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Yay, indeed, Brandy.
In fact, I have no active spots right now, and the nodule on my right jaw (from that ridiculous in-grown hair) is getting smaller by the day. And unbelievably after 2.5 weeks, upon passing inspection, I look totally clear. Just a dab or two of concealer, and my skin looks great.
I've even uploaded a picture that I took this weekend.
Cam >B)
I love the jinx. Yesterday, I came home from work to feel a small spot on the right side of my chin. I just left it alone. It doesn't hurt, and it's not inflamed. During my night Regimen, I slathered some more BP on it, and it seems to have stopped it from getting bad. It's one of those spots that doesn't seem like it will ever get that bad or even form a head. I'm hoping that it just shrinks back to nothing without incident.
I'm pretty sure that it was caused by some haphazard shaving a few days ago because my chin is one of my clear zones. I'll have to pay a bit more attention.
Cam >B)
Well that spot on my chin is slightly larger and slightly inflamed today. It's not a big deal, but I'd really like it to be gone by Monday. I'm going to leave it alone unless it forms a head. That is my mantra. I also got a small spot on my brow bone, below my eyebrow. Odd. Go away!
Cam >B)
Yay, indeed, Brandy.In fact, I have no active spots right now, and the nodule on my right jaw (from that ridiculous in-grown hair) is getting smaller by the day. And unbelievably after 2.5 weeks, upon passing inspection, I look totally clear. Just a dab or two of concealer, and my skin looks great.
I've even uploaded a picture that I took this weekend.
Cam >B)
I checked out your recent pic and you look wonderful! 🙂
Thanks, Brandy. You're too kind.
That side-of-the-chin spot is still shrinking. It never got out of control and never formed a head. It's not active any more, but it's still (barely) visible. The nodule on my right jaw is still slightly pink, but it's barely raised any more. And I'm getting maybe one miniscule spot a week now.
I have absolutely no complaints. This Regimen is magic.
Cam >B)
Your skin looks great, but let me tell you something else...
You look GREAT for being your thirties, you can still pass for 20-whatever. Its refreshing to know that there are other young guys who take care of themselves and try to look their best and are not letting themselves go. Its too often that I see guys who are 30 and look everyday of it and then some because they party and smoke too much and dont care.
When I am in my thirties i plan on still looking young... It is a young age for today's male if they want to live to be in their 80's.
Thanks xr6 and mystifire. If I have one piece of advice about looking younger than you are, it's sunscreen, even in the winter!
A couple of days ago, I ran out of shaving cream so I used some cleanser lather as shaving foam. It was kind of rough going, but I had to go to work with a smooth face. Yesterday, I got a shaving-related irritation spot on my right sideburn. It's small, but it breaks that small period where I had totally clear skin. Oh well, I am ecstatic that one small spot is all that is separating my skin from total clarity.
Cam >B)
Well, it's been a while since I've been here. I had moved to a new place and just plain got distracted from this site. I've still been doing the Regimen religiously. One thing I can say is that it works. My skin hasn't been perfect, but that has nothing to do with acne, as I'll soon explain. I still have acne, but that's pretty darn under control with the Regimen. I get about one minor spot a week, and it goes away quickly.
However, I've been battling a lovely case of impetigo for a couple of weeks now. Yes, it's as glamourous as it sounds. One spot one day caused by shaving irritation turned into five spots the next then 15 the next then more and more across the right side of my jawline. They were lumpy and painful. I visited the doctor, and he diagnosed the impetigo and put me on some topical and oral antibiotics. It's almost totally under control after a few days. But it was pretty yucky for a bit there.
The rest of my skin, though, was almost flawless as I kept on doing the Regimen around the impetigo.
The lesson is, I really need to leave my spots alone. It looks like I've got a higher susceptibility to getting skin infections so I have to keep my skin intact as much as possible, and that means no fiddling. I've also had to shift to a wire-wrapped razor blade, which doesn't cut as close as a regular one but also can't nick my skin. And probably, I'll keep my scruff around more often so that I'm only shaving myself for special occasions. My boyfriend likes the scruff anyway.
Isn't it great having complicated skin? The good news is that the Regimen hasn't failed me, even during the stress of moving and impetigo. All hail the Regimen. Now I just have to wait until the antibiotics totally kill this impetigo, and I'll be back to normal.
Cam >B)
It's interesting. I've never really thought of myself as much of a chronic picker. However, I've noticed that, faced with the possibility of a rampant infection (like impetigo) caused by opening a wound on my face, I really think twice about picking. And since, with the Regimen, I only really get a few minuscule spots, I figure that I should just continue to leave them alone and let them run their course.
The impetigo is clearing up pretty quickly with the antibiotic pills and cream. I've got to remember to eat something probiotic after the pills are finished to build up the good bacteria again.
Cam >B)
Well, I didn't realize until today that my skin condition from the impetigo was a little more serious than I had originally thought. The impetigo had invaded a lower level of the skin and had turned into cellulitis. The doctor I saw last week just said "impetigo", but this doctor read "cellulitis" off my chart. Left untreated, that can quickly cause some pretty serious and systemic damage. Yikes. That kind of freaks me out, actually.
I went to the doctor today because yesterday, I got three spots come to a head where there were previously just lumps. The day before, I had one come to a head. They burst last night, and I cleaned them out and put on the topical antibiotic. Today, they were totally fine again, but it made me worry that I had a MRSA infection and that it might get worse again quickly. So I just wanted to check. But since there weren't any oozy spots, they couldn't find out. So they told me just to continue using the meds until they were gone. And if the spots came back three days after I was off the meds, I should come back for a swab to see if I need a different round of antibiotics.
