My son has really bad comedonal acne (similar to yours only a bit worse) and also a touch of folliculitis which closely mimics comedonal acne, making them very hard to distinguish. Except he also gets it really bad on his back, shoulders, along his hairline and on his forehead which are the typical breeding grounds for folliculitis. We've been using Nizoral shampoo in conjunction with the Body Regimen and this has helped a lot for his bacne. His forehead is better but still a mess...still a lot of blackheads and whiteheads, mainly in the middle of his forehead. I wonder if Differin would help him?? Is this supposed to be good for comedonal acne?? His acne isn't severe enough to warrant Accutane but he does have a lot of PIH, mainly on his back from picking at the hard little bumps, which seems to be the only real way to truly get rid of these but each time it leaves a mark. Wish he had inherited my resilient skin, I was a picker but rarely scarred but his seems very prone to marks!

Hi

My comedonal acne started after my second accutane course which was CRAP to say the least. And I was given Differin and like you, was absolutely terrified of starting it. The initial breakout scared me more than how bumpy my face was! Then one day I broke down and just started using it as I have had acne on and off for so long I was like whatever lol. I have just completed 5 weeks of it and have yet to experience an insane initial breakout. I had 53 comedones the day I started and I have, at this minute, NONE -for all intents and purposes I am clear... Some of them grew a little bigger and some just fell off(?). None turned into big cysts even though I am VERY prone to cystic acne. I totally in no way think I am clear of the IB, I know it could still happen and this is just my personal experience BUT I say go for it because it could totally work for you as well . I wasn't prescribed antibiotics but I've read a lot that it helps with IB's.

Hi I just started using differin about 2.5 weeks ago. I took it along with solodyn and at first I started to see minor improvement but then by the end of the second week my face began to break out again. I started to see a lot of comedonal acne all around my chin and cheeks. At this time I had also just started taking ortho tri cyclen. So im not sure if this could be the reason why I began to break out again.

Now, at 2.5 weeks, my face continues to get comedonal acne but they come an leave so quickly. I'm just concerned about whether it will ever just stop coming back.

My dermatologist told me I should see improvements by the third week so I'll give it one more week. I'm also worried about scarring.

I just don't get why your face has to get worse before it get better. Why can't they just give me something that makes it go away instantly.

My son has really bad comedonal acne (similar to yours only a bit worse) and also a touch of folliculitis which closely mimics comedonal acne, making them very hard to distinguish. Except he also gets it really bad on his back, shoulders, along his hairline and on his forehead which are the typical breeding grounds for folliculitis. We've been using Nizoral shampoo in conjunction with the Body Regimen and this has helped a lot for his bacne. His forehead is better but still a mess...still a lot of blackheads and whiteheads, mainly in the middle of his forehead. I wonder if Differin would help him?? Is this supposed to be good for comedonal acne?? His acne isn't severe enough to warrant Accutane but he does have a lot of PIH, mainly on his back from picking at the hard little bumps, which seems to be the only real way to truly get rid of these but each time it leaves a mark. Wish he had inherited my resilient skin, I was a picker but rarely scarred but his seems very prone to marks!

That's really interesting. For a long time I've wondered if I have folliculitus too. I get more bumps after the gym I notice especially on my chest! But i have tried nizorsl and it did nothing for me..It made it worse. I also use head and shoulders shampoo on my scalp but it doesn't do anything and I've heard that can be good for folliculitus too.

Retinoids work by increasing cell turnover and effectively thinning the skin to reveal a new layers if skin basically. They are meant to be the BEST for comedonal acne as it sort of bring everything up to the surface to be treated...I think this is where the initial breakout can come to play for some.

