16 replies to this topic

[Dboy28]

What can a 14 year old boy do for terrible oily skin. (Ive used lots of different cleansers and all they do is dry me out and i end up produceing more oil. Oily skin is causeing my blackheads on my forehead and my 2-3 red pimples. I cant go a full day at school without coming home to a new big red pimple. Plus my blackheads on my forehead (Little bumps) wont go away for the love of god. All because im so oily. I was hopeing to take some sort of supplement for it because that would be easiest. Ive tryed 500 mg of pantothenic acid and 50 mg of zinc daily. I dont wanna do that mega dosing because i don't know how its gonna affect my body.

Im getting a physical saturday would my regular doctor be able to prescribe me something to settle down my hormones and control my terrible oily skin?

Thanks

And yes I use the oil blotting sheets but id have to be blotting every 20 minutes. Doesnt help!

[AKL]

There are several options, like pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), vitamin A, zinc, Nizoral (a shampoo you have to use on your face), (low dose) Accutane (however, considering your age, I'd say Accutane is out of the question), etc. Some small studies, also about other topicals that aren't well-known for reducing sebum output:

Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) paper (pdf)
Article from The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (1997): A Stone that Kills two Birds: How Pantothenic Acid Unveils the Mysteries of Acne Vulgaris and Obesity
Since you're already using pantothenic acid, have a look at the following. Using both pantothenic acid (at a much lower dose than the recommended 10 grams a day) and cysteine to boost synthesis of coenzyme A: http://elqalatawy.hu...-Cure-Guarantee and http://elqalatawy.hu...ented-For-Years (forget about the e-book ads on those pages, it's a waste of money, you can't cure acne overnight)

Dietary effect of lactoferrin-enriched fermented milk on skin surface lipid and clinical improvement of acne vulgaris
The effect of 2% niacinamide on facial sebum production (look at the different results for Oriental and Caucasian subjects, goes to show it's not as simple as one would expect)
The effect of silicol gel compared with placebo on papulopustular acne and sebum production. A double-blind study

Also, I recently noticed some posts about 5 Alpha Avocuta in this topic: http://www.acne.org/...ve-had-success/, it looks promising (link to pdf: http://www.expanscie.../en/avocuta.pdf).

Good luck!

[Dboy28]

Thank you so much for the detailed response. Ill be looking at those products and also combining the B5 with cysteine seems interesting.

Thanks again!

How much B5 should I take and How much coenzyme A should i take with it?
Can I take it everyday?

Sorry I just dont really understand the website.

[AKL]

You're welcome, and don't be sorry for not understanding, it's all not that easy. According to that website, you should take 500 mg of pantothenic acid plus 250 mg of cysteine, 3 times a day. You could of course start with a lower dose (say 2 times a day), to see if it has any effect. But if you have really oily skin, I'd just go for 3 times and see how that works. Don't expect miracles, though, they don't exist

[Dboy28]

You're welcome, and don't be sorry for not understanding, it's all not that easy. According to that website, you should take 500 mg of pantothenic acid plus 250 mg of cysteine, 3 times a day. You could of course start with a lower dose (say 2 times a day), to see if it has any effect. But if you have really oily skin, I'd just go for 3 times and see how that works. Don't expect miracles, though, they don't exist

Haha yea ive been looking for to many miracles with my acne. Safe to say there is none.

I saw on another site that you can 0.5-1 grams of cystein daily and 1-1.5 grams of pantothenic acid.

Would you advise doing that? Its not much different then what you said just boosting the dose up a bit. If so how would I space this out throughout the day? That would be like 3 pills. I was thinking of takeing 1 pantothenic acid pill (500mg) in the morning then 1 pantothenic acid pill (500mg) at night along will 1 pill of cystein. (500mg)


Whats your opinion?

[AKL]

I'd take pantothenic acid (500 mg) and cysteine (250 mg) 3 times a day (a total of 6 pills), if you have really oily skin. Take them together. Pantothenic acid is water soluble, it will have left your body by the evening, so taking cysteine too far apart from pantothenic acid will probably not do much.

[Dboy28]

So morning, evening, night take the two pills? Sounds good i just really have to remember to take them. Haha. But do you think this is totally safe for a 14 year old boy?

[AKL]

If you can, take them morning, afternoon and evening with meals, that way it becomes a natural habit. Or use a timer (there's probably one on your watch or phone). Yes, I think these supplements/dosages are perfectly safe for you. If you feel uncomfortable or want reassurance, by all means ask your doctor or pharmacist. You don't want to worry everytime you take them, right? Good luck, and keep us posted, if you want to!

