I am 14 years old and have pretty bad acne. I've had it since I was 12 or so. I have a pretty healthy lifestyle, in fact I workout daily at the gym and spend most of my time outdoors. My diet is good, and I NEVER eat candy, chips, fried foods, white breads, etc. I have 5-7 cups of green tea a day, and a few glasses of water. I do have a history of OCD and depression (both caused by my acne). Anyway, lifestyle out of the way...I've tried countless products, including those that contain sulfur, benzoyl peroxide, sulfuric acid, natural things such as green tea, coconut oil and lemons. That is just scratching the surface! I have went to a derm once, in March, and I have another app. in May. We've talked about Accutane, and it sounded like he may consider it to me and my mom. My dad has the clearest skin I've seen, and he eats the crappiest foods, drinks alcohol at least once a month and smokes. My mom's skin has never been terrible, but she did have mild acne as a teen. I really don't want to and can't deal with this anymore. Some treatment options, advice, ANYTHING would be greatly appreciated. Here are some pictures and thank you so much for any help! I'm sorry if I posted this in the wrong place also!!
- Is your digestion good? (1x a day, or every other day?)
- What is your diet like? (On a scale from 1-paleo, how paleo is it?)
- What does your tongue look like?
- Do the spots ever itch?
In case I don't get back to you, I would recommend the paleo diet (or as close as possible) for a couple weeks to measure the effects. If the spots itch, it could be some sort of folliculitis, which I would recommend treating with a topical anti-dandruff shampoo or soap for 1-2 weeks (the condition would improve rapidly). If your tongue is a little whitish and it looks like the papillae (the little hairs on your tongue) are enlarged then it's a problem of internal immune dysregulation which can be helped with the paleo diet but may ultimately require a low dose of isotretinoin. If your digestion is poor then I would recommend fixing that before anything else (which can in large part be accomplished using the paleo diet, which includes lots of vegetables).
Edit: Oh and if you respond to this post, make sure you quote it if you want me to reply (quoting it gives me an email notification)