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I have suffered with moderate comedonal acne on my forehead for a few years now and in that time have tried a variety of treatments with very little success.
The first treatment I tried was a basic salicylic 2% face wash (this alone was the most successful treatment option I have tried to date!) .
After a few months of use I was unhappy with the results and incorporated into my regime a topical salicylic acid lotion which I applied and left on over night. Although this combination appeared to stop comedones forming, I found that the salicylic lotion was too harsh and made my skin look worse (tried this combination for another 3-4 months).
After about 2 months of using absolutely no treatment I decided it was time to try something else. At this point a friend had recommended benzoyl peroxide 2% cream. I would apply the bp at night and was it off in the morning. Very little irritation occurred as I have very oily skin and did not seem to dry out at all. While the bp definitely helped with the odd inflammatory acne that would occur, unfortunately it appeared to do little to help with the comedones. (Tried this for close to a year).
At this point I decided to seek medical help. A GP prescribed me Differin which I used for 15 weeks. I saw a slight improvement in my comedonal acne however the improvement I saw did not justify paying the price of the DIfferin which is quite expensive in my country. Especially when the improvement was barely even noticeable.
Now at this point in time I am completely out of ideas on how to treat this. Although it is bad in my opinion, it is not bad enough to be refereed to a dermatologist by my GP. With this being said, it bothers me and would do just about anything to get rid of it. I'd love to hear any of your personal stories/experiences with comedonal acne and if anyone has had any success in treating or has any advice I would love to hear it. Very shortly I am going to resume treating with either salicylic or bp at least to prevent it from becoming worse. If anyone is aware of any better treatments available over the counter please let me know.
Lastly, should I be moisturizing my forehead even though I have oily skin/comedonal acne?
Thanks in advance!
retin a or tazorac definitely help with comedonal acne...the IB can be a pain though and I'm not sure about your insurance and what they will cover- and you really need to stick with this for up to 12 weeks to see a difference (some people just can't wait that long).
If money is an issue, I find SA very helpful for keeping pores clear, try a couple of 20% SA peels, very affordable on amazon...
Sulfur and triclosan are alternative active ingredients used to treat acne. Triclosan is basically just an antibacterial agent and sulfur is another (less commonly, but often effectively used) type of active acne fighting ingredient. Both are commonly found in bar form, and there are also sulfur ointments. I've tried both, and both have unclogged my comedones very well, but didn't do much for my active acne so I stopped using them. I'd still recommend giving them a shot for what you're describing, though.
And yes, you definitely need to moisturize no matter what skin issues you have! I personally like Neutrogena's oil-free line of moisturizers and most natural oils (Jojoba, Argan, and Maracuja are my personal faves) except for Coconut Oil, because that is highly comodegenic.