[Dboy28]

Thank you for all your help. Im trying soooo hard to combat my oily skin and terrible blackheads. Ive missed like 18 days of school because of getting random huge pimples as a result of this oily skin. Again thank you so much for your time im gonna give this a shot. One more question to bug you with lol but do you know where to buy the cystein? Vitamin shoppe is a far drive from my house. Any where else you might know of?

Thanks

[AKL]

Oh, don't worry, bug me anytime you want to. I don't know where you're from, but I'm from The Netherlands, so unless you live here, I have no idea where to buy it locally. If you're from the US, you could ask your parents to buy it from an online retailer, like iHerb or Vitacost. And I'm sorry to hear you've missed so many days of school because of it. Try to not let it get to you as much, alright? I know it's hard, but try. Chin up!

[Dboy28]

Haha yea I know it's hard though. I'm kinda the jockey type guy so I always had that reputation of being that hot looking dude.Now I've got tons of little bumps all over my face and some pimples and it just really gets me down.

But I really appreciate you helping me out with this it means a lot. I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you so much again. Hopefully your acne free right now but if you not Goodluck with clearing it. Haha

[rachel80]

I've personally cut out process food from my diet and saw a huge difference within 3 days. All I ate for 3 straight days was salmon, fruits, vegetables, and brown rice.

[Obii]

There are several options, like pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), vitamin A, zinc, Nizoral (a shampoo you have to use on your face), (low dose) Accutane (however, considering your age, I'd say Accutane is out of the question), etc. Some small studies, also about other topicals that aren't well-known for reducing sebum output:

Pantothenic acid (vitamin B5) paper (pdf)
Article from The Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (1997): A Stone that Kills two Birds: How Pantothenic Acid Unveils the Mysteries of Acne Vulgaris and Obesity
Since you're already using pantothenic acid, have a look at the following. Using both pantothenic acid (at a much lower dose than the recommended 10 grams a day) and cysteine to boost synthesis of coenzyme A: http://elqalatawy.hu...-Cure-Guarantee and http://elqalatawy.hu...ented-For-Years (forget about the e-book ads on those pages, it's a waste of money, you can't cure acne overnight)

Dietary effect of lactoferrin-enriched fermented milk on skin surface lipid and clinical improvement of acne vulgaris
The effect of 2% niacinamide on facial sebum production (look at the different results for Oriental and Caucasian subjects, goes to show it's not as simple as one would expect)
The effect of silicol gel compared with placebo on papulopustular acne and sebum production. A double-blind study

Also, I recently noticed some posts about 5 Alpha Avocuta in this topic: http://www.acne.org/...ve-had-success/, it looks promising (link to pdf: http://www.expanscie.../en/avocuta.pdf).

Good luck!

Do you have any idea where I can get a hold of silicol gel from? I haven't been able to find it anywhere online. Thanks for making such an informative post.

[AKL]

Do you have any idea where I can get a hold of silicol gel from? I haven't been able to find it anywhere online. Thanks for making such an informative post.

I did a quick search myself, but it looks like the product I was looking for (Silicol Skin) is discontinued. Probably because they didn't sell enough. However, there may be some UK or German drugstores still selling whatever they have in stock (at least, I found some UK websites that mention it: http://www.vitaminsu...roducts_id=1098, http://www.online-vi...tal/151603.html). You could try and contact the manufacturer, this is the info I found about them: SAGUNA Food- und Non-Food-Vertriebs GmbH, August-Bebel-Str. 203, 33602 Bielefeld. Germany. Phone: 0049 521 64262. I'd just call them and ask whether or not they've discontinued the product, and if maybe they have some stock left that you can buy. Alternatively, you could try and find another product containing colloidal silicic acid. I've found one here: http://www.silicea.c..._repair_gel.php. Too bad this isn't more widely available.

[Jamie Sue]

I recomend alpha hydroxy cream to everyone! you get it from walgreens and it does try you out and it brevents pimples. I have oily skin though so I hate putting it on before i go out for the day, so I normally just do it at night. For oily skin I apply milk of magnesia on my face to reduce its oiliness because it works at its cheap!

[RoganicGirl]

I have oily skin also... i mean REALLY oily. Whats been helping me alot lately is toning my face with apple cider vinegar morning and night (it really soaks up the oil deep in your pores) then rince it off because it smells bad... lol. Also, a healthy diet... try not eating alot of sugar.... A gluten Free diet is always good to try )

[brian1987]

hey guys, just wondering if any of you've tried any 5α-Avocuta creams? saw this over at the clinic that i'm working
http://www.isis-phar...teen-dermk.html

this cream contains 3% 5α-Avocuta, which controls sebum production.
( http://www.expanscie.../en/avocuta.pdf). The study actually used 2% only, so i'm thinking if 3% might be even more effective.