15 replies to this topic

[Boston Girl]

Sorry about the length, but your read/help is seriously SO APPRECIATED...this website is the most help I could ever ask for!

I am desperate for the help of acne.org in finally figuring out what the hell is going on with my face. I am a 20 year old female with quite the history. Acne as a pre-teen and teen. Took minocycline for like...2 years or something in jr. high and high school. Significantly cleared but then it stopped working. And now there are a whole bunch of (permanent) digestive issues to boot, just from having all the good bacteria wiped out for so long :/

Senior year, did 6 months of Accutane. Pre-Accutane acne was nothing like it is now. I had much larger, inflamed acne. Accutane cleared me well of the bigger, inflamed lesions but I was still using some clogging products while on the drug (since it was so f****** drying). Unfortunately, I have never been completely clear...ever.

I was on the birth control pill for several months this year (contraceptive purposes), and that didn't help my skin at all. Probably made it worse, honestly. I had to try two different types, as the 1st one made me really depressed. Neither helped.

I took a broad-spectrum antibiotic for a few days back in my freshman year of college, to wipe out a severe sinus infection. That's the last antibiotic drug I remember taking (internally). This past spring, I took Prednisone (a corticosteroid) for a week and a half or two to help relieve my god awful symptoms after somehow (single, not hooking up with a soul) contracting mono.

Basically I have faith that all of the above drugs in combination, in addition to several food/chemical sensitivities which flare-up my skin immediately, have resulted in the current condition of strangely, only my forehead.

I have hundreds of little, flesh-colored bumps that when squeezed, push out a little white/yellow gunk. Some however just push out clear fluid. The texture of my forehead is very bumpy and in comparison with the rest of my much clearer face, it makes me so self-conscious. The bumps appear immediately after I am exposed to some kind of trigger, usually (gluten, tobacco, artificial sweeteners, nuts, etc.) They can be itchy when they start popping up. Note that I have no allergies to any of these triggers. I have had multiple comprehensive food allergy and sensitivity screens, and they all come back clean.

I am so fed up with this problem. Pretty much everything causes my forehead to go nuts now. I just want to be completely clear already! I just went to my derm of several years, and she claimed it's just returning acne. She gave me an antibiotic cream and Differin. I know Differin takes a while to work, but I saw results from both immediately. Significant clearing of the forehead. But now, it's all back, and unresponsive to the antibiotic.

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I'm thinking that maybe this isn't acne. This has to be something help if it isn't responding to any of the million treatments and supplements I have tried. Follicultis? Yeast/candida? KP?

Thank you SO MUCH for the read!!!

-Nikki

[Murph89]

I'm not meaning to sound rude, but that's all your talking about? That's like.....nothing. It's a few clogged pores. Try some easy natural methods such as

Witch hazel
Exfoliation with a natural product such as sugar
Or a salicylic acid product. This may do more harm than good, but if you want to get extreme this may be your option. Your skin looks great and I seriously wouldn't worry about that. I know we all want perfect skin, but that's hardy noticeable to be honest.

Also try cutting out your triggers, even though I know how hard gluten free is these days

[Neve]

I wouldn't call that acne . . . It's like two zits that will pass n like a week.

[Sasch83]

Try getting a facial with extractions. You can then follow up with a product designed to keep your pores clear. Good Luck and have fun during your study abroad

Don't let acne bring you down.

[tim12]

Accutane sure cleared your skin up nicely!

Honestly, your skin looks fantastic. I'd hate for you to do anything drastic that may give you some real trouble. If you want to improve your skin, I think some Paula's choice 1 or 2% salicylic acid liquid toner would do the trick. Or you could use some powdered aspirin (preferably with aspirin as the only ingredient) mixed with water as a gentle mask/toner/scrub, which should give you similar results.

(and don't feel bad asking for advice, I think it's a basic human desire to look as best as we can; the key is not getting too worked up about it! :])

[Boston Girl]

I appreciate all the replies. But my skin hasn't responded to any of the methods mentioned so far. Which is why I'm here, posting. My forehead acne causes me great distress, and I just want it to stop.

How can it be "clogged pores" when I'm trying to avoid clogging ingredients like the plague? When these bumps usually appear directly or somewhat delayed as a result of trigger consumption?

