Acne.org Products
As you can see, I keep getting little whiteheads (seemingly every morning). I see them on the sides of my nose and chine area, Also below my nostrils as you can clearly see.
I have naturally pretty oily skin and have been using the Neutrogena moisturizer as per the recommendation on this website. (Neutrogena Moisture Oil Free Formula, Combination Skin).
Anyone think it would be a good idea to not moisturize and see what happens? Just thinking my skin might regulate itself. After my morning wash, my face does not seem excessively dry. Thoughts?
Ok so today wasn't so great. I keep getting around 5-8 white heads seemingly every morning...grrr.
For those in the know, does it look like my face is healing or getting worse? Is it normal to still get a few white heads during the healing process? I would think not..
Also, anything to speed up or reduce the redness from the healing areas? I would be looking for a product that 100% is known to not cause more acne or irritate my skin.
Pretty pissed at myself...the little breakout I had that started this hole thing 2 months ago was just worsened because I didnt know what I was doing. Frustrating for sure.
I know this is an odd question, but I'm so lost as to the cause of this acne. Really, the only thing that has changed is my location...which leads me to ask the question:
Is my tap water causing this outbreak? I know it sounds far fetched, but at the last place I lived we had soft water. Here in the city im pretty sure the water is not as nice, simply based off the fact that it doesn't taste nearly as good.
Any backing to this theory?
Check the .org...there are plenty of posts on how water affects the quality of your skin's PH, especially if you abruptly change the water you wash your face with.
There are 2 solutions:
1. Get a water filter
2. Get a balancing cleanser to neutralize the irritants in the tap water
Preferably do both to avoid further irritation
Ladies and gentleman, I think that I'm throwing in the towel and going to the Dermo...It doesn't seem to be getting any better, just a constant standstill.
I have a sneaking suspicion that I may have folliculitis...sure it may be unfounded, but all the acne I have seems to reappear in the exact same spots and in areas that I have hair on my face. I guess we will find out soon enough.
Ill keep everyone posted.
Getting really depressed again. Started the no BP/SA method about 20 days ago and not seeing a single difference.
Like I said, ill be making an appointment for Monday or so and see what the doc says.
No telling what this means, but I had three whiteheads yesterday in the middle of my chin (vertical row, each spaced about 1/4" apart). They each had a single hair in the middle. I pulled the hair out of each whitehead, gently drained the puss and they all but disappeared in the morning (just a red mark now).
Hoping this has all been just a case of Folliculitis all along..if so, I'm never going to wuss out on seeing the DR or wait this long again.
Is it not responding to tea tree oil? Folliculitis usually responds to tea tree and some people have cured it with nizoral shampoo. Mine was gone with tea tree and extractions, but if it's folliculitis you need to regularly exfoliate the area when it's cleared to make sure it doesn't come back ( from clogged hair follicles)
Is it not responding to tea tree oil? Folliculitis usually responds to tea tree and some people have cured it with nizoral shampoo. Mine was gone with tea tree and extractions, but if it's folliculitis you need to regularly exfoliate the area when it's cleared to make sure it doesn't come back ( from clogged hair follicles)
I was first going to try http://www.noxzema.com/product/triple-clean .
Would you suggest Tea tree oil first?
Is it not responding to tea tree oil? Folliculitis usually responds to tea tree and some people have cured it with nizoral shampoo. Mine was gone with tea tree and extractions, but if it's folliculitis you need to regularly exfoliate the area when it's cleared to make sure it doesn't come back ( from clogged hair follicles)
I was first going to try http://www.noxzema.com/product/triple-clean .
Would you suggest Tea tree oil first?
noxzema is also supposed to work. I went with the tea tree oil first because I felt a bit weird putting shampoo on my face, but there were others who had success with nizoral and noxzema. Have you read the folliculitis threads? There are some useful tips there. Once you clear it up, you need to work on maintenance.
It's key to make sure your skin's PH is balanced to avoid more infections in the future.
I have the occasional peach fuzz along my jawline, and when I went to a dermatologist he said it was definitely hormonal. But it didn't look like the hormonal acne I get on my cheeks, so I got a second opinion. My esthetician cleared it right up with extractions, then sanitized it with high frequency. It's been since August and I haven't had it since. I make sure to exfoliate 1-2 a week to prevent clogged hair follicles. Tea tree oil helped with the redness, but don't use it too much because it can dry out your skin. Avoid rich moisturizers at the moment because they can make it worse.
Is it not responding to tea tree oil? Folliculitis usually responds to tea tree and some people have cured it with nizoral shampoo. Mine was gone with tea tree and extractions, but if it's folliculitis you need to regularly exfoliate the area when it's cleared to make sure it doesn't come back ( from clogged hair follicles)
I was first going to try http://www.noxzema.com/product/triple-clean .
Would you suggest Tea tree oil first?
noxzema is also supposed to work. I went with the tea tree oil first because I felt a bit weird putting shampoo on my face, but there were others who had success with nizoral and noxzema. Have you read the folliculitis threads? There are some useful tips there. Once you clear it up, you need to work on maintenance.
It's key to make sure your skin's PH is balanced to avoid more infections in the future.
