I've tried every treatment, with the exception of Accutane, known to man. Nothing ever works, signs of improvement are minimal. Oil is the cause of my acne, there is no question behind that. I've come to realize that all of the medications and cleansers I have used over the years has stripped my faces natural acid mantle and has subjected my skin to overproduce sebum. I had an epifane one day and realized that even homeless people have better skin than I do. How is this even possible!? They sleep in filth, eat far from healthy, don't take vitamins, and hardly wash. That's when it hit me, they don't wash! They aren't constantly stripping their skin of natural elements designed to protect the skin. So I am conducting a month long experiment, in which I will do nothing but use water to cleanse my face. I have been doing this for three days now and am already starting to see signs of improvement. I will log at the end of each day and update you all on my improvements. I hope this is the end of my battle and potentially the end of all of your battles as well.
07/24/2013
Today my skin was hardly oily compared to normal, felt somewhat dry.
Face feels a little itchy, but nothing severe.
Only two very small whiteheads have formed.
Feel 2 very flat small cysts, inflammation is minimal.
Existing scars are starting to fade.
Skin tone is starting to even out and look less agitated.
Oops, I didn't realize that you could sell 'doing nothing' as I was referring to on the website I recommended (now edited, I removed the name of the site). I recommend googling 'caveman routine'. Many, including MANY on this forum have found success in following this approach to clearing their skin and healing scars.
Oops, I didn't realize that you could sell 'doing nothing' as I was referring to on the website I recommended (now edited, I removed the name of the site). I recommend googling 'caveman routine'. Many, including MANY on this forum have found success in following this approach to clearing their skin and healing scars.
3lilpigs,
You did not do anything wrong. Previously there was another entry in the thread and it was offering up illegal methods for purchasing Xanax. The moderators removed the entire entry and that is why you don't see it. Rest easy, friend.
This thread is so interesting! I think that the water-only method, in an ideal world, is the best way to cleanse one's face. You're not putting any unnatural chemicals on your face that could irritate it or upset its pH. I don't think I would ever be able to do this method, though, because it would probably result in my pores being extremely clogged up.
Torquemonster- lol, thank you for letting me know. I thought I was about to get a spanking!
prowlings- I have the same apprehensions! I am only a few months out from finally having cleared my skin after 20+ years of battling acne on & off. I am seriously considering trying the caveman method, as my skin is clear, but is looking rough from years of BP, chemicals and all around brutal topical treatments. I have moved into an extremely gentle, more natural routine that involves a gentle, organic cleanser without all the harsh chemicals and moisturizing with vitamin rich, healing oils like argan, tamanu and rosehip seed. I do still use a pea sized amount of 2.5% BP mixed with the oils, but I do not like the ill effects it has on the integrity of my skin. I think the BP is my security blanket!
I'm emotionally working myself up to attempt this 'do nothing' method. My skin is so bad at self exfoliation; I have become accustomed to my clairsonic and using gentle fruit acids to help it along...it just seems so NUTS to continue treating my face with ACIDS and SCRUBBERS (regardless of how gentle & natural they may be, that is what they are)! I mean, I don't treat the rest of my body like a bathtub, why my face?
I'll continue to follow this thread and in the meantime, I am psyching myself up to eradicate my routine of EVERYTHING and eventually adopt the caveman method of skincare. :-/
Sorry I have been absent for so long, I have been beyond busy with school and work. Here are my products and thoughts so far.
07/10/2013
Skin has seemed to start stabilizing
Unfortunately my skin is still oily
I have developed new cysts, nothing overly severe, but certainly not pretty
My skin tone is not horrendous and unnatural looking as it was on medication
Acne has not seemed to worsen, if anything just lessened a bit
Kind of confirms for me that oil is the ultimate cause of my acne
Also confirms that acne products are a complete waste of money if you have oily skin
Has been very mentally enlightening
Feeling much more comfortable not having to rely on products
Stress levels are much lower
I've decided to be put on Accutane as it is the only drug out there that can regulate oil control. I am very scared to start trials, but acne has damaged my life immensely. I have accepted the side effects i will deal with, because I have gone through far worse just having acne, including thoughts of suicide. Acne has ruined countless relationships, the way I look at the world, academics, interests, etc... It is an obstacle that has really put a dent in my life and I am ready to go all or nothing. I will continue this log till my appointment on the 19th, hopefully a little more closely this time lol.
Please be careful of water intoxication. Drink a sports drink every now and again and get your electrolytes back on par. Do this safe guys, there are many cases of water intoxication and it can happen very easily!
This is interesting. I never drink juice or anything other than water. I get little to no sugar. Could you please elaborate on this?
Sure can! So I'm pretty sure the word is dilutional hyponatremia or better understood, water intoxication and is associated with the osmotic pressure in cells. When the amount of salts or 'electrolytes' in the blood begin to decrease, cells try to adjust by absorbing more and more water. This can easily lead cells to swell and is particularly harmful when this effect begins to happen in around the brain. Swollen cells press the nerves, causing someone to experience headaches, an episode of epilepsy or worse and when cells seal blood vessels, this may cause a lack of oxygen, causing someone to loose consciousness all together. The direct cause of death by water intoxication is often brain oedema and can happen from even as little as 1.8-2L consumed within an hour without the proper replenishment of electrolytes. It is therefore imperative that people are aware of the risks of drinking large pouts of water particularly with a goal such as the ridding of acne in mind which may cause them to drink just a little more with each glass
So I'll say this much, the water only method was hands down the best treatment I have used thus far to try and tame my acne. I just went into the dermatologist yesterday to pick up Accutane and my dermatologist said that my face had looked better than it ever had within the 2 years she has been trying to treat me. Funny enough, I told her I hadn't washed with cleanser for over 20 days and she was shocked. All in all, the water only method is a very good treatment if nothing else works. Although not all of my acne had cleared up, it definitely cleared a lot of it up. Also, I realized that acne has absolutely nothing to do with food intake. For the past year I have restricted my diet to no carbs, no sugar, gluten free, dairy free, you name it. Recently I started a dirty bulk, to try and gain weight for lifting, so in other words I eat whatever I want, fast food and all. The first two days, my skin was hell, my body wasn't used to the calorie uptake nor the food I was consuming. Yet after a few days, my body got used to the new foods I was ingesting, and now eating my elimination foods don't cause flares ups. For all of the food nazi's out there, I would let your body readjust to a new diet for a few weeks and see what the results are.