Hello, first time posting in this forum.
I'm an 18 Year old male, had chronic body acne for the past 3-4 years. Facial acne is the norm, moderate acne but really stubborn and constitutes of a lot of every type of acne.
Backne used to be worse than this but now it's settled down a bit except for the fact that there's always moderate acne (a lot of blackheads) around my shoulders.
The skin leading up to my neck from the middle of my chest is red because i used a comedome to extract some of those whitehead looking bumps (which i have no idea are) and these bumps are in a colony for which you can see in this picture* are situated all over the front of my neck.
Mostly the skin underneath my jawline is really flaky and dry, and some parts of my neck also has the same texture.
And ofcourse to top it all off, I have buttne too! (Oh isn't that perfect) I had a couple of cyst-like acne there before and i had been using antifungal creme as i suspected it was focculitis, which so far has been useful in preventing inflammation + acne formation.
I have been to a doctor several times, and tried probably all face washes (even expensive ones), and most over the counter prescription treatments such as benzoyl peroxide adapalene (with hardly any improvement) but haven't done treatments like accutane/doxycline etc.
I would love if someone would shed light to these questions I had for the past 4 years.
Whats causing the dry flaky and bumpy skin + whitehead looking bumps on my neck? Why do I get so many blackheads/whiteheads around my chest and acne/blackheads on my back area?
Is this not the typical acne? Could it be focculitis?
A dermatologist in my area is $200+ per consultation and as a university student, I have no ways to fund for that.
Hope someone can help me clear my longterm mystery.
p.s I used to work out a lot but this year i've been to busy, so haven't gymmed since last year, took up swimming sometimes instead
P.s.s I used to be very paranoid about taking my top off before I went swimming but now i really don't care anymore, learned to accept my acne for what it is...
P.s.s.s Currently using cetaphil gentle skin cleanser for my neck/face acne, sebamed bodywash for body acne and for my hair i'm using a baby shampoo+ head and shoulders conditioner
Edit: I just found out about using anti-fungal shampoo such as head and shoulders as a treatment for my acne!
The acne on my neck/chest/ back are really similar to the condition pityrospoyrum focculitis, (it itches -at times) so I might go ahead and try H&S clean and balanced.
i'll keep this updated every week or so and show how it turns out
(Will stop using h&s conditioner, and sebamed body wash)
Update: After using it for the first time in the morning and at night, my skin feels the same as before, so H&S isn't really drying my skin out which is good but it's only been a day so
I have a relatively oily face btw! I'll be posting pictures of my chest/back every week, would be great to see others sharing their experiences of using H&S clean & balanced too
Hey Spriley0,
Thanks for the tip i'll try those at some point!!
The head and shoulders didn't work for me unfortunately so i'm using cetaphil gentle cleanser again..
I'll let you know how the zinc for acne works!
edit: i don't think i'm zinc deficient because i have a lot meat :/
Update week1: After a week of H&S
Surprisingly my neck and back acne settled down and improved a bit! The bumps which felt like whiteheads also sort of disappeared!
But the acne on the front shoulder and chest got worst so i decided to stop using it :/
I will be using cetaphil gentle cleanser again and will post in a weeks time if i find anything else i could use.
Update week 2:
started using benzoyl peroxide and moisturizer treatment for face
using benzoyl peroxide+ glycolic acid treatment as well for body acne
I'll update next week on how this goes, so far really has cleared up my acne! Following The acne.org regimen and it's working really well 🙂
Update week3:
The benzoyl peroxide is working great!
I irritated my skin using glycolic acid, as it was too strong so i stopped using it, but the benzoyl peroxide is clearing up my acne immensely.
THere is no active acne anymore, and just some scars, with few whiteheads present on my chest! My back is clearing up too
No active acne on my face either!
You guys should all try the acne.org regime..
On 5/19/2016 at 3:44 AM, Jmakk said:Update week3:
The benzoyl peroxide is working great!
I irritated my skin using glycolic acid, as it was too strong so i stopped using it, but the benzoyl peroxide is clearing up my acne immensely.
THere is no active acne anymore, and just some scars, with few whiteheads present on my chest! My back is clearing up too
No active acne on my face either!
You guys should all try the acne.org regime..
So you're ONLY using the benzoyl peroxide from the regimen, not the glycolic acid at all?
My acne looks really similar to yours, using the acne.org regimen with little success. H&S hasn't helped much either.
On 5/23/2016 at 8:27 PM, anon4320 said:So you're ONLY using the benzoyl peroxide from the regimen, not the glycolic acid at all?
My acne looks really similar to yours, using the acne.org regimen with little success. H&S hasn't helped much either.
Yup the glycolic acid only made my skin worse, I think i'm sensitive to it.
I'll post pictures soon, been busy lately so i couldn't update this!
Update 4:
The scars on my left upper chest was due to irritation from glycolic acid.
Other than that, my skin is getting clearer!
The benzoyl peroxide 2.5% wasn't clearing up my face and back much so i changed to benzoyl peroxide 5% for now and so far it's not too drying, works well for my skin.
Will post more pics next week!
hi jmakk, i used to have exactly the same condition as you.currently my front chest are still quite active, similar to yours.
given your physique and what you've mentioned about gymming a lot, i suspect you've been taking protein shakes? i've read that protein shakes will cause breakout as its rather heaty on the body.
i'm currently using johnson and johnson 3in1 moisturizer body wash, its a bit calmly on the skin and not expensive on my wallet also. i used to apply BP on my chest too but it ruined the colour of my clothing.
i think for now, just dont squeeze them and continuously apply BP. moreover you're still going through puberty.
On 6/13/2016 at 5:28 AM, Woofie said:hi jmakk, i used to have exactly the same condition as you.currently my front chest are still quite active, similar to yours.
given your physique and what you've mentioned about gymming a lot, i suspect you've been taking protein shakes? i've read that protein shakes will cause breakout as its rather heaty on the body.
i'm currently using johnson and johnson 3in1 moisturizer body wash, its a bit calmly on the skin and not expensive on my wallet also. i used to apply BP on my chest too but it ruined the colour of my clothing.
i think for now, just dont squeeze them and continuously apply BP. moreover you're still going through puberty.
Hey thanks for the reply!
I haven't been gymming recently due to finals exams.
Started on tea tree oil face wash (no soap) and i'll let you know how it goes after a week or two!
As for my skin atm, it's sorta improving as no active acne but still get a bit of acne here and there.
I'm applying BP day and night, a bit of a hassle but hopefully it's worth it.
On 24 June 2016 at 6:24 AM, talarijane said:Doxycycline worked very well for me for a few months but after a while your body gets used to it and it stops working, at least for me.
I started on doxycycline yesterday, stopped using bp because it wasn't helping with my body acne but helped for my face.
Doctor prescribed me with doxycycline first for two weeks and after that told me to start taking vitamin A.
Will let you know how it goes.