1) Like an imbecile, I picked the very wrong way--after using a pore-tightening product and in impulsive frustration--and red marks/wounds/bruises that had been healing since the last time I did something so foolish are now inflamed, raw and red again. Plus, my skin is congested and irritated.

Is there anything I can do? Are Band-aids and neosporin or an aloe/arnica cream all I can do? (I have no aloe plant). What do you all use? (I need specific product names, if possible.) Biafine worked when I was on Accutane but I can't buy it in the store. The magic ingredient in that was avocado oil. I'm worried about that breaking me out.

2) Even when I behave well and leave my skin alone, I have hair follicles and pores that fill up with pus and oil (sorry to be gross) or get some, fluid-filled cysts, no matter if I exfoliate gently throughout the week or use oil-controlling products like salicylic acid. I've discussed how much I hate retinoids like Retin-A and Ziana--all they do is make my skin purge and make my skin crack/get red. All new zits leave irritated red marks, including purging zits. The only time they ever worked is on Accutane.

I'm on Aldactone after three cycles of Accutane to stop the cysts. I'm not sure which weakened my skin more but they've made my skin inelastic and saggy.

Do you know how to extract blacheads and whiteheads safely? What steps do you take? I know steam/showering help, but do any of you go through the professional steps and add face scrubs or enzyme masks? (They usually close my pores, so I don't understand that, but I know aestheticians use stuff like that.)

What do you do afterward to prevent irritation without clogging open, vulnerable pores?

Any help would be appreciated, especially in healing my pinched, bruised skin quickly.