@ExquisiteHunt i'm very glad that you answered and that you will add your data, I hope there are more people like you! I think there are many observers who just read this thread and don't post anything cause they have nothing new to say. Please all of you who just read it speak up so that we know how many of us is still fighting, it's really importnant. I'm also aware that it will take time to gather group of 10-15 people cause not everyone watch this thread on a daily basis but i think it's possible. Also, if we have a place where everyone of us posts photo of their pimples like i did then it would be also easy for other people to find our site from google image search and find even more people with similar issue. This is also why is used whitepustules.com domain - to find it easilly from google while searching this term.

So again, I encourage you guys to answers all questions and also to suggest new questions that you think matter! It will not take much time but will be really helpful. With such clear data set from not so small group of people I really think we could find some reserch team that could get our attention and has access to many diagnosis options etc that regular doctors doens't have. I can't promise that but everything is worth trying. In the worst case our communication and infromation exchange just improves.

Going back to what you said @ExquisiteHunt, this is something that one of my doctors said and i'm pretty sure it's true. That some people have very sensitive sebcaious glands, and that two people with the same testosterone levels will have different oil levels. Looks like our skins is very senstivie to testosterone which results in a lot of oil which results for perfect confitions for many bacterias/fungies/staphs etc. and pustules.

@folliculitingg the answer for your question can be found in my answers to the questionaire. But i'll reapeat myself here, I was born in 1992 and the problem started around 2010. I have the issue all the time, so 12 years already. Please add your answers too, it will not take too much time.

Its a bitter sweet moment finding this thread. One hand I'm happy to know I'm not the only one suffering from this, on the other its sad that there hasn't been much new progress made to beat this disease. For anyone reading I'll list a few things that have worked for me in the past:

Probiotics - By far the most effective thing I have used. Taking these made my skin feel completely normal and started to work within a week of taking them, no pimples or pustules anywhere near my nose or chin, and I could eat pretty much whatever I wanted. Also took KEFIR which gave the same response. After stopping they come back unfortunately 
Accutane - Also another effective treatment, never completed a full course though so the pimples came back
Zinc 50mg - Once again got rid of the pimples within a week, but came back after stopping

While these all worked while I was on them, all three of them lead to SEVERE hair loss for me. I mean my hair would suffer a lot, and if I were to continue them I would most likely be bald in a month. With accutane my hair fall starts after about a month into treatment which is why I never completed a full course. With probiotics the hair loss seems to affect my entire scalp as well as my BEARD. Seriously, I have small patches that have formed becauses of the probiotics (I was using nothing else when taking them). And zinc was probably the worse of them all, loosing so many strands in a matter of a week. I belive zinc and probiotics worked because the boosted the immune system which helped clear all the infections on the face, however for me they also triggered some sort of hair loss, possibly alopecia areata (what are the chances....). Hopefully anyone reading this can give these a go as I doubt its a common thing, as I've seen literally no one else talk about probiotcs causing hair loss on the internet

I'm really struggling here, as it's one thing to not find a treatment that works for this disease, but its another thing to find things that do work, but lead to another issue forming. It's become evident to me that I either have to choose the oozing pus filled pimples on my face for life, or go bald beating this disease. I know it's a fat chance, but if anyone has experienced something like this please do let me know and if you were able to find a way around it as this has been ruining my life for the past 7 years since I was 14 . I'm tempted to take a full course of accutane, because it seems like the closest thing to a cure, and there's a chance I'll at least get some of my hair back but I've seen a few people say it just relapses after a course. 

