That happened to me as well with tretinoinand it's still healing. I've seenpeople suffer the same fromtretinoin and laser on this board.

I've been using a thick cream from avene called cicalfate. Everything from Avene is fantastic to help recover. I got their SOS kit after laser and it's helped immensely. They have a spray that lowers your skin's temperature too which is refreshing.I would definitely stop allretinols/retinoids.

Couldn't agree more Kay24. I don't use it anymore but Avene was great for hypersensitive skin. I found keeping the showers to a colder temperature to be less harsh on the skin aswell. I'd also like to mention that anxiety and worrying makes this condition worse b/c it increases your cortisol, further increasing inflammation and reducing healing.

5 hours ago, JudgmentPuzzleheaded said:

 

 

Dropping blackpills lmaoo

7 hours ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

Been to 2 dermatologists and A GM. Tried 2 steroids one which led to very minor pigmentation change on scars which I stopped immediately.It could be things like dermatitis from scar damage and just extensive damage underneath that's triggered. Or both. But there's no cure and most doctors "don't care" if it's not super visible or exists all the time. And I'm done with trial and error.

There's not enough academic research on damage of the layers from all types of scarring. Damage under the layers/pores does extensive damage but the symptoms and anatomical situation probably varies wildly from person to person due to location, depth and other things.

The only solution/cure is super extreme managing environmental, lighting and "on my feet" time. I only write this because if anyone has similar issues take it from me I have 20 years experience in the physical pain/aspects of layer damage.

It sounds like you are suffering from some skin sensitivity. Where exactly is this irrritation? Whole face or centre?

I would do a 7 days skin detox if I were you - stop everything no sunscreen, no make up, no retinoids, just a gentle ph neutral cleanser and a moisturizer. Often times skin products can damage the skin barrier and cause irritation in sensitive skin. Less is then more. I would use creams which calm the skin down and rebuild the skin.

I also suffered from skin irritation and redness for many months and thought it was just my skin and that scars are supposed to be red. But as it turned out my skin barrier was gone because of skin treatments and harsh active ingredients and I would also react to wind and cold outside or stress. Somehow I have managed to calm the skin down over a few months and the irritation and redness arecompletely gone now. My scars look less obvious and the skin is better overall.

Derms don't really care I know. Very few ones are acually good. My derm still went on with scar treatment even though the damaged skin barrier would mean I will get less results.

Another derm who even saw my irritated skin during a scar treatment consultation and I told him about it, didn't even register it as a problem. No comment.

Also bear in mind that if your skin is sensitive and irritated you need to be on an antibiotic before ablative laser treatments and to get a vascular laser for any rebound irritation after. Very few derms actually do this. I got this from Dr Lim's posts.

.

Same thing happened to me a few months ago.. I was using Tret just to improve texture and hyperpigmentation but after a few days it destroyed my moisture barrier which made everything look 10x worse scars that I could hardlysee lookedmore prominent etc.. I then simply stopped tret and just used a hydrating cleanser and moisturiser and my skin went back to normal. What I learnt from that is when your moisture barrier is damaged everything looks way worse than it really is.

1 hour ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

 

 

 

For the record the burning/sensations occur on my cheeks, nose, forehead and that's it.

 

This sounds suspiciously like Rosacea on the central parts of the face. Also, you say you've had it for decades. I am not sure if it has anything to do with the damage or the scarring because people with perfect skin also develop Rosacea after their 20s.

To my knowledge, Doxycline helps as it reduces the inflammation and improves the redness. I have had one course of Doxy and it did clear my redness. It also prevented Rosacea flair-up after a scar treatment so Dr Lim is 100% about that.

I have read recently that Metronidazol antibiotic topically can reduce the widened blood vessels which cause the redness but haven't tried it out yet. I have only hadIvermectin cream, but it caused me more pimples and the doctor changed it to Azelaic acid gel 15%, which brought about the improvement in 2 months together with Doxy. Interestingly Azelaic 20% irritates my skin so I stick to 15%. Steroid cream doesn't really help with rosacea.

I also followed the online advice of Dr Lim and Dr Sam about the skin care routine for hypersensitive skin and it helped me tremendously. Sunscrean daily was my skin's savior and also staying away from irritating actives.

If you have had this irritation problem for decades and it turns out to be rosacea indeed I strongly recommend you to get 2-3 vascular lasers. It is the best treatment to get rid of the blood vessels and improve your complextion instantly. Unfortunately, you have to repeat it at some interval to stay redness free.

But the problem is treatable by all means.

.

