I am a senior in high school and have been dealing with acne since the fourth grade. You name it, I've tried it. From scrubs, to face masks, to creams, to chemical face stripping, to pro active, to antibiotics, to birth control.
Nothing has worked. Birth control eased the acne up since I started taking it when I was 13. However, I still have uncontrollable white heads. Not pimples with white heads, but the bumps on the skin where you squeeze it white gunk comes out. I deal with pimples and fewer black heads now than I used to.
So how do I get rid of these white heads? I eat fairly well, white meat, lots of leafy greens and fruits, yogurt and my fiber when I need it. I typically drink juice and a lot a lot of water, no soda or milk. I work out a lot, go to the gym and do Brazilian jiujitsu and Judo. So I believe I live a fairly healthy life style. I get roughly 7-8 hours of sleep a night.
Right now, I've been sticking to using gentle shampoos that keep my hair free of oils, cetaphile(sp?) and birth control. But I've been at a slump for about 2 years.
I refuse to take accutane. Pro Active doesn't work, benzoyl drys the face too much, anti biotics are useless. I take vitamin E to promote skin and hair health. My pores are actually quite big for my age as well.
Any suggestions ?
Thank you all ahead of time.
I'm sorry you're dealing with this, especially because you really are living a healthy lifestyle. I do recommend seeing a dermatologist at this point. Regarding your refusal to take Accutane, I think that's very smart (but I'm biased due to my horrible experience). Regardless, a proper derm. would only recommend Accutane as a last resort if no other topical Rx works. They wouldn't just dish it out right away.
I have a regular dermatolist that I see every six months. He recommended accutane to me a couple years ago, but the effects are so horrible I wouldn't want to even try.
I commend you for being smart and realizing the risks. I am strongly against Accutane because it caused a VERY bad side affect for me, however, it turned out I was not a good candidate for it to begin with for reasons other than the severity of my acne. BUT... this does not mean you would not be a good candidate.
Since BP, BC, and antibiotics haven't worked for you, has your derm. ever tried putting you on any Rx topicals?
I have a regular dermatolist that I see every six months. He recommended accutane to me a couple years ago, but the effects are so horrible I wouldn't want to even try.
I commend you for being smart and realizing the risks. I am strongly against Accutane because it caused a VERY bad side affect for me, however, it turned out I was not a good candidate for it to begin with for reasons other than the severity of my acne. BUT... this does not mean you would not be a good candidate.
Since BP, BC, and antibiotics haven't worked for you, has your derm. ever tried putting you on any Rx topicals?
I have a regular dermatolist that I see every six months. He recommended accutane to me a couple years ago, but the effects are so horrible I wouldn't want to even try.
I commend you for being smart and realizing the risks. I am strongly against Accutane because it caused a VERY bad side affect for me, however, it turned out I was not a good candidate for it to begin with for reasons other than the severity of my acne. BUT... this does not mean you would not be a good candidate.
Since BP, BC, and antibiotics haven't worked for you, has your derm. ever tried putting you on any Rx topicals?
Yeah I've tried a lot of topicald, but all they did was irritate my skin to where I'd get rashes or my skin would get so dry like a really bad sun burn. The only name I can remember taking it retin-a and different variations of it and two other kinds of topicals. They just irritated my skin.
And a friend of my brothers tried accutane and he experienced some pretty bad hair loss. And I've read a lot of bad experiences.
Irritation - even if it's horrible with Rx prescriptions - is completely normal.
Any irritation, even with OTC products like BP, is the side effect of the best chance at what's going to actually help your skin. It sounds like you may be giving up when the discomfort sets in.
Believe me, I used to do that too and right now I'm forcing myself through the discomfort on Dan's Regimen.