Side not of other things that have helped but arent long term solutions:
Eating around 1500 calories a day (starving) - Pretty much kept me clear except for maybe 1 or two tiny bumps, but obviously was not sustainable long term 
Triclosan antibacterial wash - Worked well, but really dried my face and made it look dull. Still developed pimples if I ate the wrong things (i.e. sugar). Not a long term solution as I believe bacteria can become resistant to it. Pimples came back when I stopped. 
Oral/Topical antibiotics - Obvs never use these as they are a temporary solution and for some of us, the reason behind this mess.
Antihistamine - Doesnt stop the pimples, but really helps with the itchiness around my beard. Would recommend if you have a lot of itching

On 8/9/2022 at 2:06 PM, perpetualsadness said:

 

 

Hey brother,

I would try using a seb derm cream likeBIODERMA Sensibio DS+ Creme. It has a lot of beneficial ingredients that helps to normalise skin flora and reduce excessive sebum production (...which then cuts off the "food supply" for white pustules.)

If that doesn't fix the issue, get on the BP regimen asap - see my previous posts.

I have never experienced any hair loss from probiotics, and I have taken a lot of supplements and probiotics. Maybe it's the stress caused by white pustules causing hair loss?

Anyways, good luck!

have you guys looked into dermodex mites?

linked with seb derm, redness and pustules, it can happen when your immune system is supressed

@perpetualsadness in the meantime try topical BP, its worked for many here and go all in on improving internal health

15 hours ago, folliculitingg said:

have you guys looked into dermodex mites?

linked with seb derm, redness and pustules, it can happen when your immune system is supressed

@perpetualsadness in the meantime try topical BP, its worked for many here and go all in on improving internal health

Yeah I was down the Demodex rabbit hole for a couple of months and while I saw some promising results, it never completely cleared my skin. I tried various acaricidal agents like topical Soolantra (ivermectin cream), oral ivermectin, topical sulfur, and the ZZ cream which I posted about earlier.

With the ZZ cream I got to a point where I was 95% clear but still had some white pustules, and as you all know 1 or 2 white pustules is still enough to drive you insane. At some point - around month 3 of consistently using ZZ cream every night- white pustules and skin infections seemed to get worse again so I decided to drop it. Never managed to get past the so-called "die-off phase" which led me to conclude that Demodex probably was not the root cause issue for me, or at least that killing Demodex with acaricidal creams wasn't a very effective strategy.

What made me suspect Demodex mites was that I sometimes got white pustules that became large open sores, leaking yellow pus. There is another forum (LOL) called oozing yellow crusts . com where people suffer with these Staph-related skin infections and they have figured out that Soolantra, i.e an anti-demodex cream, is the most effective way of getting rid of these mystery skin sores.

Interestingly, benzoyl peroxide is also a powerful anti-demodex agent. Vets use benzoyl peroxide shampoo to treat dogs with demodectic mange, a condition caused by demodex overgrowth:

Quote

Benzoyl peroxide shampoo helps clear the mite related dry skin condition by opening and flushing the follicles.

I have noticed this follicle flushing effect from using BP. Like it cleans out all the pores from gunk (decomposed Demodex or keratin?).

TL;DR:

BP is a proven treatment and works well to clear white pustules (whether its through killing Staph, or Demodex, or Malassezia, or drying out skin, or "unclogging pores")

I think for me one of the most frustrating parts of this is not knowing exactly what type of condition I'm dealing with, so I can't effectively come up with a treatment plan for myself. First I suspected staph follicultis, then gram negative, then seborrheic dermatitis, I'm still on the fungal issue rabbit hole right now but starting to hop on the demodex or rosacea pustules train. I honestly dont know anymore and thats the main frustration for me. So many reddit posts look like mine, all with a different derm diagnosis. My main trigger that instantly causes problems the next day is sunlight/sweating. It's been about 5 years for me dealing with this. First derm told me staph, second told me fungal, one culture said no bacteria growth, which convinced me no staph or gram negative, but now I read these cultures aren't even accurate. I want to give sulfur wash a try as im stilling thinking I have a fungal issue right now, but its an antibacterial as well as a fungal cleanser, so in theory if you kill good bacteria along with the fungus, wouldnt it allow for more fungus to grow since the sulfur killed off the good bacteria?

