Introduction: Hi, I am 25yo, Hispanic, male, olive skin tone, and have had acne on face and chest for ~10 years. I'm also new here and so am not sure if similar posts have been made in the past. Please redirect me if you are aware of any! (I am in NYC as well so any dermatologist suggestions in the area would be welcome as well!)

Summary/ Question: I have had acne on my face and chest for a number of years. On my face it is very mild to non-existent and have virtually 0 scarring from what I can detect. On my chest, however, I have had more mild to moderate acne that I still get today and have atrophic scarring. Some questions I have are:

1. Could this possibly be fungal acne? I ask that because I have tried many topical treatments like benzoyl peroxide (the 2.5% from this site:) ) that have helped but have not eliminated the acne. I am a strong believer in holistic health and have been looking at other factors in my life like stress, diet (have recently gone a candida type diet cleanse which has been helping), exercise, etc, and have read that acne on chest for adults in most cases can be fungal related.
2. Is there a way for me to diagnose whether this is fungal acne? I recently went to a dermatologist in NYC but they didn't even entertain the idea that this was fungal related. I have seen many videos online, however, saying that fungal acne is real and that dermatologists can run tests to see whether that is the case. Is there a way for me to determine if this is fungal on my own? If you are in NYC area, any dermatologists you recommend for diagnosing whether fungal/ to treat my acne and scarring in general?
3. What treatments would. you recommend to treat my acne? If it is fungal, what would you recommend in that case? I have tried applying dandruff shampoo and taking oral natural antifungals to treat in case it is fungal acne, still to early to know if there will be any effect. If you have had experience with similar fungal acne on face, chest, or other areas, what has your experience been like?
4. What treatments do you recommend for my atrophic scarring on chest? I have done research and see treatment options like lasers (I am unfamiliar with the different kinds), subcision, excisions, tissue grafting, fillers/ fat grafting, chemical peeling, dermarolling (aka. microneedling), etc.. I have yet to really try anything, and have also read somewhere that skin on chest can react differently from face so wanted to see any suggestions.
5. What dermatologists do you recommend for my acne and/or scarring? I am currently in NYC but have been contemplating going to see Dr. Philip A. Young in Seattle for my acne scarring as he seems to produce great results and has also done treatment on chest acne scarring before (link here if you are curious: [removed]). If you know of any dermatologists in NYC or surrounding area, however, for treating my acne (whether if be fungal or not) and/or my acne scarring, I would greatly appreciate it as well

Story: I have had acne on chest and face for ~10 years since I was in my mid teens (currently 25yo, hispanic, male, olive skin). It was worse when I was younger. It was most likely hormonal acne, but I honestly attribute a lot of my breakouts to my poor health and habits (was very overweight as a child, ate a lot of sugar, dairy, processed carbs, 0 exercise/ very inactive, zero exposure to sunlight as I wasn't encouraged to play outside, etc). My parents honestly never instilled in me healthy habits or even understood the importance of diet and exercise so I had to reverse that as I learned on my own and got older, but that's an entirely different story on its own. Anyways, I have tried many topical treatments when I was younger and products have always aggravated my acne more (was definitely not using products properly when I was an early teenager) and so for many years went without applying anything.

As I got older my acne improved over time on my face but for some reason I have had more aggressive acne on my chest. Could never get rid of it. It has been embarrassing for obvious reasons, it physically hurts, and it has taken a toll on my emotional health and has impacted other areas of my life as I have found it hard to concentrate on important things like academia and my career and has also been a phsycological nightmare whenever I have to contemplate doing fun, simple things with friends like going to beach too enjoy the weather, etc.

That was a little venting, but I am honestly also grateful that it has improved over time and that it is not more severe than it is. I have also looked. into taking care of my emotional and mental health to be more accepting of myself as I am. I recently have started using products again, but have been way more methodical about it (I refer to [removed] for their great advice and recommendations). They have been great and have improved things like the texture of my skin, reduced inflammation and active acne, etc. I have also been taking health supplements like vitamin C, D, zinc, natural antifungals, probiotics, etc as I am a big believer in holistic health treatment. I virtually never get acne on my face anymore but still get acne on my chest. I speculate that this may be fungal acne related, but I have yet to get a proper diagnosis.

I also go by the name of matchapisces on [removed] in case you wanna check me out there too, thanks!