[tim12]

Hm... how about niacinamide gel? Sulfur products, like Mint Julip clay masks, or De La Cruz sulfur ointment? Could your hair products be causing it?

Edited by tim12, 22 August 2012 - 04:38 PM.

[AMN]

1st: I hope you find something that works for you!
2nd: Here is my story of my own similar situation.
My birth control that I am on is one of the better ones for helping with acne and this still happened to me.
About a year ago my face started doing something like this. I thought I had a rash because of how bumpy my skin was & how tender the areas were.
I chalked it up to - coming to the realization I was in a depression cycle (denial is a horrible coping mechanism) & I had irritated my face too much with my acne routine.
After a good 4 months of living with it I tried a Dr. prescribed antibiotic that I had tried as a teen (I had to stop taking it way back then because it caused a couple of ulcers in my trachea)... but this time it helped give my body a good boost.
I changed my acne routine to essential oils and a moisturizer that works well with my body. (Maybe try researching essential oils and experimenting, over a little time, with what your body will work with. The descriptions you hear of how this one oil works over another helps, But everyone's body has a different balance.)
It still took another 7 months for my face to come back to an almost "healthy" pH.
(Almost forgot - I started to using an apricot scrub with a Light circular motion (key is NOT to leave your face feeling like it has road rash) & the Panoxyl bar ~ Maximum Strength. This has helped keep my face from clogging up without over drying it)
This experience was Way out of the norm for me and it made me So Frustrated. I hadn't had such a reaction since middle school.
Hang in there and give it a lil time.

Edited by AMN, 23 August 2012 - 09:32 AM.

[enjoy]

microcomodones if you're able to squeeze crud out of them

but did you read the pinned thread in this section about certain bumps/clogged pore looking things being caused by a fungus? maybe try washing just your forehead with nizoral/head and shoulders/selsun blue or something

[clambak3]

I appreciate all the replies. But my skin hasn't responded to any of the methods mentioned so far. Which is why I'm here, posting. My forehead acne causes me great distress, and I just want it to stop.

How can it be "clogged pores" when I'm trying to avoid clogging ingredients like the plague? When these bumps usually appear directly or somewhat delayed as a result of trigger consumption?

It does seem to be a result of eating habits or a trigger food. I know I get those noninflamed bumps like that in those situations, usually too much grease. Or when I use any type of oil on my face. I know how you feel, people think it's nothing but it really can be irritating and even painful at times. Sometimes they develop heads and sometimes they linger around for a long while. Just be super delicate and try Tea Tree Oil or something you may not have tried yet.

Good luck!

[Murph89]

You can try a supplement called Candex. I use it. Its great. Its for candida/yeast. If you think what you have is a candida or yeast issue, candex may for the cure. You can pick it up online, or at vitamin shoppe. I'm sure other health food stores and vitamin stores carry it.

[RightMeow]

Try switching your shampoo, there may be an ingredient in there that is irritating only your forehead.

[lh2012]

I have these too, people can barely see them and that is great but they itch so much sometimes! I hate touching my forehead when washing it as it feels really bumpy. I'm lucky in that all my inflamed acne is gone and its only these but at the end of the day anyone would rather not have them. Drinking kefir has really worked for me so far, the bumps are much smaller and fewer after only one week of having it. Based on that I'm presuming for me it was a candida issue, if you have any other candida symptoms (too many to mention here but google will tell you) then its worth a go.

Best of luck.

[a.p.]

Drink an 8 oz glass of ice cold water with two tablespoons of raw acv. Do this twice a day everyday. Apply tea tree oil. Mix 3 drops with some moisturizer or jojoba oil. Apply that to your forehead. If its fungus the tea tree oil will take care of it. If its enternal the raw acv will take care of the bumps.

[pinkpugsy]

I had something very similar in middle school.... always flesh-colored, never very red, and usually squeezing just produced liquid. Exfoliating like crazy would make them go away for a couple of days, but then they'd eventually just come right back. ABX and Differin did nothing. Turns out it was folliculitis.. Head and Shoulders got rid of it.

[Avenger]

Ignore the negative replies, if it causes you to feel unhappy about yourself then you're doing the right thing asking what to do about it.

I'm a couple of months post Accutane treatment and I suffer these from time to time. I had the same issue but on a much larger scale prior to taking Accutane.

I've been using Retin-A gel to help keep my pores clear since I've been off Accutane and it's done wonders.