So I've been battling with deep, painful folliculitis for about a year now. I was on Accutane from fall 2013 through summer 2014, and it cleared me up 100%. However, after being off of it for a couple of months, I started developing the odd pimple. I decided it was time to get back on the BP regimen - big mistake! Since then I've been developing what I've come to understand are not pimples, but rather furuncles and carbuncles caused by follicular infection. They hurt like hell as they come up, form a pus-filled head, then burst and leave a small open wound. Sometimes they cluster into carbuncles (several pus-filled heads grouped into one), and these are the absolute worst. They are not concentrated in any given area, and I get them sporadically all over my face, although they are usually larger in the beard area.

It seems that BP makes them surface to a head faster, but it also seems to cause the really big, swollen ones in the first place. Recently I went for about two weeks without benzoyl peroxide, and I did not have any of the huge, painful ones - but I developed a BUNCH of smaller ones all over my forehead and t-zone, as well as scaly dermatitis patches near my hairline and in my beard. In addition, moisturizing makes the folliculitis even worse.

It seems like BP keeps certain skin conditions away (dermatitis, small acne / folliculitis), but at the same time causes other ones (large, inflamed lumps)!

Has anyone had experience with dealing with these? Should I steer away from the BP and just wash my face with something? Remember, I can't moisturize either, as that compounds the folliculitis issue...