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ok basically im an asian who is now 25 years old. 4 months from now i'll be 26. My acne problem occured first time when i was like 16-17 but it stopped for no reason when i turned 20-21 but everything flared up again since about 2 years ago. This time it is way way worse than it used to be.
My problem i think is inability to follow the "all 100% natural" guides that are presented here and anywhere else. I just can't. I have a business and i need to be practical sometimes. It doesnt mean i dont try to eat healthy. I always try my best to avoid oily foods and anything that contain dairy (including snacks because all of them always contain dairy). Not everyday though i could avoid "potentially causing acne" foods because you know when you have limited time for lunch you just find somewhere to eat nearby and those places nearby almost always sell foods that are oily. I still eat fruits everyday, like at least 1 orange a day and sometimes 1-2 papayas, etc. but i dont think that help either.
so i started to seek help from doctors (not sure if they are the same with dermatologists? Basically doctors who got degree in skin specializing). I have been to like 4-5 doctors in the past 2 years because of disappointments and i never found a single one that can truly help me for long run. After a year, I finally sticked to one dermatologist whom unfortunately now work out of town but i still buy creams from her occassionally. She came home to my city once every 2 months or so. basically this is the only one that ever gave me combination of creams that "successfully" stopped most of my breakouts. Almost all of my breakouts are large acnes that contain pus. Not sure how you say it in english but basically those type of acnes that always need at least weeks to disappear and always leave deep scars afterward.
So i have been using this doctor's cream combination starting this January until July. i have never had any large acne breakout anymore since about March to July. "It worked" I thought! But my journey didn't end there. I feel like all the red scars that were caused by previous acnes never truly healed. yes they healed for the first 30 days but then they just stopped healing. They just won't go away. Im aware that scars will always be there but im talking about the hyperpigmentation. They just stay there for many many months, some of them have been there for maybe more than a year. I started to worry...
so i consulted to the same doctor, whom unfortunately can't give me any treatment anymore because as I said she works in another clinic out of town but i was asking for her advice if it's good for me to get some medical treatment like chemical peeling or dermaroller or fractional laser or whatever. She said it might worth trying. She also changed some of my cream combination (will be explained later)
so i went to a clinic in my town, consulting bla bla bla, then the doctor there told me to get chemical peeling. Done twice, nothing happened. In fact i got some mild breakouts everytime he did that chemical peeling on me. After two times he recommended me to get fractional laser. This time he said i need to wait for 4 times fractional laser before i can see noticable result. I paid because I really want to see my red marks to go away. Things got worse. I have done this "therapy" twice, but huge breakouts occured EVERYTIME i got lasered. I dont understand why. My left cheek is now full of large acnes, i mean like 4 of them. I never had any breakout before any treatment and now i paid a lot of money to get these? First time i got lasered, i also had 2-3 of large acnes on my left cheek. I complained but he still went on with the 2nd treatment after those acnes disappeared. Now i truly doubt if i should continue with the 3rd one and honestly i think this is enough.
Fortunately there's no breakout at all on my right cheek so i can compare my right cheek now and way before I got any treatment. As expected, no improvement. maybe there is improvement but only about 10% or so. I attached my right cheek picture so you can see how bad it actually is. This kind of condition has been there for the past 6 months or so, it's been always looked like this.
And regarding what i said above about my creams, basically my doctor gave me a facial acne wash that contain benzoil peroxyde. Im not sure about the creams ingredient but the night cream is like 2 creams that are both to "fight" active acnes and the morning cream is also to combat active acnes. Now she only prescribed me one of the 2 night creams and replace another one with something to heal my redness. The morning cream is also changed to something for my red scars. So out of those 3 creams, only one of them is to combat my active acnes (apart of the facial wash). Could it be because of these changes that my breakout occurs? Or the breakouts occur simply because of the fractional laser? or combination of both? Because i can swear to god that all these acnes ALWAYS occur at the same day i got lasered/peeled and honestly i dont understand why. I mean, how can a scar treatment cause breakouts on me? And if it does, how can i make these red marks disappear without causing breakouts?
And just like the title said, i have done almost everything. before 1 year ago i have also done some light laser therapy, something they call PPX, but it also didnt improve my scar. Of course i gave up back then not because of the scar didnt improve, but because i still had breakouts so i told myself i need to fight these breakouts first before even thinking about scars. But now after finally i managed to fight the breakouts, the scar therapies (peeling, fractional laser) caused my new breakouts? What should I do?
my skin only getting worse because old scars seem dont want to improve while new ones appearing ;( im very frustrated. i want to try natural ways but i really really need to know. Btw i dont take any pills because i dont want to destroy my own body with long term chemical consumption like accutane or antibiotic
I hate to break this to you but most doctors don't care about you. They just want your money. How much money have you spent on the treatments they recommended? It sounds like a lot. But have you ever spent money on getting your hormones and other things (like vitamin/ mineral deficiencies) checked to see what is causing your acne? That would be a much better investment of your time and money because then you might be able to find what's causing the acne and find the right treatment. If you go to an experienced doctor who won't prescribe pills, but will prescribe useful supplements for you, then you won't have to worry about destroying your health.
And yes, fraxel and peels can both cause more acne. A doctor was trying to sell me fraxel and she told me that the risk might be that I can have a reaction to the laser and the irritation can cause acne. So it's possible.
Try changing your acne regimen. Look into dan's acne.org's regimen. Browse the before / after photos and see how others have improved their skin and see if your acne is similar to theirs.
Forget lasers. They don't produce dramatic results for indented scars. If you want to remove indented scars, you got to have surgery. With lasers, theres always high risk of developing cysts and skin boils especially if you have active acne. Strong chemical peels also have the risk of causing that as well.
