I was getting treatment for 4 years for pityrosporum folliculitis and sometime I was cured but treated all lesions as if it still folliculitis. My derm never retested me and the body folliculitis cleared and began getting bumps on my face. I got a second opinion and it turns out I was getting acne and treating them with antifungals which made it worse. I also used a Clarisonic brush once a day (part of the folliculitis regimen). My skin began so sensitive and irritated that I got burns at a Medi-Spa. I asked them not to use a chemical peel which they did and I looked as if I scraped my face on asphalt!

So the new derm treated me for acne and pih with excellent results! It's only been about 4 weeks and the hyperpigmentation from the burns has faded dramatically. It usually takes months since I have darker skin. She had me use Cloderm in the AM and Hydrocortisone Valerate in the PM.

For the acne she has me on Acanya in the AM and Ziana in the evening. These meds are fairly new. Acanya is a combo of benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin. Ziana is a retinoid with clindamycin.

In addition she has more on oral antibiotics (also new) Acticlate - doxycycline Hyclate. These meds make me nauseous at times so I take probiotics every morning. Overtime you get used to it. The results were almost immediate. After these few weeks I have no more breakouts and my skin feels smooth.

The only issue is that the oral meds make you photosensitive so I use a good sunblock. That and using make up to cover the dark spots has helped keep them from getting darker. I'm starting to use less make up and some spots had almost completely disappeared from the spa burn. The biggest burn on my cheek which was huge is now down to two small spots and slight redness and it's only been a month!

My treatment is promising and I'm really happy with the meds. These are the first topical a that don't irritate or dry out my skin. There has been no side effects to the topicals like peeling, redness, itching or flakiness. I've been on Differin and Retin-A in the past and now I would never go back.