7 replies to this topic

[calichica]

This is my first post, so hi

I'm 24 years old, and I had acne as a teenager that I controlled with antibiotics. It worked really well, and my skin was basically 100% clear. I went off them at about age 18 or 19 with no problems.

I have since moved to a humid/hot climate and am breaking out a bit more than usual, especially on my cheeks. I got a few zits on my cheeks that left either red marks or scars-- the possibility of scars scared me so I went to the dermatologist. She told me to wash my face with a 2% salicylic acid and put me on doxycycline, but only for 10 days.

It's been 11 days of washing my face with this wash (which also contains sodium laureth sulfate as its 2nd ingredient, btw) and my face is a mess-- much worse than it was when I went in. When I went to the derm, I had one isolated breakout on my right cheek, and since starting the salicylic acid I have broken out on both cheeks, plus zits where I normally don't get them-- one on my forehead and two deep, painful ones along my jawline. My skin hasn't been this bad since I was a teenager.

So my question is, how long should I keep using the face wash before I give up? I called the derm and she said it could be just my skin cleaning itself out, and to keep going and call her when I finish the antibiotic. I finished the antibiotic yesterday and haven't called her yet. My skin is not quite as bad as it was last week-- I think it's mostly starting to heal, but I got a new huge zit on my jaw yesterday and I think some on my cheeks might still be active. I am regretting ever worrying about the two little marks I had!

Anyone have any advice for me? Thanks!

[OmegaisJaded]

You get an initial breakout after using salicylic acid because it's breaking the clogs up and "purging" your pores. I'd wait a couple more weeks to be sure the wash doesn't agree with you.

Sulfates can be drying and irritating,but if you're not experiencing this I'd not worry too much about it.

[calichica]

It is drying out my skin a bit--it feels somewhat tight and it's flaking a tiny bit in some areas. I figured that would go away with continued use?

Thanks for your advice! Sounds like I should wait a bit longer... how long should I give it? Two weeks? Three? I don't want my skin to be this bad for too much longer ..

[OmegaisJaded]

A couple weeks. It should at least die down a bit by then if it's not a bad product. Sometimes your skin get's used to a product and doesn't get dried out by it anymore. What moisturizer are you using to counter this?

[calichica]

Something with water, honey, and phospholipids, plus a few other ingredients...

She originally told me to moisturize it 2x a day, and then when I called her to tell her I was still breaking out, she said to just use it once a day.

So if I go three weeks like this and it's not any better, can I stop?! I'm only in the second week so I figure I should give it a bit more.. the dryness is a bit annoying but not terrible, the breaking out is much worse.

[Feelin'SomeRhythm]

I'm also using salicyic acid (in the form of Burt's Bees) and I'm at a very similar stage to you. I started using the stuff 2 weeks ago (the latest in my fight against acne) and since I began I've noticed I've been breaking out a lot more than normal. However, think of it this way:

Salicyic acid, if I'm not mistaken, works by breaking the pore down encouraging the skin cells to turnover more quickly, therefore preventing them getting clogged up leading to the formation of spots. The product doesn't attack the acne itself, but rather the cause of the acne. As such, it's only natural that if you've got stuff forming or clogged up in the pores which hasn't come to the surface yet, that it'll naturally come out after a few weeks of using salicyic acid.

I'm giving my product a full 6 week trial and I'm taking photos every few days to compare progress.

Edited by Feelin'SomeRhythm, 07 June 2011 - 08:15 AM.

[calichica]

So it has been a full two weeks with this stuff and just today I have three new zits. The rest of it seems to be more or less healing (although I had a very inflamed pimple a couple days ago)..

Should I still be giving it more time? I really want to stop as my skin was better before but I don't want to give up if I am almost through the "purging stage". Would just one more week be okay?

How many new zits a day/week before I can consider myself 'not breaking out'?

[Apostrophe 13]

What did you end up doing?