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Let me start this one off.
I'm 17 and I know for sure I was unfortunately struck by genetic acne. Both my parents had it and my older brother (who is 25) has seriously bad scarring and still has some pimples, which you can imagine scares the living hell out of me.
For years I was fed pretty much crap. Fast food, foods with a lot of hydrogenated vegetable oils/fats, sugar, gluten, etc. In fact my acne seems to be quite sensitive to all this food (which is REALLY annoying, to be honest). The fact that for years this was all I was eating may have "built up", if that makes any kind of sense.
I stopped eating all crap since July, and I've recently cut gluten, sugar, fast foods, dairy, etc from my diet, and my acne has at least stopped breaking out or getting inflammed for the most part. However, a lot of scarring still remains. What concerns me even more are the blackheads, pimples, etc that not only remain on my face but my upper body is littered with it. An alarming sign is that my acne actually appears below my breats as well, and even a few pimples appear on my lower back. I don't know how it managed to get this bad, and I seriously am starting to think this isn't "normal teen acne". This is something else.
Compared to most people in my school I have awful acne, which is already depressing enough. But the history of my family and acne is another alarm. I should also say my family is incredibly incompetent in diet (they keep buying foods that make the problem worse, though they're slowly beginning to understand), and their tips on skin care are hazardous (they always encourage popping, and I feel they put a bit too much faith in topical treatments).
I need advice. I feel I might really need accutane in order to combat this problem. So I'm not sure whether to stay diet/holistic with topical treatments or to go with Accutane, and keep on a diet at that point (I can't imagine I should be eating foods that break me out).
Sorry if this is the wrong section, and move if needed. I need help and clarity.
Well, you aren't alone. I grew up on a crappy diet, too, and ended up with cystic awful acne on my face. I cleared my acne recently with food sensitivity tests. My suggestion to you is to go natural. Get tests done to see what's going on. Find the root cause. Doctor's might say there is nothing wrong with you, but test for as many things as you can, anyway, because half the time they are wrong. And whatever you do, don't take any prescribed medication. Chances are, your digestive system will be ruined and your situation will be worsened.
When I got my food sensitivity test, the doctor acted all pissed off. He was like "GRAAH! This is just a waste of time! You don't have any food sensitivities!" The test results came back, and sure enough, I was sensitive to the majority of the foods he tested for. When I only eat the foods that the test said I wasn't allergic to, my acne completely clears. So I say, avoid the dermatologist, and see a naturopath if you can find a good one. Or just get the tests yourself. I don't use any medication, and I don't even wash my face anymore. The water is often riddled with chemicals and other random solid stuff.
Sorry to overload you. Basically just find the root cause, so you don't waste any of your time. Good luck!