WARNING: PICTURES ATTACHED
'm at wits end. I'm a 20 year old male. I cannot function as a normal person anymore. I see no joy in things. My face has destroyed my life and taken over. I am trapped in myself and cannot be social anymore. Having to be in a classroom and/or talk to people face to face makes me want to die.
I am so angry and unsure what I did to deserve this? These pictures don't do justice but I am posting them to show my situation and POSSIBLY get any help, although I'm not optimistic. My skin simply isn't normal. It's not like everyone elses if that makes sense. Even other people who have acne, I can just tell my skin is different. But I see tons of guys with stronger skin that is perfect, not weird hair growth ,no acne obviously. I don't understand why I am so shockingly different. Maybe genetics - I'm half asian half caucasian but I've seen many others with the same mix as me with awesome skin.
As you can see I have disgusting facial hair growth. It grows so sloppy and uneven. And the hair is all over my forehead, all around my eyebrows, all the way up to my cheeks and around my eyes. It's NOT NORMAL. Other men don't have this. I know everyone has tiny micro hairs all over, but mine are longer/more developed than micro hairs. It sucks that I have dark black hair but I know this is still not normal. Why am I like this? I know this is an acne forum so I don't expect much help here, but the hair problems, clogged pores, and acne all combine to make me look disgusting and all of these things are destroying me as a person. (I have been going to electrolysis for awhile and it doesn't seem to help really at all. It sucks...) I can't even shave because of all my bumps, active acne, crappy skin I'm just scared to shave nowadays so I have this gross facial hair in patches and some are long some are short. Why the hell can't I just have normal facial hair like every other man? Even stubble that covers the whole face. Is that too much to freakin ask.
As you can see my nose and inner cheeks by my nose are completely ruined and filled with clogged pores. Idk if it's blackheads or sebaceous filaments but it never goes away. I really don't squeeze simply because I know its bad. However at the end of EVERY DAY i can literally SEE THE OIL/WHITE CRAP HALFWAY OUT OF THE PORES. It looks HORRIBLE and it is visible to other people. Nobody else has this problem I have never seen this on another person. Obviously I don't go out at night but if I had to I would die because of this. It seems like there truly is no solution to have a clear, smooth face in this area for me. I think I have oily skin, it sure seems like it. I cleanse with cerave and also moisturize with cerave. Doesn't seem to help or make a difference but that's what I'm doing. Pretty simple. I also use sunscreen but idk if it clogs my pores. I think I've had this problem for years though so I don't freakin know.
On top of all this I have tons of red marks, indented scars on my face, and active pimples. I didn't focus too much on that but you can clearly see it. I am 20 and I continue to get these new pimples that I am confident will continue to develop into discoloration and/or scars. My skin is so weak and crappy and covered with hair in a disgusting way that everything turns into a horrible mark.
I really don't see a future for myself because I can't enjoy life like this. And I am not trying to be pessimistic on purpose but waking up each day in misery doesn't help. I really don't think my face can become normal at this point. I see college guys my age with normal faces, smooth skin, great complexation and I can just TELL their skin is different from mine. I don't understand.
I am not on any medication right now. I can list what I do and stuff I've done in the past if anyone cares to help or if that would be helpful. But honestly, am I probably stuck like this? Is my skin ever going to "change" or "toughen up". I don't know how to ever change from this state. I am 20 and I look 16-17 years old. I am losing hope in my life and its hard to continue on. I see no happiness for me this summer I just want to fix my face before school again so I can try to become a normal person and enjoy things again. Any help or suggestions? I haven't seen a derm in a while. I feel like they've never helped me. They've tried but I just don't know WHAT the cause of all my problems are (acne, hair everywhere, oil production). Life is passing me by, I need some help please. I do not want to die, but I am not living right now. It pains me so much. I'm at ends meet here I truly feel physicall and mentally drained now because it consumes my mind and its getting worse and worse.
If I posted this in the wrong section please move, I apologize.
Any advice at all is greatly appreciated. Do you think my condition can be improved? Honest answers, feel free to be honest please.
