I am so fed up. After 15 years of battling with acne, I had managed to give myself a good skin.

Caveman regimen for 40 days before the summer. And then a simple regimen of water / salicilyc acid gel.

I also introduced a great shampoo against sehborrea / psoriasis. It was all going well.

I could even eat anything I wanted again, and took some weight to look much better.

 

Last week, I had to take a night train. No possibility to shower. I bought a toner which promised to do a deep cleansing for sensitive skins.

Ingrededients looked alright. Salicilyc acid, Alcohol Denat, Aloe Bardensis, etc....

 

Result: I broke out in very inflammed whiteheads (1 on the nose, 1 on the forehead, 4 on the shaving area of my cheeks). They are ready to pop, but I do not touch them. I also have very irritated cheeks with very red areas (not sure if those are scars which got irritated, or new pimple forming, but it does look like zones of "inner pimples"). My nose also has some of those red areas.

 

This is totally frustrating.

I am back on my regimen since yesterday.

I have applied some Chlorophyl gel to calm down the irritations and try to fight those appearing pimples.

 

Just losing faith. I am in my mid-30s and managing an entire marketing department. How can I still look like this?

 

Adult acne = hormonal.

Guys don't like to hear this, especially when someone dares suggest that they may have a sensitivity to androgens (read: testosterone, especially DHT), but the same anti-DHT stuff they use to treat prostate health and baldness later in life can help stop acne now. It's all from the same hormonal source. Guess what. Too much DHT doesn't make you more of a man, it makes you less one. Ugly acne, lower sperm count, balding hair, enlarged prostate eventually...

There are lots of accounts of hormonal treatment for men on this board. A lot of men turn to diet changes. My husband still gets mild acne ONLY when he eats a lot of dairy and sugar. Read Dr. Hyman's article on how Dairy and Sugar trigger acne hormonal responses in the skin. If I can just get that man to stay away from the pizza and the ice-cream he is 100% clear.

If you don't like the idea of changing your diet to avoid hormone-rich foods, some men have had great experiences with saw palmetto and other natural anti-androgens. A search of this board for saw palmetto or anti-androgen will give you a good starting point.

Good luck.

I guess I'm just pre-empting the comment that usually comes from the male side: But I'm a MAN I don't want to lower my testosterone! Well, okay then, if you like being acne-ifed/balding/no fertility...go right ahead loving your excess testosterone / heightened testosterone receptors.

If you can get a handle on your hormone issues, you won't have to apply another chemical to your face, ever

Yes.... Right now, my main concern is to have my skin back to normal.

It's like the clean and clear just completely irritated my skin, and brought stuff to the surface resulting in pimples and total redness....

I can't go to work like this...

These are the lesions which appeared after only 2 times using that toner.

The camera makes them seem a bit less red than they really are.

If something's not broken, don't fix it. The thing with the caveman regimen is that you need to stick with it as your skin is not used to other chemicals on it (which is a good thing). I agree with green gables that you should probably look into the hormonal side of things. I am not a fan of messing with our bodies but if you are not willing to make the dietary changes, that could be the next best thing.

Good Luck! You should be proud of yourself for coming this far without the aid of topicals or drugs and anytime you want to feel down, take a look at others with much worse acne (not to make you feel bad but it puts things in perspective).

The problem with the cavemen regimen, is that my skin produces a lot of dead skin. Really a lot. After a while, I was getting inflammed pimples again.

Not sure what the exact medical term would be, but this skin does need some help. Even after 2 months off of anything touching it. Same goes for the hair.

If I do not put anything on my scalp, it produces some yellow dry skin flakes. Not attractive at all, Salicilyc Acid seems to do the trick and it keeps my skin rather clear.

Right now, I am just mad at myself for putting this toner on my face. It really broke me out and I am back to 6 months ago, before the caveman.

I will put some Chlorophyl Gel again before bed. It seems to calm the redness.

I hope it will get under control soon again.

If you've researched tha caveman regimin you know that you shouldn't put anything on your face except water. I'd say just start over with the caveman. No water even for the first 30 days. After 30 days you can rinse with water at the most every otherday. I know its embarrising but it sounds like topicals are just making stuff way worse for you. It doesnt sound hormonal since it went away when you did the caveman.

If you've researched tha caveman regimin you know that you shouldn't put anything on your face except water. I'd say just start over with the caveman. No water even for the first 30 days. After 30 days you can rinse with water at the most every otherday. I know its embarrising but it sounds like topicals are just making stuff way worse for you. It doesnt sound hormonal since it went away when you did the caveman.

I'm back on the caveman but with a cheat. Trying to sauna everything out and degunk the pores. Hopefully will work. No more soap though. Only water.