1 hour ago, Downshift636 said:

I think for me one of the most frustrating parts of this is not knowing exactly what type of condition I'm dealing with, so I can't effectively come up with a treatment plan for myself. First I suspected staph follicultis, then gram negative, then seborrheic dermatitis, I'm still on the fungal issue rabbit hole right now but starting to hop on the demodex or rosacea pustules train. I honestly dont know anymore and thats the main frustration for me. So many reddit posts look like mine, all with a different derm diagnosis. My main trigger that instantly causes problems the next day is sunlight/sweating. It's been about 5 years for me dealing with this. First derm told me staph, second told me fungal, one culture said no bacteria growth, which convinced me no staph or gram negative, but now I read these cultures aren't even accurate. I want to give sulfur wash a try as im stilling thinking I have a fungal issue right now, but its an antibacterial as well as a fungal cleanser, so in theory if you kill good bacteria along with the fungus, wouldnt it allow for more fungus to grow since the sulfur killed off the good bacteria?

Yah trying to figure out white pustule disease can be... confusing, to say the least. I know it can be disheartening to not know what you are dealing with, or how to treat this condition. I remember reading this thread back in December 2019, racking my brain and not knowing whether it was rosacea, or demodex, or fungal, or seb derm, or staph, or gram-negative follicultis, or perioral dermatitis, or food allergies, or autoimmune condition, etc, etc.

Have you ever done experiments where you just try 1 treatment for at least a couple of weeks and see what happens? Not being consistent with treatments can be just as bad because you never know what works and what doesn't.

You could try using sulfur wash for maybe 4 weeks and see if it helps. Sulfur is supposed to be good for fungal acne.

Of course mypreference is benzoyl peroxide, or perhaps Finacea, because they both got a proven track record in treating white pustules.

7 minutes ago, GrumpyPainter said:

Yah trying to figure out white pustule disease can be... confusing, to say the least. I know it can be disheartening to not know what you are dealing with, or how to treat this condition. I remember reading this thread back in December 2019, racking my brain and not knowing whether it was rosacea, or demodex, or fungal, or seb derm, or staph, or gram-negative follicultis, or perioral dermatitis, or food allergies, or autoimmune condition, etc, etc.

Have you ever done experiments where you just try 1 treatment for at least a couple of weeks and see what happens? Not being consistent with treatments can be just as bad because you never know what works and what doesn't.

You could try using sulfur wash for maybe 4 weeks and see if it helps. Sulfur is supposed to be good for fungal acne.

Of course mypreference is benzoyl peroxide, or perhaps Finacea, because they both got a proven track record in treating white pustules.

 

Ive considered almost every single one of those conditions as well and thought it was that for at least a short period lol. I think I will try the sulfur and see what happens because it tackles a lot of these conditions. Im really glad the benzoyl is working for you! Seriously happy for you. I know you stated a while ago that you didn't wanna post pictures on here, but I would love to see what yours looked like before you got it under control and see if it looks similiar to mine! I feel like there is no judgement from anyone on here, as we are all suffering from this.

27 minutes ago, Downshift636 said:

Ive considered almost every single one of those conditions as well and thought it was that for at least a short period lol. I think I will try the sulfur and see what happens because it tackles a lot of these conditions. Im really glad the benzoyl is working for you! Seriously happy for you. I know you stated a while ago that you didn't wanna post pictures on here, but I would love to see what yours looked like before you got it under control and see if it looks similiar to mine! I feel like there is no judgement from anyone on here, as we are all suffering from this.

So here is a typical white pustule, during flareups I would have way more of them all over mouth/chin area.

This would be on a particularly bad day - pustules everywhere and super itchy and inflamed skin:

@GrumpyPainter

thanks for posting so I can see what you were describing! Again im glad you found that the benzoyl peroxide works well for you! Its amazing that you were able to get completely clear. I feel like even the other few people in this forum that found something that works never get completely clear, just more manageable. Some days Im motivated that I will have success on that, others not so much. I think My next step is def gonna be the de la Cruz sulfur wash.

