On 9/23/2018 at 12:11 AM, Obi wan said:

Track marks @Yola4are indeed seen with powerful devices- Infini, high energy Co2 (Ultrapulse), large diameter laser beam such as erbium Profactional , and even microneedling. You are correct, this issue is more than ' skin deep', the solution is to see a good dermatologist, who understands this condition. The solution is complex- too much skin care can cause inflammation, worsening the pores and texture. Hence balance the retinoid solution according to your progress. Objective, not subjective- hence photos. A good dermatologist will use small beam diode over Thulium driven 1927 - Clear and Brilliant over Fraxel. Start conservatively, then increase passes. Peels not a good idea. LAST resort is fully ablative laser- followed by vascular. I wish you well.

Yeah, no thanks. You don't laser inflamed skin that's like throwing alcohol on a fire. Let's add damage to damage! You baby the skin until it's either healed or until you can tolerate treatments. You focus on your immune system because we all know healing starts from the inside.

It's interesting that you're saying to find a good dermatologist because I personally have searched not only the country, but also the world for one (and that's no exaggeration) and they all seem perplexed by this condition. I have spoken with dozens of people who have also searched the globe looking for help to no avail! Lesson learned: don't over exfoliate your skin even if past experiences lead you to believe that you have very resilient skin! When I recover,because I will recover, I will start a new thread on this topic. Hopefully warning others and giving advice. I'm not one to give up and a problem solver by nature so this is a battle I will win. I wish you well too.

I also have scar tissue and orange peel texture, especially on cheeks and nose, thanks to harsh products, while I was dealing with acne, sun damage and genetics. You know it's bad when even other people with really bad eyesight can see it.

What seems to help so far is,

- remove make up with a creamy make up remover, no soap.

- washing the face with bottled water, low mineral content. I only need about half a cup and it does not dehydrate the skin like our hard water from the tap.

- slathering a 10% UREA cream for the winter, 5% for the summer. I've no problem using 25% UREA during very cold temperatues, my skin is that messed up.

- sealing it up in the night time with Shea butter or Vaseline.

- also seal it up when you're taking a shower or going swimming!

- definitely use QUALITY sun cream in the summer. Some even recommend it when its cloudy.

- of course no alcohol/smoking, or I'd look even worse.

- lots of water, good food.

- maybe a supplement like biotin.

This is all very affordable and can be found around the corner. I'm very wary of all the other recommendations which are often super expensive and contain many of the harsh ingredients that ruined my face in my youth. If I were dealing with acne now, I'd only use stuff like Aloe Vera Gel and Tea Tree Oil and of course UREA. No exfoliations, physical, chemical or otherwise, no acids, no scrubbing!

I am convinced that orange peel skin/texture is due to high cortisol and insulin levels in the body. I have researched this symptom for years and have not found anything at all regarding solutions, so I decided to pay special attention to my pores and their changing size. They first became dilated and I developed orange peel texture seemingly overnight when I was on an anitdpressent dosage that was too high, and my body was in extreme stress. They stayed this ways for a couple of years until I completely eliminated stress from my life and also started using technology way less (during this period of low stress they becamecompletely invisible the texture completely resolved!) Fast forward a couple years and I took on a very stressful job and my cortisol levels become really high once again. I was eating lots of sugar and carbs to cope with the stress. My pores became dilated again and the orange peel texture came back. Pores DO change in shape and they CAN shrink back on their own.I truly believe this condition is due to internal causes (not external) that create INFLAMMATIONin the body. Focus on a clean diet (NO sugar or white flour), LOW stress, spending time outside and lots of water. I look forward to hearing if this helps anyone else!

On 3/11/2017 at 12:55 AM, beautifulambition said:

This can also be from a poorly functioning thyroid or antidepressant medication messing up hormone levels. Also Excess Sebum-Oil produced by a damaged ""moisture barrier,"" look it up on Google. Over exfoliating, doing to many procedures that strip and exfoliate,sensitivity to cosmetic products, poor diet with sugar, dairy, carbs, and excess process foods - instead of fruits and veggies. Orange peel is caused by excess inflation in the body.Look at antioxidants and supplements to strengthen the thyroid.

Soaps and acids to open up the pore or dissolve sebum like salicylic acid - BHA, hydropeels are cheap and clean out pores derms/med spas, clay masks, etc.

Please goto my faq (below signature) goto the skin section, then orange peel, large pores and I list several treatments. Dr. Weiner in Florida has been using superficially dilute injected botox recently for acne and to close up pores. Others have had success with PRP injections and micro needling, acid peels, EGF serums and creams, HA serum, vitamin C serum, diets high in fat and protein. etc....

One new treatment is skin boosters, they are superficial injections of HA very close to the skin surface which gives moisture and stimulates collagen, I have seen great results with these. They can also be done with meso injections by tiny needles of serums.