WARNING PICTURES BELOW (Taken with flash obviously to highlight my problems. Trust me, it can look even worse):
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Chin up, man. I have seen a lot of acne on these boards and yours isn't even severe. Yep you've definitely got oily skin and clogged pores, but the way you were writing I was picturing this:
Anyway if you want a quick but expensive fix there is Accutane. It shrinks your sebaceous (oil) glands down to nothing. Your oil glands are overworked probably because you have a hormonal problem though. I would get on Accutane and after your course is finished, start regulating your hormones (saw palmetto is commonly used for males) so that testosterone doesn't overstimulate your oil glands again.
As for the hair, I dated a half Asian/half Caucasian guy, and his facial hair grew like yours. Kind of long and all over the face. So did his brother's. They didn't have oily face or acne, so I'm guessing it's just a hair genetics things that some of you get. You can laser it off if you don't want to deal with it.
Thank you I appreciate your reply. I know there are people worse off than me. I guess thinking about this everyday has really sculpted my view of myself in a negative way. However I do feel my problems are significant.
I am weary of Accutane. I have heard so many things. I know it is a miracle for a lot of people but I have heard side effects of depression, weakening of skin, permanent dryness, bone weakness. I am an avid runner and I don't want to ruin myself physically to not be able to run anymore because that is something I enjoy. I will look into it but it scares me a bit. Also I know it does nothing for scars and red marks and indents which I have. I could have taken more pictures to show my issues even more.
I suppose I'll look into laser. The hair thing is killing me because literally no one else has it like this. I just can't even enjoy a conversation with people anymore it kills me when I see them examining my face and none of this "just man up" or "who cares what others think" statements can help me. I'm not trying to be shallow and I feel pretty pathetic that I have let this destroy me but it truly has. And I can't simply change my personality.
I appreciate your time.
Well I get a lot of messages from males who have been successful with saw palmetto to regulate their hormones. I'm actually not a huge fan of Accutane, but the men on here tend to want a quick fix, and it's hard to get them to try anything else. But if you don't want to do Accutane, by all means try the herbal route.
I would start out with Life Extension Super K. Aim for about 600mg of that stuff a day.
The reason saw palmetto works is because it helps regulate your DHT (dihydrotestosterone). DHT is the stuff that causes acne, OILY SKIN, and later on in life also contributes to balding (you know the medication Propecia? It's a really strong anti-DHT) and prostate problems.
I was expecting much worse. My hair comes in like that too in parts of my face when I don't shave for a while. Just stay clean shaven, find the least irritating razor ( electric razor for me ) and go with that.
Accutane is the way to go, if the symptoms become too much ( which they probably won't ) just stop taking it. At least ask a Dr about it. Good luck.
Hey bro, come on... don't worry about that facial hair. You're only 20 meaning your facial hair it's still growing. I'm about your age and my friends and I have patchy facial hair but we just joke about it. When I grow out my facial hair, I have a sloppy thinned out goatee. I always trim my facial hair with a hair trimmer. It keeps it really short and I don't enjoy shaving. Don't want a razor to my face. Bro, it's good to look younger anyway, you don't want to look 30 when you're 20. Looking 17 has advantages such as still getting with senior grade HS girls who are 18 lol.
Get a good facial cleanser like cetaphil for all skin types(the one that looks like semen), a proper toner(witch hazel), a moisturizer(aveeno). For your active acne, get a low dose of retin-a from your dermatologist or online and spot treat your pimples. It'll go away in a month if you don't forget to apply it. Retin-A will also help your sebum problem.
Enjoy your summer bro, it's your choice to be happy or not.. so be happy man!
Sounds like the saw palmetto promotes hair growth to combat balding. I'm worried this would contribute to helping the hair grow around my face which I hate.
Nope. It actually encourages hair growth on the head and discourages facial hair and body hair. Go look at hair loss forums. You will see that people on anti-DHT meds get more hair on the head and less on the face/body. That's just how DHT messes up your body.
