I struggled with cystic acne since I was 25. I will be 36 in a month. I saw a handful of drerms.

This is how I got rid of it. The derms put me on topical antibiotics. I tried it all. Clindomyacin, doxy, minocycline , aczone , differin, tazorac, there were probably others. All these things cost to a of money and eventually stopped working. I got huge cysts on the tip of my nose and around my nose. It was horrible and painful.

I found a place called face reality. Lucky for me it's not far from where I stay but they do have distance clients as well.

They fixed my skin in 3 months using over the counter ingredients. It's close to the regimen listed here.

For me and my oily cyst prone skin I use a silica scrub to wash , a toner, a Mandelic peel during the day.

Everyone I ever saw said I need to use moisturizer and sunscreen. Well after 10 years of trying everything I knew that I couldn't use moisturizer or sunscreen because I'd develop a huge cyst in 1 week. Like clockwork.

I told this to face reality and they didn't seem to believe me so I tried their moisturizer and sunscreen and sure enough. Developed huge painful cysts.

So they put me on a hydrating emulsion. Which is the only moisturizer I can use. They also recommended a dry , almost make up like sunscreen that I've never seen before and determined that I had an allergic reaction to whatever was in these 2 products. Standard oily moisturizers and oily sunscreens.

My face is clear and pain free and I can't tell you how happy I am and all without prescription antibiotics. I was on antibiotics for 10 years. I wanted off of them so bad. They turned my teeth grey. Who knows what else they did to my body. And it all could have been avoided if I had known about this place. My derms would just prescribe more antibiotics. This is not the answer. I was about to go on accutane. There's no need for this risk.

My night regimen is silica scrub, toner, mandelic and 5% benzo. Hydrating emulsion if I need it. Super simple and fast. I love it. I'm so happy I want to tell everyone.

My cystic acne was seemingly caused by an allergic reaction to the moisturizer and sunscreens my dr.s were telling me to use. But none of them would take the time to even look closely at my skin or even care. They just prescribe. That's it.

Face reality takes the time to look closely at your skin, try different products to see what works for you to get you clear. Seriously. I spent years and thousands of dollars, laser treatments - all for nothing.

Just wanted to add - I tried everything. Probiotics, pysillium husks, vit b, stopped eating all dairy, no coffee. Drink 100 oz. of water a day - water your body app on iPhone. Lemon water - all kinds of cleansers, expensive moisturizers, facials: extractions. The list goes on and on.

Typing this on my iPhone btw so sorry for typos - but nothing worked because the topical stuff that was supposed to be helping was actually the cause of my problem. Not my diet. I drink coffee and milk everyday now and I love it.

It feels so good to finally have the answer. Doctors and dermatologists are not the answer. I spent so much time and money on them. Only for them to tell me I have rosecea and there's no cure and here's more antibiotics. I want to go back to my derm and show him my skin and tell him how easy the fix was. Using mandelic acid and benzo. That's it basically. It's amazing to me.

So contact that place - I'm not a spokesman for them or anything and dont care if you go there or not but they're amazing. But long story short is find an acne clinic in your area. Not a dermatologist. It took me 10 years to figure this out. If there's none in your area - try face reality. They're awesome.