I've tried BP in the past and it has seriously irritated my skin to the point where the places I applied it were darker than the rest of my face. It also didn't help stop new pimples from coming up. I'm strongly thinking that the source of this condition is coming from foods we eat, specifically sugar, at least for me. I'm on a keto diet which seems to be helping a bit atm, but I'm still getting new pustules everyday (not deep ones), so maybe in my case I'm just sensitive to food in general which really sucks. I want to try sulfur soap as well but am afraid of the irritation, anyone know if its as irritating as BP?

1 hour ago, perpetualsadness said:

I've tried BP in the past and it has seriously irritated my skin to the point where the places I applied it were darker than the rest of my face. It also didn't help stop new pimples from coming up. I'm strongly thinking that the source of this condition is coming from foods we eat, specifically sugar, at least for me. I'm on a keto diet which seems to be helping a bit atm, but I'm still getting new pustules everyday (not deep ones), so maybe in my case I'm just sensitive to food in general which really sucks. I want to try sulfur soap as well but am afraid of the irritation, anyone know if its as irritating as BP?

Im on keto right now as well, 2 months strong, still about the same, no major improvements. And Ive read that sulfur is not as harsh as benzoyl peroxide, I think still somewhat drying, but not as much as benzoyl peroxide. So if anything youll still be reducing irritation from what your using now.

9 hours ago, Downshift636 said:

@GrumpyPainter

thanks for posting so I can see what you were describing! Again im glad you found that the benzoyl peroxide works well for you! Its amazing that you were able to get completely clear. I feel like even the other few people in this forum that found something that works never get completely clear, just more manageable. Some days Im motivated that I will have success on that, others not so much. I think My next step is def gonna be the de la Cruz sulfur wash.

Thanks bro. Yeah it's unreal waking up and seeing clear pustule-free skin in the mirror.

To be honest I don't know if benzoyl peroxide is solely responsible for healing my skin. Summer 2021 my skin was terrible and I couldn't seem to get it under control with BP. So maybe it's something else I have been doing that has made my skin healthy again, e.g drinking kefir, or vitamin C, or diet, or the seb derm cream.

I wish you luck in your journey to destroy the white pustules. I am convinced you'll make it, you just have to persevere!

8 hours ago, perpetualsadness said:

I've tried BP in the past and it has seriously irritated my skin to the point where the places I applied it were darker than the rest of my face. It also didn't help stop new pimples from coming up. I'm strongly thinking that the source of this condition is coming from foods we eat, specifically sugar, at least for me. I'm on a keto diet which seems to be helping a bit atm, but I'm still getting new pustules everyday (not deep ones), so maybe in my case I'm just sensitive to food in general which really sucks. I want to try sulfur soap as well but am afraid of the irritation, anyone know if its as irritating as BP?

Sorry to hear BP didn't work for your skin. I have personally found that short contact therapy, i.e applying benzoyl peroxide for 2 minutes and then washing off, really helps reduce any skin irritation. And I have to use acne.org 2.5% bp gel, no other BP products works as well for some reason (I swear I'm not a shill for acne.org lol). I don't use cleanser either, just wash with water.

Have you tried nasal decolonization? With chlorhexidine or deeper nasal irrigation with iodine/salt solution?

This can be a game changer for some people as the "white pustule bacteria" live inside your nose and travel down to cause skin infections.

Sulfur soap should be a lot less irritating than BP. Unfortunately sulfur didn't do anything for me personally.

ive read if your pustules get worse in sunlight and warm conditions then mites are more likely the cause, if its bacteria it will get better in the sun.

another thing to look out for is crusting on the eyelashes and eyebrows, again thats a sign of mites

but imo, it doesnt really matter the cause, the treatment is always the same and its improve overall health. vitamin C with every meal - lots of berries and fresh herbs, get sunlight even if you cover your face with a hat, routine sleep

your skin will be the first sign your health is getting better, i saw it with me and can see it from the photos above too. im sure i used to have mites, i also had flushing and incredibly oily skin, everything has improved with lifestyle changes.

Lactoferrin is a really interesting substance produced by our own body, it chelates free iron and reduces inflammation. Rosacea skin contains more iron which contributes to oxidative stress/skin inflammation.

