So, im a 17 year old girl and ive suffered from acne since i was about 13. &in my opinion I have it pretty bad, people will tell me "oh your so pretty, your face isnt even bad, at all" but they arent seeing whats under all that makeup. And even though the makeup covers the acne well the bumps are still very noticeable. Now, there are a few things to take into consideration when were talking about my condition, for one, it runs in my family. Id say i got it easy compared to my dad and brother. Also i have VERY dry skin. So, i have tried everything out there, I have used proactiv, skinid, exposed, clearisil, usana, tons of natural remedies including oil pulling. &my skin is still the same! I have also gone to about 3 dermatologists, where i was prescribed tetracycline, benzymycin. Makeup artists have done light facials and face scrapes, ehich was very pricey and nothing! So, anyways the one thing i found to work (which sounds weird) is to go outside and completely burn my face! Yes, sunburn badly. And as soon as the sunburn starts to go away, my face is magically clear. I only did this because i have small bumps at times on my shoulders and chest and at first i didnt know if they were "sweatbumps" from working out or pimples, so i got burnt after tanning one day and they were clear! &no it does not work to just go get a few minutes of sun "which is good for acne" i actually have to let my face get burnt. I just want to know if this is super dangerous, am i doing severe damage to my skin? As of right now i stopped using product and only use cetaphil and a garnier moisturizer. Which seems to be working well, since my face is very sensitive. Comments, tips pleasee???
If your skin is as sensitive as you described, the last thing you want is lots of sun exposure to the point where you would burn. Yes acne is terrible, but skin cancer would be a lot worse!
Sun or Vitamin D is good and essential for your skin, so rather than burning, try getting small amounts of sun exposure each day (15-20 minutes).
To answer your question in short, yes you are damaging your skin. Your skin will age much faster, your increasing your chances of getting skin cancer and the more instances that you get burnt, the higher the chance you'll get cancer in later life.
Luckily for you it can be reversed by wearing a sunscreen (SPF 30+) each day and by doing so, you allow your skin to heal and in the future you shouldn't have any serious problems.
have a vitamin d test done, maybe you are deficient, and the supplement helps many as well as getting 15 minutes a day without makeup, but no burns, that just can't be good
what about your diet? Dairy and gluten are big triggers for many, not all- but you could be one of them it is a trigger for - quit dairy for a month see if it helps, if not the resume dairy and then quit gluten for a month...yes diet changes are hard, but there are no easy paths for us
probably when you are recovering and peeling from the sunburn you feel your skin better, but after that the acne will come back stronger, your scars will remain there, and the damage you did will remain forever because skin has memory and when you get older you will see showing up a lot of stains and even skin cancer, what do you prefer, cancer or acne?
by the way, have you tried accutane, or The Regimen, have you gone to the ginecologist to check your hormones? maybe there are a lot of things you could still try
I was like 95% clear a week and a half ago when i went to the beach and now from all the sun exposure (i got burnt, not too bad though) im dealing with a pretty bad breakout. I dont have a lot but they are huge pimples. Point is 5 days after getting burnt i looked 110% clear. I was in shock but knew it was 2 good to be true. So good luck