1 hour ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

Will keep in mind, but I've tried things for rosacea a long time ago and it seeminly had no effect, which is why I dabbled in steroids for a while. Indeed the description does sound a lot like rosacea or dermatitis or something but it doesn't share typical characteristics as most others that have things like that.

It's more of an underneath sensation that triggers easily to almost anything like light or environment or sweat or temperature or anything. It manifests as bumps, blotches, redness, burning or just anything in general. The blotchiness or texture changes is far more obvious and there's often burning without any redness or extremely light redness. Certainly there's no dark redness or streaks.

Whatever it is, it's from the acne scar damage. I didn't have any of this before acne scars really. If acne scars triggered rosacea, dermatitis or a combination of weird things that's possible. I go back to a dermatologist in 3 weeks I will think bout questions or new things to try.

If it's rosacea what would your suggestion be to someone who can't deal with topical steroids any longer?

Topical steroids are to be used short term if I am not mistaken. If you apply them for a longer period, they can thin out, irritate the skin and cause atrophy.

I would get an anti rosacea cream from the drugstore. Cetaphil redness control, Avene, or BioDerma, all have very good lines for rosacea skin. Sunscreen diligently and pause all active ingredients - retinol, vit c, BHA, AHAs or any other exfoliating agents until you see a derm. Then let your derm guide you as to the further treatment. I personally havehad good experience with Azalaic acid 15%, Doxy and VBeam laser so I canrecommend these.

It's also helpful to keep a diary of the trigger factors so that you learn what triggers your skin in your particular case. There's a good one on the rosacea society homepage.

Hope this helps.

Also, a tip from Dr Sam even though it might soudn counterintuitive at first but I follow her advice and it really works. When my skin gets a bit irritated from time to time I pause all skin care altogether - no cleanser, no moisturizer, nothing. And the skin calms down in a day or two.

.

On 10/8/2021 at 2:45 PM, can i get a new life please said:

I have a similar complaint like yours. When i go outside for 30minute or so my scars looks absolutely worse but when im in home they look okay-ish.

It likely has to do with the damage to the layers, pores, and whatever other physiological things going on. Environments, stress, sweat, and many other things can trigger it from mild to severe. I remember my face looking dishoveled or even disfigured weirdly throughout the day or through hot weather or weird long durations.I've experienced it for over a decade. It's not fun especially if you have commitments.I think the saddest part is most doctors literally either don't care, treat it like it's minor or a joke. That irks me constantly.I'm pretty sad about the whole thing but I've accepted it. Have to kind of live with it best we can at this point.

9 hours ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

It likely has to do with the damage to the layers, pores, and whatever other physiological things going on. Environments, stress, sweat, and many other things can trigger it from mild to severe. I remember my face looking dishoveled or even disfigured weirdly throughout the day or through hot weather or weird long durations.I've experienced it for over a decade. It's not fun especially if you have commitments.I think the saddest part is most doctors literally either don't care, treat it like it's minor or a joke. That irks me constantly.I'm pretty sad about the whole thing but I've accepted it. Have to kind of live with it best we can at this point.

 

 

 

its no way to live tbh. it sucks.

1 hour ago, JudgmentPuzzleheaded said:

its no way to live tbh. it sucks.

True

5 hours ago, NagarNikku_ said:

True

6 hours ago, JudgmentPuzzleheaded said:

its no way to live tbh. it sucks.

It's not easy, especially during flare ups, because I'm personally always worried and stressed. When I wake up sometimes I wonder if I'll have a terrible/flared day or if things will be generally pleasant. It's definitely not a good way to live. Society requires commitments all the time.In the afternoons usually it's worse for some reason.

Speaking from a position of experience, I told every form of doctor for 15 years and they either have no clue or don't care. Acne scaring and the lingering effects is a very complicated thing that requires more study and understanding. There's subsets of effects they don't even have a clue about.

A harmless teenage skin disorder can truly destroy the essence of life of some people. Unfortunate and unfair.

No proper treatment, except isotretinoin which can essentially destroy the quality of life in some people as well, with long term side effects, and some unfortunate people get permanent long term side effect.

Then the leftover lifelong scars, there to bother until death.

Odds against almost all of us.

18 hours ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

It likely has to do with the damage to the layers, pores, and whatever other physiological things going on. Environments, stress, sweat, and many other things can trigger it from mild to severe. I remember my face looking dishoveled or even disfigured weirdly throughout the day or through hot weather or weird long durations.I've experienced it for over a decade. It's not fun especially if you have commitments.I think the saddest part is most doctors literally either don't care, treat it like it's minor or a joke. That irks me constantly.I'm pretty sad about the whole thing but I've accepted it. Have to kind of live with it best we can at this point.