Lactoferrin is also naturally found in milk/whey and has no known side effects, only benefits with stronger immunity, improved gut health, better skin healing, etc. There are tons of studies on lactoferrin.

See this study where 200 mg lactoferrin daily for 12 weeks reduced inflammatory lesions by 38.6% and sebum production by 31.1%:

Quote

Lactoferrin, a whey milk protein after removing precipitated casein, has a prominent activity against inflammation in vitro and systemic effects on various inflammatory diseases have been suggested. The objective was to determine dietary effects of lactoferrin-enriched fermented milk on patients with acne vulgaris, an inflammatory skin condition. Patients 18 to 30 y of age were randomly assigned to ingest fermented milk with 200 mg of lactoferrin daily (n = 18, lactoferrin group) or fermented milk only (n = 18, placebo group) in a 12-wk, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Acne lesion counts and grade were assessed at monthly visits. The condition of the skin by hydration, sebum and pH, and skin surface lipids was assessed at baseline and 12 wk. Acne showed improvement in the lactoferrin group by significant decreases in inflammatory lesion count by 38.6%, total lesion count by 23.1%, and acne grade by 20.3% compared with the placebo group at 12 wk. Furthermore, sebum content in the lactoferrin group was decreased by 31.1% compared with the placebo group. The amount of total skin surface lipids decreased in both groups. However, of the major lipids, amounts of triacylglycerols and free fatty acids decreased in the lactoferrin group, whereas the amount of free fatty acids decreased only in the placebo group. The decreased amount of triacylglycerols in the lactoferrin group was significantly correlated with decreases in serum content, acne lesion counts, and acne grade. No alterations in skin hydration or pH were noted in either group. Lactoferrin-enriched fermented milk ameliorates acne vulgaris with a selective decrease of triacylglycerols in skin surface lipids. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/45537220_Dietary_effect_of_lactoferrin-enriched_fermented_milk_on_skin_surface_lipid_and_clinical_improvement_of_acne_vulgaris

I am currently taking oral lactoferrin and will experiment with a lactoferrin cream from Italy. There is quite a bit of lactoferrin naturally present in whey protein so taking 50 g per day or so should give you a good amount.

Piroctone olamine also chelates iron so I think that's maybe why seb derm creams help with this skin condition.

On 8/13/2022 at 2:08 PM, folliculitingg said:

ive read if your pustules get worse in sunlight and warm conditions then mites are more likely the cause, if its bacteria it will get better in the sun.

another thing to look out for is crusting on the eyelashes and eyebrows, again thats a sign of mites

but imo, it doesnt really matter the cause, the treatment is always the same and its improve overall health. vitamin C with every meal - lots of berries and fresh herbs, get sunlight even if you cover your face with a hat, routine sleep

your skin will be the first sign your health is getting better, i saw it with me and can see it from the photos above too. im sure i used to have mites, i also had flushing and incredibly oily skin, everything has improved with lifestyle changes.

I think that this pustule condition is caused by bacteria and never by mites. Also I think that health doesn't affect it. I think you could smoke cigarettes all day long and do 0 sports and eat toxic garbage (without carbs though) and would have still clear skin if you do not eat carbohydrates. I, in fact, feel super healthy and I know I am but if I would start eating lots and lots of simple carbs and lots of milk I'd have my whole face covered in white pus zits and it would never heal if I wouldn't cut out all the carbs.

However my skin used to have much more problems in 2020-2021. It was constantly red, super oily and would sting when core temperature raised or when under stress- which is a condition called "cholinergic urticaria". Horrible, horrible stuff!

These problems resolved, probably because of better mental health+ adding different foods+ stopping drinking milk. Or maybe it was just time. However the pustules come back if I eat lactose, sugar, fruit and honey.

Once again, here is the solution: 4 months strict keto, under 15grams carbs per day and those should come from non starchy vegetables.

