I posted a little while back saying I've pretty much cleared my acne through diet but am just left with scars and red marks. I would get the occasional NASTY cyst though which I thought were because of hormones or cheating very slightly on my diet.

I've been a smoker for about 5 years (cigarettes and weed) and just recently quit about three weeks ago. I'm not saying smoking causes acne, but I am saying it aggravates it for me. The past week, I've cheated on my diet by eating candy and dairy and have not had any of the ill effects I usually get. In fact I have not gotten one break out since I've quit .

I realized I never got cysts until about 5 years ago, right when I picked up smoking. I used to get whiteheads but never after picking up smoking. From then on, I would just get deep painful, LINGERING cysts. I don't think the cysts were a direct cause of the smoking, but I am positive that it HIGHLY aggravated it. I'm including smoking weed here too because for a couple years I only smoked weed and not cigarettes.

I know it this isn't true for everyone but it definitely is for me. In the last couple weeks, my skin has gone from very oily to actually normal and on the dry side. Also I read somewhere about how toxins in the lungs lead to cystic acne on the cheeks, which is the ONLY place I ever got cysts. This was extracted from Chinese face mapping, which doesn't sound like the most credible source, but oddly enough described my exact situation.

I've been on this site for years and want to help anyone in my situation. I *used* to get really deep painful cysts on my cheeks that would scar and leave large blots of hyperpigmentation. Things that have helped me are cutting out dairy, sugar, and obviously smoking. I take 4,000 IU of vitamin D everyday and eat a lot of carrots (which really helps my skin 'glow'). Hope this helps!!!