Energy Based treatments are Several clear and brillant laser sessions, Fraxel 1927nm full density w/ c02 fractional laser 3-7% density and the highest power- stronger version C&B, rf needling, ematrix rf - sublative, picosure, and laser genesis which is a non ablative laser for skin turnover are other options.

http://www.consultingroom.com/Treatment/Restylane-Vital

 

 

Any updates? This thread is one of the most comprehensive on this topic on the entire acne.org website. I wish prior posters from many years back would update us on their condition and whether or not they ever found a cure. Based on what I have been reading all over the internet on this topic, the cause seems to be diverse and varied. Many people have experienced this 'orange-peel' like texture and red erythema/contact dermatitis after undergoing either a treatment (IPL and energy based treatments such as Fraxel or CO2) or from applying a retinoid. I have even read a few posts from users claiming they developed this skin texture after going on a course of Accutane (which from everything I have read seems contradictory, because isn't Accutane supposed to decrease sebaceous gland activity and thus shrink pores?)

This condition is truly a mystery but there are so many people on acne.org, realself.com, reddit.com and other message boards all trying to get to the bottom of this. Based on the highly informative post by Beautifulambition, and posts from others I have read on this website, there also seems to be some theories that this condition is caused by:

1) Damaged skin barrier/Skin dehydration

2) A clogged lymphatic drainage system causing a 'puckering' of the pores?

3) Enlarged pores due to a thinning of the dermis?

4) A chronic state of inflammation/erythema causing the pores to appear enlarged?

5) Demodex mites

6)Yeast infection/Yeast Pityrosporum Folliculitis

7) Fungal/Candida infections?

8) A poorly functioning thyroid?

Nevertheless, these 'health-related' problems such as mites, fungal issues and thyroid problems are often suggested when it comes to any other mysterious and unexplainable health problem being complained about on the internet. Orange-peel pores being no exception. Do all of us just have to go through this list, one-by-one, until we find what's causing the problem? I think to find a cure we need to narrow down the root cause of this problem and the commonalities between all of its sufferers. We can also take a look at what has worked for the most amount of people and this might be able to suggest a true root cause.

POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

I have not found anything conclusive yet but there seems to be some reoccurring themes amongst posters who have seen improvement after having this problem.

I found 1 thread on reddit about a girl who experienced severe skin texture changes after using a retinoid cream for anti-aging purposes. She said her pores all became enlarged and that her skin is constantly irritated and becomes red to the touch (Contact dermatitis?) She says that she cannot do any treatments and cannot really use any topicals because her skin is so easily inflamed now. She said that months later her skin never reverted to its original state but on that same thread there were posts from another user who claimed that she repaired her skin by having mesotherapy/skin boosters containing hyaluronic acid injected into her skin. This links back to the dehydration/moisture barrier damage theory. Considering that most people experiencing this problem seem to also be experiencing a trouble absorbing moisturizers into their skin, have red irritated skin/erythema as well as some strange dryness or oil overproduction problems; this seems to suggest a compromised moisture barrier as well as impaired skin microbiome functionality. Perhaps in order to solve this problem we must restore the moisture barrier function to its original state.

I am soon going to undergo a series of mesotherapy/skin booster treatments and see if it has any impact on the health of my skin. They will inject my skin with a cocktail of hyaluronic acid, PRP, glutathione, as well as some antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Most of us spend a lot of time merely applying topicals, but I am not sure how effective this is in restoring the health of the skin when it cannot produce moisture any longer? It seems the problem is coming from deeper in the dermis, and if the substances are having trouble penetrating within, then injections might hold promising results. Of course, this is assuming that moisture barrier problems are the cause of the weird skin texture changes.

I also found a post on realself.com where a woman claimed that she healed her orange peel skin texture damage after undergoing a series of combined dermabrasion/chemical peel treatments and that this restored her skin back to its original state? But it seems conflicting with the previous information because shouldn't chemical peels further damage the moisture barrier? Or does this effectively trigger the collagen response and help to heal the skin? Difficult to say. So much of these anecdotal reports are inconclusive, this is why posters really need to come back and update the community with what they have learnt and how their skin condition has progressed overtimed.

There is also the other side of the spectrum who says that they must adhere to a stringent 'caveman regimen' until their skin heals. These posters say they lather their face in emu oil or neem oil and they leave it on overnight and they only wash their face with distilled water (or they don't wash their face at all). Some incorporate microneedling and massage the oil into the skin. I have not found any of these posters who managed to cure their skin texture issues. They all just claim the skin texture problems continues to persist for years on end, no matter how much oil soaking and microneedling they do. This is why I think that the solution to the problem lies in carefully choosing the right treatments, technologies and skincare to alleviate the condition. The last thing anyone wants to do is trust the medical or cosmetic/skincare industry after this disaster happened to them, but this problem was caused to us by technology and science, and I think that the key to undoing the problem also lies in human ingenuity and technology/science. I know that red photobiomodulation/low level red light therapy is capable of speeding up healing and promoting collagen synthesis. This might be able to help combat some of the issues we are facing.

As for how we can temporarily 'mask' this problem, I would recommend using either skin botox/mesobotox or undergo an Aquagold treatment which will temporarily shrink the pores for about 4 months. As for the redness/erythema, I think that pulsed dye lasers (these are non-ablative) should help with the blood pooling in the underlying capillaries and eventually restore the skin tone and color? Pulsed dye lasers such as the vbeam and excel v are very effective because they rupture these abnormal capillaries so that you don't experience that same red flushing/rosacea effect that accompanies this orange peel skin texture condition.