 

 

 

If it had to do with the damage to the layers, pores, etc. the whole scar forum would be suffering from the same issue, everybody with extensive scarring, but it is not the case. so it is less likely to be due to the damage. What you describe is a classic case of advanced rosacea, present over a decade as the skin begins to age and exacerbated by chronic stress, environmental factors like sun, cold weather or wind, irritation, burning sensation centrofacial - front cheeks, nose, forehead - classic rosacea. The reason why you didn't respond to rosasea treatments before could be because it takes many months and the right treatment to see imrpovement, and, what I personally think is more probable, your condition has already so advanced that it cannot be properly addressed just by lifestyle changes and topical medication. When the tiny blood vessels have already dilated, only a laser could remove them temporarily, the usual topicals (apart from metronizole) cannot achieve this. You also need to seek ways to manage the stress because chronic stress will worsen your skin, treatment or no treatment. Also, I don't know who prescribed you a steroid-based topical but it in itselfcan cause irritation and steroid-induced rosacea, you need to tell your doctor you used the cream at all costs. I hope you find a good derm who will help you. I would look for one with yeras of experience and good reviews from actual people because unfortunately many derms are not good at what tehy are doing.

2 hours ago, NagarNikku_ said:

A harmless teenage skin disorder can truly destroy the essence of life of some people. Unfortunate and unfair.

No proper treatment, except isotretinoin which can essentially destroy the quality of life in some people as well, with long term side effects, and some unfortunate people get permanent long term side effect.

Then the leftover lifelong scars, there to bother until death.

Odds against almost all of us.

Yeah. I'm still on low dose accutane to stop getting active acne even in my mid twenties. i tried coming off and cysts come back. accutane also dries out/thins your skin and makes you look older and scarring worse. plus it even reduced my hair quality a bit. literally every direction i could go in sucks. it's so not fun to walk outside and have worse skin than people in their 60s and 70s. I look about 5-10 years older than my age also due to accutane skin drying + hair thinning + collagen destruction from scars.

Literally if I only had 1 genetic difference (not being prone to cystic acne), my life would have been so different and amazing. I remember when I was 13ish i started getting acne way worse than all my class mates in school and my confidence went to poop. now, more than 10 years later, my skin quality is still shit, and i am permanently psychologically and literally scarred from this disease.

3 hours ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

 

 

It's not easy, especially during flare ups, because I'm personally always worried and stressed. When I wake up sometimes I wonder if I'll have a terrible/flared day or if things will be generally pleasant. It's definitely not a good way to live. Society requires commitments all the time.In the afternoons usually it's worse for some reason.

Speaking from a position of experience, I told every form of doctor for 15 years and they either have no clue or don't care. Acne scaring and the lingering effects is a very complicated thing that requires more study and understanding. There's subsets of effects they don't even have a clue about.

Yeah I also noticed my scars look a lot worse if i ever drink, or eat poorly for a day, or get bad sleep, or ANYTHING. so i have to live like a monk. great way to live, totally joyless.

2 hours ago, Scarredfacee said:

If it had to do with the damage to the layers, pores, etc. the whole scar forum would be suffering from the same issue, everybody with extensive scarring, but it is not the case. so it is less likely to be due to the damage. What you describe is a classic case of advanced rosacea, present over a decade as the skin begins to age and exacerbated by chronic stress, environmental factors like sun, cold weather or wind, irritation, burning sensation centrofacial - front cheeks, nose, forehead - classic rosacea. The reason why you didn't respond to rosasea treatments before could be because it takes many months and the right treatment to see imrpovement, and, what I personally think is more probable, your condition has already so advanced that it cannot be properly addressed just by lifestyle changes and topical medication. When the tiny blood vessels have already dilated, only a laser could remove them temporarily, the usual topicals (apart from metronizole) cannot achieve this. You also need to seek ways to manage the stress because chronic stress will worsen your skin, treatment or no treatment. Also, I don't know who prescribed you a steroid-based topical but it in itselfcan cause irritation and steroid-induced rosacea, you need to tell your doctor you used the cream at all costs. I hope you find a good derm who will help you. I would look for one with yeras of experience and good reviews from actual people because unfortunately many derms are not good at what tehy are doing.

 

 

I agree, I don't think this is to do with the damage of the pores or the scarring. I've spoken to plenty of people who have zero scarring but have damaged their skin barrier through harsh topicals and have similar side effects.It sounds more like a barrier issue resulting insome kind of rosacea or dermatitis. Whether this was causedby the accutane or topical treatments I'm not sure.

