Hello, I am a 16 year old girl who is currently struggling with acne. I know that this sounds pretty typical but this does not seem like normal acne to me. In the late summer before school started I started breaking out on my back , my forehead ,and chest. Recently it has gotten really bad and I cant wear shirts that show any part of my chest. There are just a lot of red pimples that itch on my back and chest and it sort of looks like a rash but some come to a white head. The strange thing is that this exact thing happened to me last year at this time and after about 6 months I spontaneously cleared up and had flawless skin. I just went to the dermatologist and he gave me a steroid cream and diagnosed it as some sort of 'seasonal eczema'. The cream made it worse. I went back and he gave me an antibiotic Doxycycline. I have been on it for a week and it has helped my chest slightly but my back and face are not better at all. I have tried every thing and this is starting to take a toll on my self esteem. Please help me!
It sounds like it could be fungal folliculitis. It's caused by the same fungus that causes dandruff. The most common places to get it is the back, chest and forehead, and it usually itches. I would try using a dandruff shampoo like nizoral or head and shoulders and see if it helps. Just lather up the affected area, let the shampoo sit for 3-5 minutes (this is important), then rinse off. I used to have it on my forehead, and nizoral cleared me up in about a week.
Good luck!
akko