The only lasers that get rid of red marks are ipl and vbeam.
I hate to break this to you but most doctors don't care about you. They just want your money. How much money have you spent on the treatments they recommended? It sounds like a lot. But have you ever spent money on getting your hormones and other things (like vitamin/ mineral deficiencies) checked to see what is causing your acne? That would be a much better investment of your time and money because then you might be able to find what's causing the acne and find the right treatment. If you go to an experienced doctor who won't prescribe pills, but will prescribe useful supplements for you, then you won't have to worry about destroying your health.
And yes, fraxel and peels can both cause more acne. A doctor was trying to sell me fraxel and she told me that the risk might be that I can have a reaction to the laser and the irritation can cause acne. So it's possible.
im sorry but how do i check for my hormones and other things? I never even heard this is possible. i just go to lab and tell them about my problem? I dont think any doctor here in my country (Indonesia) would ever tell you to check for hormone or any deficiency especially when the problem is related to acne.
so how do I able to get rid of these red scars? If i dont go anywhere, they just wont improve. Like not improving a single bit.
Try changing your acne regimen. Look into dan's acne.org's regimen. Browse the before / after photos and see how others have improved their skin and see if your acne is similar to theirs.
Forget lasers. They don't produce dramatic results for indented scars. If you want to remove indented scars, you got to have surgery. With lasers, theres always high risk of developing cysts and skin boils especially if you have active acne. Strong chemical peels also have the risk of causing that as well.
The only lasers that get rid of red marks are ipl and vbeam.
hi thanks for your reply. I am looking forward to the regimen but i dont know what kind of moisturizer will work. I mean i have a facial wash with benzoil peroxyde already, maybe i just need the moisturizer but then i dont know if any moisturizer (whatever brand it is) will work and wont have any risk of developing new acne? Also i got feeling that actually it's BP that make my acne scars very hard to disappear. I always know that everytime i got a new red mark on my cheek it's always hard to disappear but it's only ever since i used BP that it's getting way harder than it used to be. So basically im suspecting either one of my night creams or my BP facial wash that made it even harder for the red marks to disappear. Point is, atm im in the middle of crossroad and honestly i start to feel that i really want to stay away from all these ingredients.
thanks.
Read this and understand this before you proceed with other procedures.
Red marks are inflammation / infection just like acne. Brown marks are something different - it's just hyper pigmentation.
It appears that what you have are red marks, as in active red... Not brown. This is inflammation and infection even if you don't have a zit there. Deep beneath your skin, there is an infection... And that's why it's red. To treat it, benzoyle peroxide can kill the bacteria that is causing the areas to be inflamed. Use Dan"s regimen containing benzoyle peroxide and apply it all over your face and follow the regimen. Your skin will start to slightly peel and will be dry but the red marks will turn brown. Thats the key - your red marks will turn brown. Repeat: red will turn brown. Your face will look horrible while on the regimen but it will improve when you stop using it. Then after the red marks turn brown stop using the regimen (unless you still have acne zits), then you can do exfoliation such as chemical peels, aha, etc to fade the brown marks... Or let it fade on its own.
Now, before you go out and get a prescription for benzoyle peroxide and moisturizers, read the regimen instructions (and the bp strength) first to see how the whole thing works. You can get this from the amazon website and get it with international shipping, which is still a lot cheaper than laser.
I did it and it works for me. My red marks wouldn't go away for years. I realized that this was active inflammation and was not the typical brown hyper pigmentation that fades on its own. I did chemical peels at beauty clinics, aha, exfoliation creams and none of it worked be cause I had active inflammatory "red" marks and not "brown" marks.
Also, for the regimen... You can buy the whole kit at amazon... The moisturizer, cleanser and acne medication... a 3 in 1 package. If you use 5% or 10% bp, it'll make your skin very irritated and red. So use the 2.5% Bp. For the moisturizer, you can experiment with different kinds. Some moisturizers contain alcohol which can cause a burning sensation when used with bp, so I recommend the one in the kit... Thats why its just easier to get the kit, as opposed to finding or researching everything separately.
You appear to already have mild scarring already on your cheeks. Tough your temples and forehead appear in good condition. I suggest you stop using all chemical induced products (This can damage keep damaging your T-zone (acne prone area) and eventually damage it to the point were your skin will heal slowly and eventually scar easier) and try washing your face with pure oil. (Oil cleansing method), if not nothing but water for a long time.
WishClean is right btw
I hate to break this to you but most doctors don't care about you. They just want your money. How much money have you spent on the treatments they recommended? It sounds like a lot. But have you ever spent money on getting your hormones and other things (like vitamin/ mineral deficiencies) checked to see what is causing your acne? That would be a much better investment of your time and money because then you might be able to find what's causing the acne and find the right treatment. If you go to an experienced doctor who won't prescribe pills, but will prescribe useful supplements for you, then you won't have to worry about destroying your health.
And yes, fraxel and peels can both cause more acne. A doctor was trying to sell me fraxel and she told me that the risk might be that I can have a reaction to the laser and the irritation can cause acne. So it's possible.
im sorry but how do i check for my hormones and other things? I never even heard this is possible. i just go to lab and tell them about my problem? I dont think any doctor here in my country (Indonesia) would ever tell you to check for hormone or any deficiency especially when the problem is related to acne.
so how do I able to get rid of these red scars? If i dont go anywhere, they just wont improve. Like not improving a single bit.
To get tested, first you need to make an appointment with a doctor, preferably an endocrinologist or an integrative medicine doctor. Then they refer you to the lab with specific tests to do. Not sure how it works in Indonesia, but if you browse acne.org you will discover many people who cleared their skin after figuring out their vitamin deficiencies (esp. Vitamin D and zinc) and hormonal issues.