9 replies to this topic

[Icantthinkofaname]

sorry if this is offtopic but this is really getting annoying. I am 22 years old and been dealing with acne since I was 13. I was on countless medications over the years. I have been on tetracycline pills as well as doxycycline. Well I have found that clindamycin phosphate lotion and retin-a micro seemed to do the job for the last 5 years. I go to a new dermatologist for these purplish pimple type things on my left and right cheek area. He thinks they are acne. They look like acne except they keep crusting up and never go down to the surface of the skin. In other words they stay inflamed and just don't heal on their own. He said it was acne and put me back on doxycline (which i was on about 5 years ago when I was 17) and duac in the morning and told me to continue using retin-a micro at night. well if anything this made it worst. not dramatically worst but still worst. if anything for $115 out of my pocket i should be getting better not worst. the duac made my face dry and very itchy whenever i would eat because the way my jaw would move i guess would bother the area where i put the duac on. I just stopped using this duac today. anyways these purpish type acne lesions on my left and right cheek (beard area) have been there since at least last February. It's extremely annoying and I am starting to get angry. I don't want to be angry but i am getting very angry because my derm is sitting in his air conditioned office with a clear face making money off of me but he isn't helping me. It just doesn't add up. Do any of you feel or have felt this way towards derms?? once again i am sorry that this is off topic but i'm just wondering if I am the only one that feels this way towards derms.

[Icantthinkofaname]

lol I just got off the phone with him and all he can tell me is it takes time keep doing what your doing. These "pimples" that don't heal and go down to the surface of my skin have been there since January. How much time are we talking here?? 25 years maybe 30 years?? Maybe they'll be there when I die and rot in my grave they will still be on my face. Maybe when my great grand kids die they will be off my face and the derm will be right. They did go but it just took time. I've had it I am so sick of these asshole derms

[eyez 0nlee]

most derms are like this. for me, he knows i've done research on acne and scarring so anything i suggest he pretty much agrees with. when the derm says time its usually true...2 years or minor scars and whole lot of redness and i'm still saying wtf!

oh yea the inflamed thing you call a pimple could be a nodule or hyper-"something" scar. inject that bastard with steroids or cortisone its the only way to make it go down.

[RUStillDown]

trust me... dermatologist knows nothing... it pisses me off !!!! they gave you pills and each time you go back it's always the same : "Oh ! it's getting better !!" and you're like.... WTF you talking about !!!!

[Icantthinkofaname]

most derms are like this.  for me, he knows i've done research on acne and scarring so anything i suggest he pretty much agrees with.  when the derm says time its usually true...2 years or minor scars and whole lot of redness and i'm still saying wtf!

oh yea the inflamed thing you call a pimple could be a nodule or hyper-"something" scar.  inject that bastard with steroids or cortisone its the only way to make it go down.

do you mean hypertrophic scar?? It looks like a bigger then normal sized pimple that just never goes down to the surface of the skin. It just keeps crusting up and never goes down to the surface. I can feel it with my fingers basically. Obviously red marks you can't but this I can. This is what pisses me off. The fact that the derm just says that these will go away with time..."just keep doin what your doin"

Well I know it's been over 4 months easily (more like 6) that they've been there and don't go down. I'm just sick of this derm sayin they'll go away with time. It's almost like when a derm doesn't know what it is he just simply says keep doin what your doing it takes time. Damn, I should go back to college and get in medical and become a derm. How hard is it to (if you don't know the problem) just say "it just takes time". Not a bad way to make a great living. well i'm not serious about that. just sarcastically angry with all derms. If i was a derm i would be honest with my patients as I have gone through this and I know how hard it is to deal with.

