Someone please help me il skip the Sermon on how I hate my face and cry of how acne scars ruined my life and I'm depressed and hate life right now. I've had acne for 7 years now (I'm 20 now) and I've done a lot to my face (proactive,dermatologist,medicine,laser treatment, etc...) the laser was the most effective I believe but that was 3 years ago. All I do now is wash my face with organic soap that has vitamin D, aloe vera (natural from the plant)/honey mask everyday day take zinc daily too. I cut back on dairy and junk food, eat heathy and exercise. PLEASE HELP ME!!!! Do I buy face creams? are chemicals bad? is natural the way to go? I have the opportunity to seek professional help again and what is most effective IM OPEN TO ANYTHING laser/surgery/peels/plastic surgery?(if there's such thing for acne scars?) I just really want someone that is a veteran, someone that Was like me and knows now how to help me take down acne. PLEASE and THANK YOU for reading this.
A retinoid will help with active acne, and possibly with scars as well. Takes a long time to work, but the payoff is worth it. You need to have it prescribed by a derm. You will probably break out a lot in the first month or 2 of treatment. Like I said, it's a long-term strategy. You'll need a good moisturizer (I recommend CeraVe moisturizing cream). And I would wash with a very mild bar soap (the soap you have now might be ok).
As for diet, inflammatory acne in my experience is often caused by food sensitivities. Go paleo, and don't look back. That means no grains (grains = bread, rice, pasta, oatmeal, corn, tortillas, cake, pie, etc), no legumes, no refined sugars, no dairy --- but yes whole cuts of meat, yes fruits, and yes vegetables. It will very likely improve your skin, but you need to stick to it. Results might be visible in 2 weeks, but it'll take months (like the retinoid) to see drastic changes.
About paleo, I would start it off with avoiding all of the foods the diet tells you to avoid, but after at least 2 weeks on the strict diet, you can start introducing semi-paleo foods like fermented milk (yogurt, cheese, sour cream, kefir). But I would stay off the grains. Also avoid soy, and beware - it's in everything.
This is the approach I would take. Diet is an important part of acne treatment, but topicals usually are too. Once again, be patient. No treatment will give you the results you want in less than a few months. The key is consistency, gentleness with your skin, and adherence to the treatment plan. Trip up and you might fall.
agreed, treat the active acne first, then your scars are noticeable but very treatable....a few rounds with fractionalated lasers would really help you, or find a professional to do derma rolling
but treat that active acne first and I agree with the poster above, hit it with diet changes (no dairy no gluten for me) and topicals (I'm a big salicylic acid fan)
good luck to you and keep us posted