2 hours ago, JudgmentPuzzleheaded said:

Yeah. I'm still on low dose accutane to stop getting active acne even in my mid twenties. i tried coming off and cysts come back. accutane also dries out/thins your skin and makes you look older and scarring worse. plus it even reduced my hair quality a bit. literally every direction i could go in sucks. it's so not fun to walk outside and have worse skin than people in their 60s and 70s. I look about 5-10 years older than my age also due to accutane skin drying + hair thinning + collagen destruction from scars.

 

Literally if I only had 1 genetic difference (not being prone to cystic acne), my life would have been so different and amazing. I remember when I was 13ish i started getting acne way worse than all my class mates in school and my confidence went to poop. now, more than 10 years later, my skin quality is still shit, and i am permanently psychologically and literally scarred from this disease.

Yeah I also noticed my scars look a lot worse if i ever drink, or eat poorly for a day, or get bad sleep, or ANYTHING. so i have to live like a monk. great way to live, totally joyless.

I relate to you so fucking much.

11 hours ago, Jackson1234 said:

I agree, I don't think this is to do with the damage of the pores or the scarring. I've spoken to plenty of people who have zero scarring but have damaged their skin barrier through harsh topicals and have similar side effects.It sounds more like a barrier issue resulting insome kind of rosacea or dermatitis. Whether this was causedby the accutane or topical treatments I'm not sure.

Yes. the damaged skin barrier with irritationcan be caused by steroid topicals, Accutane, harsh skin careor all of the aboveon top ofgenetics - many people develop skin sensitivities after their 20s as the skin gets less resilient. It's difficult to say whether it's acne/ rosacea/ dermatitis-exzema but good derms usually can tell them apart. Dermatitis is more around the mouth, eyelids and on other body parts as well and responds to steroids/ isn't exacerbated by them.

The problem is not all derms are good and treat rosacea like acne or dermatitis. One derm told me acne and rosacea cannot exist simultaneously, it's either the one or the other( complete BS) and prescribed alcohol-based topical ( which makes rosacea worse). Needless to say I didn't comply and healed my skin with creams suitable for rosacea.

Anyways, what I wanted to say it that hypersensitivity and the damaged skin barrier are treatable as long as you find a good dr and the right treatments/ products for you. The problems might not go 100% away but still a good degree of improvent is possible.

On 10/10/2021 at 5:59 PM, Jackson1234 said:

I agree, I don't think this is to do with the damage of the pores or the scarring. I've spoken to plenty of people who have zero scarring but have damaged their skin barrier through harsh topicals and have similar side effects .It sounds more like a barrier issue resulting in some kind of rosacea or dermatitis. Whether this was caused by the accutane or topical treatments I'm not sure. 

No, I almost never took harsh topicals except for a few days. 

14 hours ago, Scarredfacee said:

Yes. the damaged skin barrier with irritation can be caused by steroid topicals, Accutane, harsh skin care or all of the above on top of genetics  - many people develop skin sensitivities after their 20s as the skin gets less resilient. It's difficult to say whether it's acne/ rosacea/ dermatitis-exzema but good derms usually can tell them apart. Dermatitis is more around the mouth, eyelids and on other body parts as well and responds to steroids/ isn't exacerbated by them. 

The problem is not all derms are good and treat rosacea like acne or dermatitis. One derm told me acne and rosacea cannot exist simultaneously, it's either the one or the other( complete BS) and prescribed alcohol-based topical ( which makes rosacea worse). Needless to say I didn't comply and healed my skin with creams suitable for rosacea.

Anyways, what I wanted to say it that hypersensitivity and the damaged skin barrier are treatable as long as you find a good dr and the right treatments/ products for you. The problems might not go 100% away but still a good degree of improvent is possible.

I almost never went/go red, my skin just goes haywire as the day progresses. The best description is my skin becomes infected, pulsates, oily/blotchy, pale, prone to bumps at times or whatever else, scars become noticeable, if i touch or scratch it might be a bump(s). Whether it's rosacea or dermatitis or two others things I have no idea. 

Do you have any suggestions on what to do at this point. You are right that stress, environment and activity in general triggers it. It only feels better when I wash my face by the way over the last many years. Is that indicative of something? 

On 10/10/2021 at 4:17 PM, JudgmentPuzzleheaded said:

Yeah. I'm still on low dose accutane to stop getting active acne even in my mid twenties. i tried coming off and cysts come back. accutane also dries out/thins your skin and makes you look older and scarring worse. plus it even reduced my hair quality a bit. literally every direction i could go in sucks. it's so not fun to walk outside and have worse skin than people in their 60s and 70s. I look about 5-10 years older than my age also due to accutane skin drying + hair thinning + collagen destruction from scars.