 

My son has really bad comedonal acne (similar to yours only a bit worse) and also a touch of folliculitis which closely mimics comedonal acne, making them very hard to distinguish. Except he also gets it really bad on his back, shoulders, along his hairline and on his forehead which are the typical breeding grounds for folliculitis. We've been using Nizoral shampoo in conjunction with the Body Regimen and this has helped a lot for his bacne. His forehead is better but still a mess...still a lot of blackheads and whiteheads, mainly in the middle of his forehead. I wonder if Differin would help him?? Is this supposed to be good for comedonal acne?? His acne isn't severe enough to warrant Accutane but he does have a lot of PIH, mainly on his back from picking at the hard little bumps, which seems to be the only real way to truly get rid of these but each time it leaves a mark. Wish he had inherited my resilient skin, I was a picker but rarely scarred but his seems very prone to marks!

That's really interesting. For a long time I've wondered if I have folliculitus too. I get more bumps after the gym I notice especially on my chest! But i have tried nizorsl and it did nothing for me..It made it worse. I also use head and shoulders shampoo on my scalp but it doesn't do anything and I've heard that can be good for folliculitus too.

 

Retinoids work by increasing cell turnover and effectively thinning the skin to reveal a new layers if skin basically. They are meant to be the BEST for comedonal acne as it sort of bring everything up to the surface to be treated...I think this is where the initial breakout can come to play for some.

Yeah, you'd have to see a derm and ask to know for sure if it's folliculitis but I'd say if it didn't respond to the medicated shampoos, then chances are it isn't folliculitis. His back, shoulders and hairline are responding really well to the Nizoral (coupled with the Body Regimen for regular acne), while the comedones in the middle of his forehead aren't budging. So perhaps a retinoid would work well for him here for his forehead comedonal acne. It's really tricky when you're trying to treat two different skin conditions at once! So is differin a retinoid?? The only one I'm familiar with is Retin-A, which I had a horrible experience with as a teen.

 

 

 

My son has really bad comedonal acne (similar to yours only a bit worse) and also a touch of folliculitis which closely mimics comedonal acne, making them very hard to distinguish. Except he also gets it really bad on his back, shoulders, along his hairline and on his forehead which are the typical breeding grounds for folliculitis. We've been using Nizoral shampoo in conjunction with the Body Regimen and this has helped a lot for his bacne. His forehead is better but still a mess...still a lot of blackheads and whiteheads, mainly in the middle of his forehead. I wonder if Differin would help him?? Is this supposed to be good for comedonal acne?? His acne isn't severe enough to warrant Accutane but he does have a lot of PIH, mainly on his back from picking at the hard little bumps, which seems to be the only real way to truly get rid of these but each time it leaves a mark. Wish he had inherited my resilient skin, I was a picker but rarely scarred but his seems very prone to marks!

 

That's really interesting. For a long time I've wondered if I have folliculitus too. I get more bumps after the gym I notice especially on my chest! But i have tried nizorsl and it did nothing for me..It made it worse. I also use head and shoulders shampoo on my scalp but it doesn't do anything and I've heard that can be good for folliculitus too.

Retinoids work by increasing cell turnover and effectively thinning the skin to reveal a new layers if skin basically. They are meant to be the BEST for comedonal acne as it sort of bring everything up to the surface to be treated...I think this is where the initial breakout can come to play for some.

Yeah, you'd have to see a derm and ask to know for sure if it's folliculitis but I'd say if it didn't respond to the medicated shampoos, then chances are it isn't folliculitis. His back, shoulders and hairline are responding really well to the Nizoral (coupled with the Body Regimen for regular acne), while the comedones in the middle of his forehead aren't budging. So perhaps a retinoid would work well for him here for his forehead comedonal acne. It's really tricky when you're trying to treat two different skin conditions at once! So is differin a retinoid?? The only one I'm familiar with is Retin-A, which I had a horrible experience with as a teen.

Honestly my forhead is just such a mess right now, bumps are everywhere so I really hope this helps.

Yes it's very tricky I can imagine to treat both! Would you say folliculitis loss the exact same? Also is it itchy?

Differin is a retinoid, but a synthetic one so it is man made. It's actually the most gentlest (meant to be) but it works the exact same way but not as strong as Retin A.