[Rach]

think of it this way. derms probably know a cure for acne, but they want to keep trying things on your acne because this makes more visits to the derm which equals more money for them

[Debonaire]

most derms are like this.  for me, he knows i've done research on acne and scarring so anything i suggest he pretty much agrees with.  when the derm says time its usually true...2 years or minor scars and whole lot of redness and i'm still saying wtf!

oh yea the inflamed thing you call a pimple could be a nodule or hyper-"something" scar.  inject that bastard with steroids or cortisone its the only way to make it go down.

do you mean hypertrophic scar?? It looks like a bigger then normal sized pimple that just never goes down to the surface of the skin. It just keeps crusting up and never goes down to the surface. I can feel it with my fingers basically. Obviously red marks you can't but this I can. This is what pisses me off. The fact that the derm just says that these will go away with time..."just keep doin what your doin"

Well I know it's been over 4 months easily (more like 6) that they've been there and don't go down. I'm just sick of this derm sayin they'll go away with time. It's almost like when a derm doesn't know what it is he just simply says keep doin what your doing it takes time. Damn, I should go back to college and get in medical and become a derm. How hard is it to (if you don't know the problem) just say "it just takes time". Not a bad way to make a great living. well i'm not serious about that. just sarcastically angry with all derms. If i was a derm i would be honest with my patients as I have gone through this and I know how hard it is to deal with.

It's probably a cyst. Cysts tend to give the appearance of healing over, and then they just lie dormant under the skin for a long, LONG period of time. I've had a small one on my cheek for about 3 months. Sometimes it gets a bit inflamed, and then it looks like it's going to heal up... and it doesn't. But day by day, it gets a bit smaller. Unfortunately, these are the things that have left scars for me. And they certainly leave redmarks. Do NOT pick at these, though. It will only increase your chances of scarring. Seriously. It /does/ just take time. Cysts don't magically disappear on their own. They are a pain the ass.

[Icantthinkofaname]

i don't think it's a cyst because it's not really under the skin. Just looks like a normal pimple but it isn't tender to touch or anything. I have read about gram negative folliculitis. Gram negative folliculitis is a skin condition that looks just like acne that can be brought on by the continued use of topical or oral antibiotics. I asked the derm if it could be it and he simply said you wouldn't get it from topical antibiotics but I read on the internet (medical certified website) that it can be brought on by topical antibiotics. I am starting to think that this might be it but I am not sure. I just don't feel that these are healing at all. They are the same apperance as they were back in February. They never get flat and are very dark. Like a dark purple.

[sick_skin]

I dont know about anyone else here but the most damage i`ve done to my skin always occurs after i`ve visited the dermatologists office. None of the stuff they prescribe EVER works. They just seem to sit there collecting vast amounts of money for doing very little.

Another thing that annoys me is their lack of knowledge about over the counter skin products. Its as though they went to med school 20 years ago and just haven`t learned anything new.

[Icantthinkofaname]

Well it's now October and I am going on month 8 of the same stupid lesions on my left cheek area. I developed a couple more. It basically doesn't even look like acne up close. From far away it does because it's discolored spots but if you really get up close it looks like someone painted my face with blood and it just dried up in these spots. You know when you get a pimple you can kind of feel it coming. Well with this it's different, all of a sudden I will notice another little one right around the other one. Now, whenever I sleep at night I wake up to all dried up blood and yellowish looking fluid on my pillow. It basically looks like I gave my pillow what I have when I wake up in the morning. I can't just sleep like I'm dead looking straight up. You naturally turn your head to the side so I can't avoid the bleeding on my pillowcase. Funny thing is my face is perfect except for these things on my left and right "beard area". I have had my acne under control for the last 5 years with clindamycin phosphate and retin-a micro. I'm starting to think that this is really gram negative folliculitis or something other then acne itself. I have had no problems at all in this area and now all of a sudden I get this?? Somethings wrong and I know that my current regimen is not helping AT ALL. I have a derm appt on Nov. 3 and I hope she can at least correctly identify the problem. The bottom line is after 8 months these lesions should of at least went down to the surface of my skin and either left a scar or red mark. They just keep crusting up and look like dry blood. Very dark dry blood like purple. I think I am going to discontinue my clindamycin phosphate because it could be causing the gram negative follicutlitis.