 

Literally if I only had 1 genetic difference (not being prone to cystic acne), my life would have been so different and amazing. I remember when I was 13ish i started getting acne way worse than all my class mates in school and my confidence went to poop. now, more than 10 years later, my skin quality is still shit, and i am permanently psychologically and literally scarred from this disease. 

Yeah I also noticed my scars look a lot worse if i ever drink, or eat poorly for a day, or get bad sleep, or ANYTHING. so i have to live like a monk. great way to live, totally joyless. 

When I took accutane it was like a dream. I have super thick hair so some hair loss was awesome not joking I loved that it was thinner. I can totally get how other people might see that as a big downside. I had such oily skin that it was pathetic so when I had dry skin it was better. To be honest I didn't give Accutane much thought because I went from horrendous to normal but I guess some people really do have issues with it. My acne came back like 20-25% after the first course so I did another one. I don't get acne since. I took 40mg doses each time, could the dosage be at issue in getting it to return or not?

Totally agree on the eating, sleeping or anything else. It's a full time job to manage scars, it's unbelievable how they fluctuate depending on every move. It's literally the worst thing in a commitment based society. If I won the Powerball I'd fund research or help with grants for bad cases. It's so overlooked

8 minutes ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

No, I almost never took harsh topicals except for a few days.

It doesn't have to be harsh topicals, even something as innocuous as a moisturiser can irritate the skin when its hypersensitive. I'm not sure I understand your symptoms: "infected, pulsates, oily/blotchy, pale, prone to bumps at times". What do you mean by infected, and are these bumps filled with any fluid or anything?

38 minutes ago, Jackson1234 said:

It doesn't have to be harsh topicals, even something as innocuous as a moisturiser can irritate the skin when its hypersensitive. I'm not sure I understand your symptoms: "infected, pulsates, oily/blotchy, pale, prone to bumps at times". What do you mean by infected, and are these bumps filled with any fluid or anything?

The bumps could be 1-2 acne or just a small red irritated bump or two.I never moisturized my face except for the recent few weeks. This problem is like since 2001 for me. Infected as in my face will look infected throughout the day. Blotchy, pale, "uneven", oily, shiny, slightly red maybe depends, pulsating or like swollen looking, things like that. After I sleep for 8 hours it's normal again, if I wash my face it's somewhat normal again, or at least tighter if that makes sense, depending on how bad it got.

My only guess is dermatitis, broken barrier, and damaged layers in general.

16 minutes ago, harmlessboy1441 said:

The bumps could be 1-2 acne or just a small red irritated bump or two.I never moisturized my face except for the recent few weeks. This problem is like since 2001 for me. Infected as in my face will look infected throughout the day. Blotchy, pale, "uneven", oily, shiny, slightly red maybe depends, pulsating or like swollen looking, things like that. After I sleep for 8 hours it's normal again, if I wash my face it's somewhat normal again, or at least tighter if that makes sense, depending on how bad it got.

My only guess is dermatitis, broken barrier, and damaged layers in general.

Interesting. Honestly I'm not sure if it is a barrier issue, dermatitis, rosacea or fungal acne maybe. This sounds like a job for a derm, one that will actually listen and investigate the problem. Maybe the derm can take a skin sample and rule out if its dermatitis or something fungal. Good luck though, I hope you figure it out.

21 minutes ago, Jackson1234 said:

Interesting. Honestly I'm not sure if it is a barrier issue, dermatitis, rosacea or fungal acne maybe. This sounds like a job for a derm, one that will actually listen and investigate the problem. Maybe the derm can take a skin sample and rule out if its dermatitis or something fungal. Good luck though, I hope you figure it out.

Join the club I have no clue. I tried "Nystatin and Triamcinoclone" for a day recently and my skin didn't tolerate it so I washed it off in 2 hours. That was an attempt at the fungal thing. My skin just didn't tolerate it as in it looked or felt like it was getting worse or aggravating things.

Also, this is another weird quality, and I don't even know if it's stress related, but 8 out of 10 times I get a haircut my face gets super irritated in the same way, as in swollen, infected, irritated, blotchy and so on. I have no clue what the heck hair has to do with it.

There's no way I'm doing a skin sample on my cheeks. My scarring is too screwed up to even touch it or remove anything at this point, I can't add another scar. Is there any similar test like can I stick my head under a microscope?