Hi guys,
First post because I'm quite confused about what my skin is going through... Never had bad acne as a teenager and started to get some little bits of bad skin as i hit around 19-20. A lot of it is beard related but I got put on Duac and have been on that for 5 or so years... I'm 25 now and my cheeks/forhead are generally clear... I only get any spots in my beard area, mostly ingrown hairs... Lately however I've been getting large redish areas of swelling around a cm or so in diameter, they are generally fairly hard, painful but they never reach a head or burst.... tend to start subsiding after 2-3 days and are usually gone after a week leaving no trace... What are they? cysts? I'm currently also on lymecycline but it doesn't seem to be doing much...
Thanks in advance
They're most likely papules which are deeper spots that often don't form a head. Unfortunately, I find topicals aren't very effective for this kind of acne.
Oral antibiotics are effective for them however (which is why they're disappearing so quickly after forming) but if you're still getting them towards the end of your antibiotic course, it's worth thinking about extending it or looking at other treatments.
thank you, i've finished the first two months of my course which was the original scrip but i've had it extended. i have a dermatologist appointment in 4 weeks or so, I guess I just have to keep taking them until then and hope it works. I think they are bigger in area than papules, they tend to be the size of a penny coin or bigger. That whole area goes sort of hard for 2-3 days and then it fades and clears after a week or so. If they are acne I'm hoping to get put on roaccutane just to get it over and done with. I'd rather deal with a couple of horrible months and then be free of it than have it drag on and on. I've been on the various meds 5 years and I'm pretty over it. My one concern is they could be allergy related but I can't think what it would be allergy to since it doesnt change no matter where i live!
thank you, i've finished the first two months of my course which was the original scrip but i've had it extended. i have a dermatologist appointment in 4 weeks or so, I guess I just have to keep taking them until then and hope it works. I think they are bigger in area than papules, they tend to be the size of a penny coin or bigger. That whole area goes sort of hard for 2-3 days and then it fades and clears after a week or so. If they are acne I'm hoping to get put on roaccutane just to get it over and done with. I'd rather deal with a couple of horrible months and then be free of it than have it drag on and on. I've been on the various meds 5 years and I'm pretty over it. My one concern is they could be allergy related but I can't think what it would be allergy to since it doesnt change no matter where i live!
They're not papules. A nodule is a hard, solid bump deep in the skin whereas a cyst is more of a fluid sac deep in the skin. Nodules pretty much don't respond at all to topical treatments, only accutane and antibiotics. I know I get them when I'm very stressed out. These nodules can keep infecting other follicles so it can spread rather quickly if treatment is not taken.
thank you, i've finished the first two months of my course which was the original scrip but i've had it extended. i have a dermatologist appointment in 4 weeks or so, I guess I just have to keep taking them until then and hope it works. I think they are bigger in area than papules, they tend to be the size of a penny coin or bigger. That whole area goes sort of hard for 2-3 days and then it fades and clears after a week or so. If they are acne I'm hoping to get put on roaccutane just to get it over and done with. I'd rather deal with a couple of horrible months and then be free of it than have it drag on and on. I've been on the various meds 5 years and I'm pretty over it. My one concern is they could be allergy related but I can't think what it would be allergy to since it doesnt change no matter where i live!
They're not papules. A nodule is a hard, solid bump deep in the skin whereas a cyst is more of a fluid sac deep in the skin. Nodules pretty much don't respond at all to topical treatments, only accutane and antibiotics. I know I get them when I'm very stressed out. These nodules can keep infecting other follicles so it can spread rather quickly if treatment is not taken.
Nodules sounds possible, worth knowing a name, they don't seem to respond at all to anti biotics so far, we'll see after another month. Accutane should work on them? It does seem to be related to my mood, can't seem to cheer up for long periods though, so I think a cure would be better .
yeh i'll have been on anti-biotics 3 months when i see the new dermatologist so i figure that is enough time, if anything i'm worse not better at the moment though. I've not felt good about my skin since I was a teenager (so counterintuitive) and i've just had enough of living in the shadows basically. Accutane has a good shot of clearing up what is really just moderate acne for the rest of my life so it seems like the best solution to me at the moment i guess.