After the 4 months you can slowly start reintroducing complex carbs. Oats, sweet potatoe, whole grain bread etc. Then maybe some white rice even. Small quantities of low fructose fruit too. If you never cheat and by cheating I mean drinking more than one cup milk, eating a lot of fruit, eating a lot of honey or even overindulging on other carbs you will stay free of the pustules. I observed this 100 percent.

20 hours ago, Eevs said:

 

i eat a lot of carbs and fruit sugars everyday and have not got a pustule in weeks, i imagine this problem could be caused by not eating carbs and then reintroducing them rather than the carbs themselves.

carbs also ramp up hormones which is probably the real reason, hormonal changes are the #1 cause in my case, the same with the other user who says he gets them after sex.

when you find balance they stop, which is why acne in all forms is very common during puberty but then very rare post puberty - although it is becoming more common now becasue our hormones are being affected by the environment constantly.

and ye, we have the precursers which cause these pustules, most people eat garbage and are unhealthy but dont have any skin issues whatsoever. i dont know if i had mites but i had more issues than just pustules which caused my skin to be very red, congested and inflammed for years, my eyebrows/ lashes also were falling out and my hair thinned (accutane could of also caused this). Like you, the oil was the biggest problem, it made all my pores visible and created textual issues i still have today.

If you focus on achieving hormonal balance consistantly, supporting immune system function and only using topicals to improve skin barrier i guarantee you will stop getting these, along with any other skin issue you have. it seems you have also made great progress with your skin, i think carbs are vital for performance and hormones so i keep them high but if you feel healthy without then no problem, whatever works for you.

supps and topicals are great and can help a lot, i think posting supplement suggestions is a good topic for discussion but they are tools to help rather than 'treatments'. Healing and supporting the gut is probably the best first step, many older patients who develop autoimmune issues are also told to cut out carbs, it works but i dont think its the solution.

Hey everyone, bit of an update. Been drinking aloe vera juice for around a week and have noticed a significant reduction in the amount of pustules I'm getting. Quite possible this has something to do with the antimicrobial properties of aloe vera which is known to kill staph aureus (my stool test showed an overgrowth of this bacteria).

Has anyone had this long term? Or any other type of herbal antimicrobial long term? Hoping this is a permanent solution for me but I'm worried it could stop working overtime, or lead to bacterial resistance.

Recommend giving it a shot if you're running out of options, I'm even able to eat pizza without it causing too much of a hastle.

7 hours ago, perpetualsadness said:

Hey everyone, bit of an update. Been drinking aloe vera juice for around a week and have noticed a significant reduction in the amount of pustules I'm getting. Quite possible this has something to do with the antimicrobial properties of aloe vera which is known to kill staph aureus (my stool test showed an overgrowth of this bacteria).

Has anyone had this long term? Or any other type of herbal antimicrobial long term? Hoping this is a permanent solution for me but I'm worried it could stop working overtime, or lead to bacterial resistance.

Recommend giving it a shot if you're running out of options, I'm even able to eat pizza without it causing too much of a hastle.

Thanks for sharing your experiment with aloe vera juice. Yeah it probably helps kill off some bad bacteria/fungus and keeps the gut clean.

I wouldn't worry too much about bacterial resistance from herbal antimicrobials, I think that's more of an issue with high dose antibiotics from the doctor. Never had any problems with antimicrobials like oregano oil, SF722 etc.

*Update on lactoferrin: Experiment with oral lactoferrin is going well, also bought a lactoferrin nasal spray so that should take care of the staph nose problem without having to use chlorhexidine.

Unfortunately, I've had to stop aloe vera juice as there are potential negative side effects from using long term as the juice can be toxic if taken everyday and I was getting headaches while on it so I called it quits for now. Looking at taking berberine in a few days as this has been shown to kill pathogenic bacteria, will see how I go. Another interesting supplement is butyrate, which is meant to help with the gut lining and 'reviving' of good bacteria, will experiment with this in a couple of weeks and report back.

