat do.

I second the UMF 16+ manuka honey. It's done wonders for my red marks in the relatively short time I've been using it (since december 28th). I'd say it's cut my scarring in half. Leave it on as a mask for at least 30 minutes at least once per day. I use chamomile lavender tea topically as well, usually mixed with some tea tree and vitamin e oil. Honey heals the skin, chamomile is an anti-inflammatory and fades redness, lavender can help acne, tea tree is great for active spots, and the vitamin e oil helps fade scars and heal the skin as well.