So, as a teen I never used to wash my face...would just shower and let the water run over my face and not paying much mind to it. Never had problems and my skin was normal.

Going into college..same deal. Showered often and would just let the water run over my skin and never had any problems. However, when I started to get a couple pimples heading into the summer one year during college, I started washing regularly after seeing a deem and using topical meds. It was taken care of pretty quickly and kept washing at least once daily usually with some basic thing like dove sensitive or clean and clear face wash. However, over time, I noticed the condition of my skin was getting worse and worse and was having more problems than ever.

Fast forward to now (couple years later) and every time I wash my face with anything (dove sensitive, cetaphil, anything for dry sensitive skin) I get very dried out and have been battling blotchy skin with dry irritated patches, clogged pores that can become irritated and a huge zit every now and then that seemingly takes forever to go away and leaves a red mark that stays for months or a year or more. Its like I never have any oil on my face since washing regularly..at first when I began washing it wasn't an issue but fast forward a couple years and I am always dry.

When I decide to start using some topical or change up my routine to figure out how to get my normal skin back most of the time things get worse and my face gets chronically irritated and I end up worse than I began. Eventually, I stop using it and let my face recuperate. During this time I will not use anything on my face and just let water run over my face. When I do this, I notice that my skin tone gets much better and red blotches where I had marks or clogged pores or dry skin seem to get a bit better. I did this routine for a bit over a month at the beginning of winter and things were going pretty well. I didn't even use any cleanser when I would shower after working out and I work out almost every day and run a lot so I get quite sweaty. However, about a month later I had a clogged pore by my nose area and it became inflamed and turned into a HUGE zit. So, I was worried it was because I wasn't washing (even though I would get one of these huge zits every now and then even when I did wash) so I began washing routines again and things weren't improving and I got dried out again and was having more issues. Looking back, It is very likely that I was just touching that clogged pore a lot and irritated it by doing so instead of it being because I wasn't using cleanser.

Now, I am going back to not washing and again, my skin tone gets a bit better each day I just let water rinse over it. Also, I have noticed I get less clogged pores and some clogs even seem to flake off with just water (wouldn't happen when I used cleanser...would just sit there forever). I do have some clogged pores by my nose (not on it) that occurred prior to just using only water and I am worried that one or a couple will get inflamed and cause a huge zit that will stay forever. So, I am doing my best to not touch it and immediately after running at the gym I splash my face with water so as to not let the sweat just stay and clog pores and such.

My question is this: Is it possible that I not only don't need to use any cleanser to wash my face but am better off avoiding any cleanser? As I said, my skin never gets oily, so its not like I have much excess oil needing to be washed with cleanser. Pores seem to get more clogged up when I use cleanser (probably caused by my skin drying out so much when I use cleanser). Also, my dermatologist said that sweat is water-soluble so as long as I just rinse off with water, I shouldn't break out after working out by not using cleanser. Maybe people with dried out skin really don't need much to get their face clean? Thoughts?

BTW I am a 25 year old guy..so don't use makeup or anything.