@GrumpyPainterHow are you taking the lactoferrin? Is it in pill form or are you drinking colostrum? Wouldn't mind trying that out myself if need be.

1 hour ago, perpetualsadness said:

Unfortunately, I've had to stop aloe vera juice as there are potential negative side effects from using long term as the juice can be toxic if taken everyday and I was getting headaches while on it so I called it quits for now. Looking at taking berberine in a few days as this has been shown to kill pathogenic bacteria, will see how I go. Another interesting supplement is butyrate, which is meant to help with the gut lining and 'reviving' of good bacteria, will experiment with this in a couple of weeks and report back.

@GrumpyPainterHow are you taking the lactoferrin? Is it in pill form or are you drinking colostrum? Wouldn't mind trying that out myself if need be.

Staph population will decrease on a ketogenic diet. No sugar, no carbs for 3 months.

On 8/22/2022 at 11:49 AM, perpetualsadness said:

 

was it organic aloe? ive also been taking aloe for 3+ weeks now, i try to just have a tablespoon in the morning and not had any issues. ACV is good too

btw, i got 1 big pustule this week and it was from picking my skin, ive been doing the 0 touching technique but one day i could see a plug hanging out a pore so pushed it out and a few days later got a big pustule in the exact same spot. i tried BP and it worked but i get redness on the cheeks so will only be using it on chin and jaw if needed.

i also trying the same technique on scalp and noticed much less inflamation, only washing 2x a week and not using strong shampoos.

Restoring the skin barrier will help a lot, not just on the face but any area of the body

@eves I've tried keto, put unfortunately I still get pustules, seems every food to some degree causes them for me. Only had clear skin when I fasted for 2 days

@folliculitinggIt was just aloe vera juice, it looked yellow. I had to have 100ml a day for it to do any benefit and I got headaches and overall felt something was off so stop using it.

7 hours ago, perpetualsadness said:

@eves I've tried keto, put unfortunately I still get pustules, seems every food to some degree causes them for me. Only had clear skin when I fasted for 2 days

@folliculitinggIt was just aloe vera juice, it looked yellow. I had to have 100ml a day for it to do any benefit and I got headaches and overall felt something was off so stop using it.

the one ive got is completely clear, i put it on my face too....i dont think ive had any issue with it but it was pretty expensive.

ive woke up with 3 small ones on chin again after about 4 weeks without, ive been doing hard physical work for the past few days and felt exhausted plus had to eat much more to keep the weight on and still lost a little, its the only thing that has changed.

im sure these are triggered by a hormonal spike, why only our bodies react to it is because we have more active sebacious glands, naturally more staph on skin surface and coarse hair which creates bigger pores/ follicles = more chance of getting clogged.

then the final trigger is the immune response, i havnt looked into it but either our immune systems are compromised or they are overly active?

remove any of those factors and its going to clear up, thats why accutane will get rid of it within hours of taking it because theres no oil. the natural approach is reducing each of them as much as possible, that means high vit A diet, reducing sugars/ simple carbs, regular meals (no fasting), topicals like aloe or bp to kill staph (some acids), regular trimming of facial hair (or leaving it to fully grow out) and not over washing which creates more oil

we can also look into hormone balancing supps, like pine pollen and gut health supps like kefir, acv etc.

On 8/22/2022 at 12:49 PM, perpetualsadness said:

 

@GrumpyPainterHow are you taking the lactoferrin? Is it in pill form or are you drinking colostrum? Wouldn't mind trying that out myself if need be.

I did take colostrum for a while but there's only a tiny amount of lactoferrin in it. Now I am taking 500 mg per day. I think it is highly beneficial for reducing skin inflammation and reducing Staph population through iron sequestration.

No pustules for weeks and weeks while drinking beers, partying, eating pizza... life is good!

I'm currently using BP every other night and will continue weaning off, maybe I can replace it with a lactoferrin cream.

edit: I've also been using a facial wash called Flogan Det withciclopirox olamine/lactoferrin and my skin is ridiculously smooth now. Definitely a seb derm component to this white pustule condition.