I have the occasional peach fuzz along my jawline, and when I went to a dermatologist he said it was definitely hormonal. But it didn't look like the hormonal acne I get on my cheeks, so I got a second opinion. My esthetician cleared it right up with extractions, then sanitized it with high frequency. Tea tree oil helped with the redness, but don't use it too much because it can dry out your skin. Avoid rich moisturizers at the moment because they can make it worse.
Thank you for the advice! The moisturizer I use currently is the Neutrogena moisturizer recommended on this site.
Either way, still going to see the doc. Way too sick of looking like this. Going from completely clear skin to moderate acne in a month is really depressing haha.
Good luck! Someone recommended a good razor, that might be worth looking into if you think shaving makes things worse.
Ask your doctor if he thinks it's folliculitis...sometimes doctors won't even consider folliculitis unless you mention it. He might give you some antifungal cream too, if he thinks your folliculitis is caused by a fungal infection.
Good luck! Someone recommended a good razor, that might be worth looking into if you think shaving makes things worse.
Ask your doctor if he thinks it's folliculitis...sometimes doctors won't even consider folliculitis unless you mention it. He might give you some antifungal cream too, if he thinks your folliculitis is caused by a fungal infection.
Did using the tea tree make the area look worse initially? I only ask because I washed for the first time with a Cetaphil Anti-bacterial bar and the "acne" came through a bit worse.
The big difference I noticed between this white heads this morning and what I had before is that these white heads are more yellow and sickly looking. Not sure if that is a good or bad sign that I am treating this correctly now.
Good luck! Someone recommended a good razor, that might be worth looking into if you think shaving makes things worse.
Ask your doctor if he thinks it's folliculitis...sometimes doctors won't even consider folliculitis unless you mention it. He might give you some antifungal cream too, if he thinks your folliculitis is caused by a fungal infection.
Did using the tea tree make the area look worse initially? I only ask because I washed for the first time with a Cetaphil Anti-bacterial bar and the "acne" came through a bit worse.
The big difference I noticed between this white heads this morning and what I had before is that these white heads are more yellow and sickly looking. Not sure if that is a good or bad sign that I am treating this correctly now.
If you use undiluted tea tree the area might get red at first. Try diluting tea tree with water the first few times until your skin gets used to it. Treat a small area for a few days to see how your skin reacts, don't use it all over your face.
If the whiteheads are yellow it means they are infected. If you can find a good esthetician to extract them that might get everything under control until you see a dermatologist.
Here is a pic of day 2 using the Cetaphil Antibacterial bar (twice a day).
After I tried shaving the sides of my chin, I had a pretty severe flare up, further leading me to believe I may have folliculitis. This forced me to go out and get a face-worthy antibacterial bar to try. I also have some Noxzema triple clean coming in soon.
After the first day of the bar, my face felt and looked very irritated. Today though, it seems to be much less irritated and im noticing less whiteheads in the morning.
Could be a placebo, but I'm praying its only a bad case of folliculitis.
Well, folliculitis can be caused by bacteria and/ or fungi. If yours is caused by fungi, antibacterial washes won't do much, you need an anti-fungal. But hopefully this will work for you. it looks a bit better and less inflammed.
As for the antibiotic, if you decide to take it, take a probiotic with it so that it won't compromise your gut flora. If you have candida overgrowth (fungal) then that makes your skin MORE prone to fungal folliculitis and might make things worse.
For the Mino, the doctor told me to take 100mg 2x/day for 30 days to see what happens.
Am I risking anything by taking it for that short of a period? I just don't want to do any permanent damage to my body. As bad as acne is, I would rather be 95% sure as to what is causing it, rather than subject my body to un-needed antibiotics.
The other part is that I think I want to call my doctor and see a dermo first. I really want to get tested for folliculitis (both fungal and bacterial) before I start with any antibiotics.
New news:
Washed my face as normal yesterday morning. Usually, I'll also wash before bed (either using the Acne.org cleanser or the Cetaphil Anti-bacterial bar).
I had a weird night, and decided to not wash my face the rest of the day or night. I gotta admit, last night the acne itched really badly, but I woke up this morning with no itching at all.
Today, I did not use any wash, but only used shower water on my face, and imo the results are pretty fantastic. Going to continue not using any soaps on my face. Just wondering if maybe I was slightly allergic to some of the chemicals in the cleanser or Cetaphil bar?
Ill post two pics below, one is the morning of the last time I used a face wash, the second is this evening.
You may be sensitive to sulfates. Try washing your face with only water for the next few days, preferably filtered or spring water.
Will do! Woke up this morning on day three of no soaps, no new white heads have formed thus far. Starting to look like I was the problem here. My body was warning me the entire time that I was abusing it, now it seems its sorting itself out.
I also started taking Probiotics to see if my gut is part of the issue. I take 1 pill daily (at night). What I have noticed with the Probiotics is that I feel slightly nauseous. I heard this can be due to the bad bacteria clearing out of your system for the first week or so. I'm going to stick it out and see what happens.
The downside to only washing with water is that it can dry your skin out if you are not using a moisturizer afterwards. However, if you do have folliculitis, a moisturizer might aggravate it if your skin is overly sensitive. Give it a few more days, and if that area is still too dry you may need to use a bit of non-greasy moisturizer to prevent dryness.
From personal experience, I'd like to say that flaking is usually a good sign. Depends on what product I'm using but most of my acne seems to flake a bit before it either goes away or calms down.
What has popped up now is flaking skin. Is this a good or bad sign?