I am a 20 year old student and a sufferer of male hormonal acne. In my young teens, I suffered from mild to moderate acne on my face (chin and t-zone) and had little acne on my body. I now have mild facial acne (a few blemishes on chin and jawline); however, my back and chest are plagued with acne. I have been to the derm, who diagnosed it as hormonal acne, immediately wanted to start me on accutane, although I was apprehensive to jump right to it because of the wide range of success and horror stories I've heard over the years. Has anyone else had any experience dealing with male hormonal body acne? Has anyone had success with accutane for controlling body acne like this? Really any input is much appreciated.
I have attached some pics to give you an idea of the severity. Thanks so much for just taking the time out of your day to read!
If your acne is hormonal accutane will do nothing for it in the long term. It will all come back after you finish your course,
I did a 7 month accutane course which cleared me up beautifully don't get me wrong. But 3 months later I was breaking out again and my face was in the process of going back to my pre accutane state.
So I decided to approach my acne from a hormonal point. I started taking spiro which helps with womens hormonal acne. I am clear from the spiro plus I don't have to deal with the horrible side effects of accutane again or risk any long term effects.
For males you can treat your hormonal acne from a over the counter pill called saw palmetto which does the same thing as spiro but it is safe for males. You cn get it at Walgreens cvs for under 10.00 which is better than the 800.00 a month most people spend on the accutane.
Good luck
so it's been a few months, during which I've taken saw palmetto regularly. 30mg a day the first month and 60mg a day the second month. Unfortunately, it hadn't really made much of a difference. I plan to cut that out and try going completely dairy free for a month as DamnLife suggested. Anyone else had any success in treating their body acne? Thanks for the input!
I had bacne more severe than yours and I've cleared it all up. Unfortunately, it took a year or so. 10% Benzoyl Peroxide wash (I think the brand is PanOxyl) is what really helped me - but make sure you really massage it in and leave it on for a minute or two. I also use apple cider vinegar (some people need to dilute it with water because it's too drying) that I spray on every night and sleep shirtless on a fresh towel or t-shirt. Occasionally I took epsom salt baths, but I didn't notice a big difference with those. The skin on your back (and I think on your chest) is a lot thicker than the skin on your face so it is harder to treat body acne unfortunately, so don't give up if you don't see immediate results. Good luck!
If your acne is hormonal accutane will do nothing for it in the long term. It will all come back after you finish your course,
I did a 7 month accutane course which cleared me up beautifully don't get me wrong. But 3 months later I was breaking out again and my face was in the process of going back to my pre accutane state.
Not really, I guess it's different for other people. I went on accutone for almost two years and my body acne never came back after accutane. I too was diagnosed with hormonal acne. I did get some breakouts on my face after few months but this is due to blocked pores...I treat this with daily exfoliation. I'm one of those who didn't get any side effects more than the minor ones (dry skin/eyes, some joint pains).
When acne covers this much of a body I would recommend accutane. Even a small dose can clear it up with enough time.