In the meantime, I have to make sure that I keep washing my hands, that I don't touch my face, and that I disinfect everything that touches my face. Frankly, it's turning me into a bit of a paranoid mess. I've got to stop looking at the horror stories of staph infections online and just deal with any issues that come along.
For heaven's sake.
I think I've figured out what caused this whole issue, other than just a shaving spot, which could cause impetigo, but shouldn't really cause cellulitis. I think it was that darned extraction tool. They can put a pretty good level of pressure on a spot. And if the spot is a staph-related spot, it can force the infection down into the lower levels of your skin, where it can really flourish and wreak havoc. I think that's what I did to myself. A simple little shaving-related spot turned into a big, nasty mess. So I'm not going to use that tool any more. I never got impetigo or cellulitis before using it, and I hopefully never do again. My boyfriend uses one for blackheads (which aren't really infected per se), but I never get blackheads
But let this be a word of warning to the wise.
Otherwise, my skin is apparently bulletproof.
Cam >B)
The impetigo/cellulitis is no longer lumpy or active, but my skin is still kind of pink. I'm crossing my fingers that there is no recurrence, which is pretty unlikely since I took the whole round of antibiotics. The only reason it would recur is if I had a secondary MRSA infection. That doesn't seem likely, but I'm still wary.
The rest of my face is still bulletproof clear.
Cam >B)
I have one small spot on my left temple. It's so minor that it's barely worth mentioning.
I have one in-grown hair under where my impetigo was. It's probably the thing that started the whole impetigo thing. I can see the hair underneath the skin, and it's formed a bit of a blood blister. But it's not infected, and I'm not really interested in breaking the skin after what I just went through. I think it will work itself out shortly without my intervention.
Skin otherwise looks really good. The impetigo area is looking even less pink, and I've started putting on the BP and moisturizer on the area now instead of the topical antibiotic. So we're back to normal now. Keeping on.
Cam >B)
For god's sake. I haven't shaved in three weeks, just trimming so that I don't nick my skin. Still, a couple of days ago, I got an inflamed hair follicle. It popped in the shower, and I cleaned it out well. Then the next day, I had two spots. Today, I have five. Just recently coming off an impetigo mess, I didn't fool around and went right to the doctor. I told him all about my previous and on-going acne problems and treatments. I also made sure that he was fully aware of the impetigo situation (even though he could read it on the chart). He said that it's likely my cleanser that's causing the irritation (folliculitis) because I'm not nicking my skin from shaving. He recommended SpectroJel and prescribed an oral antibiotic (Keflex) and a topical one (Clindamycin) to make sure that it doesn't get out of control.
Really, the spots are small and pretty easily concealable so I'm not freaking out about it. I got a new concealer that is an even better match to my skin tone.
So now I have a way of treating it and preventing it. It's so annoying that I keep getting these non-acne problems, all while my acne is totally under control. Well, in a day or two, I'll be clear again. Phew.
Cam >B)
So by the time I got home last night, my five small spots had morphed into eight small spots and one large spot. It takes a while for the antibiotics to kick in, but it's really freaky how quickly this infection can spread. Holy crap, that's kind of scary.
Hey, I just thought of something. The antibiotic that they're suggesting to control the folliculitis is clindamycin. And I'm using BP for the acne. I get so worried about bacterial resistance, but as I understand it, combining the clindamycin with BP (as it is in Duac) basically eliminates that problem. In separate and collaborative studies, Dr. Shalita and Dr. James J. Leydenhave shown that benzoyl peroxide virtually eliminates resistance to topicalantibiotics (Harkaway et al. Br J Dermatol. 1992;126(6):586-590). I'm thinking that I'm in pretty good standing with dealing with this, long-term if it turns out to be a recurring problem. That is a huge relief. I'm optimistic about keeping this under control.
I am still thinking that I might need to get a referral to a dermatologist. That process takes four weeks so I'm going to email my doctor today to see if that can be set up today. I think that we've gotten this down to a science, but I just want to be sure. I love being in Canada where dermatologist (and all doctor) visits are free.
Still no acne spots.
Cam >B)
I just noticed yesterday that the worst place where I had my impetigo/cellulitis has no hair. I don't know if the dime-sized spot on my right jawline beside my chin will be permanently bald, though. If it is, it's only a small disappointment and a clear reminder to take care of staph infections quickly before they get out of control. My current folliculitis fiasco is getting better, but still a bit gross to read about. The biggest spot leaked a bunch of clearish fluid last night and is smaller and not nearly as sore today. Three or so of the spots have shrunk down to nothing, leaving me with about six kind-of-inflamed spots. After today, the antibiotics will have killed enough bacteria to make me no longer contagious. I should be pretty presentable by the weekend, if just a bit pink like last time.
Still no acne spots, though. Gotta love that. And I love how gentle the SpectroJel Extra Gentle Skin Cleanser is. It's as gentle as Cetaphil cleanser, but it cleans much better.
Cam >B)
No acne spots in forever and a day. The folliculitis has all but dried up. There's only one scabby spot left, and it's practically invisible under a bit of concealer. I'm still wiping on some of the clindamycin over the drying up spots before doing the Regimen, just to make sure that they are totally dead. I'm completely off the oral antibiotics now.
It's getting a bit cooler here so the air is feeling drier. I'm needing to use a bit more moisturizer to keep myself from looking crinkly. I think that, like last year, I'll need to start supplementing the moisturizer with a bit of jojoba. That kept things pretty supple even during the snowy weather.
No complaints about the Regimen except that my skin is just a little bit dry around this time of year.
Cam >B)