I have similar to this as well as acne so I'm interested to hear what others think it is. Mine is mainly forehead and have had for quite a while so I know it isn't a breakout happening for me (I very rarely get a zit on my forehead).

Have you tried salicylic acid? There was a thread about a year ago about someone solving this exact condition with a high strength salicylic acid and hemp oil. I'll try to find it.

my acne looks like that. i have read about people using head and shoulders to clear yeast acne. use the pythorinine zinc one. i have never tried it but read about people using and clearing their yeast problems. yeast acne is not the same as acne. so you have to treat it differently if you think it is that. i think i have acne not follicitus but i don't know. who knows

Salicylic acid (asprin) all the way.. It fizzes into the pore's flushing out the unwanted! Its very drying on the skin so limit the usage to 2-3 times per week.

I'll also add I spent way too much money on proactiv (active ingredient: salicylic acid) then i found this site and a post on salicylic acid and hey presto, i tried it and it frickin worked!! Its so cheap too.

And ur defo right not wanting to use bp etc, i didnt and I'm doin ok without it. Every person is different, so I guess u gotta try out different things and see which works best for u

Glycolic face wash should do the trick

2 to 3 times per week , depending on how your skin could handle.

Dude I was just about to post my exact same problem! They have always been there and 2 months of minocycline did nothing for me. The topicals the doctor gave me have just been pissing the things off for the past 2-3 months. I have NEVER had bad breakouts until I started listening to the dermatologist. I think the problem is that we keep treating the things like acne and it makes them flare endlessly. Ive been on doxycycline for a little over a week but it hasnt really been working either. I'm in my final year of college and just want my life back to what it was before the dermatologist entered it. This stuff sucks. I started on the same face wash as you a few days ago. Is there a better antibiotic we could be taking? I knoticed when I thought it was linked to a herpies infection originally last summer, I took zorviax and it actually kinda worked. At least, way better than acne antibiotics and treatments.

Has the top of your tounge ever seemed whiter than usual? Have you gotten minor mouth ulcers recently?

For me, I think it started in my mouth and got on my face by possibly drooling on my pillow overnight.

thanks for all the replies...I too have tried proactiv a while back. The only reason I am wondering about the yeast connection is due to years and years on and off antibiotics that were recommended to me by derms. I've tried minocycline, tetra, and solodyn. I do have a lot of the symptoms of a systemic yeast infection but when I asked my gp about it she didn't listen.

Well, I am now seeing an allergist to see if it could be related to that. Next time I go I will be getting bloodwork results.

I'll give salicylic acid a try. That is one thing I haven't tried yet.

I don't really have the white tongue coating or ulcers as particular symptoms, no.

Should I stop taking the antibiotics? I feel like I do t have acne, just flares of these things that make them look like acne.

how long have you been on the antibiotics? I can only state that for me personally they didn't work...but I can't recommend stopping or continuing. They say to at least give them a little while to see any results.

if it is yeast though you are right...antibiotics won't cure that.

Man I'm willing to put money on oral anti fungal treatments to solve this issue. I have continued to read up on this stuff and everything makes so much more sence. Now I'm just trying to figure out what the best anti fungal is to take. We caused it to spread by shaving btw, my skin texture and complexion is exactly like yours.

Going on 3 months. My skin below the neck is perfect and my acne has cleared (other than the gross flares around my mouth right now) but these things show no sign of letting go

Man I'm willing to put money on oral anti fungal treatments to solve this issue. I have continued to read up on this stuff and everything makes so much more sence. Now I'm just trying to figure out what the best anti fungal is to take. We caused it to spread by shaving btw, my skin texture and complexion is exactly like yours.

Going on 3 months. My skin below the neck is perfect and my acne has cleared (other than the gross flares around my mouth right now) but these things show no sign of letting go

 

I was on topicals and numerous antibiotics, some of them for six months at a time, waste of effort if u ask me!

I think the doctors/derms will exhaust every avenue before ultimately dishing out accutane. I'm disgusted I wasn't put on it as a teenager. But never the less, between using the regimen (without bp), asprin and accutane my skin is lookin pretty darn good! So maybe give it a go

Man I'm willing to put money on oral anti fungal treatments to solve this issue. I have continued to read up on this stuff and everything makes so much more sence. Now I'm just trying to figure out what the best anti fungal is to take. We caused it to spread by shaving btw, my skin texture and complexion is exactly like yours.

Going on 3 months. My skin below the neck is perfect and my acne has cleared (other than the gross flares around my mouth right now) but these things show no sign of letting go

 

Ive read that accutane doesn't treat fungal acne though. I'm going to replace the antibiotics with Ketoconazole since valtrex did wonders for my skin even though I didn't have herpies. My goal is to get my skin to where it was all up until 4 months ago. I don't have acne in my family so none of this had made sense.

I was on topicals and numerous antibiotics, some of them for six months at a time, waste of effort if u ask me!

I think the doctors/derms will exhaust every avenue before ultimately dishing out accutane. I'm disgusted I wasn't put on it as a teenager. But never the less, between using the regimen (without bp), asprin and accutane my skin is lookin pretty darn good! So maybe give it a go

 

If you do use salicylic acid, use a formulation of 5% or higher. The typical drugstore 2% salicylic acid is useless.