I've been searching through this website for a couple months prior to recently joining, trying to find the "perfect acne treatment" that would "hopefully" work on my sensitive, somewhat combination skin in a predominantly cold New England climate. I've also been doing a lot of research about the combination of vitamins and minerals, that some acne sufferers could be deficient in, because I've heard it suggested time and time again on here, as well as on reviews for an array of supplements.
I know I'm not the first person who has mentioned it, but Vitamin A, C, D3, and E, along with the mineral Zinc, seem to assist many people's acne suffering, primarily because they've somehow become deficient in these essential vitamins/mineral over the course of time while in a country (a general statement about the United States at least) that medical professionals believe is an area that isn't deficient in any of those vitamins/mineral...
I a guy who has sensitive, combination skin. Acne that flared up around 13-14, not directly after puberty, but a year later, give or take. And instead of thinking back to all the antibiotics, prescription creams, washes, etc. I've been through, I thought more and more about what I did as a kid, what I did immediately after puberty, and when I began developing acne.
My thinking is I may be Vitamin D deficient. I live in a climate where the sun isn't always present throughout the year, or shining brightly at all beyond June-August... I played a lot of sports and got a LOT of sun when I was a kid. My face was FILLED with freckles. Then suddenly when I got into 8th grade, I remembered I didn't get a lot of sun the summer before. I didn't really eat well. And I shortly thereafter traded my freckles for pimples. Even today, I don't have more than a couple freckles still on my face. I don't get outdoors a great deal. All I remember in high school was that all the students who played sports, not one of them had a pimply face, yet mine was a disaster. Now I think I know the reason why...
So I keep thinking, Vitamin D3 could be my answer. I've tried Zinc for months, which just lessened the redness. Vitamin A and B5 I've been too scared to keep up with because of the side effects (and I get plenty of A through my better diet these days). Vitamin C, I get that in a strong dosage in my multivitamin, and I have a lot of Vitamin C heavy foods anyways.
I really think there's a correlation between sun exposure (i.e. Vitamin D3) and at least my acne. I'm looking forward to purchasing a supplement and seeing if that may be true. Does this seem like a fair assessment to you guys? Also, are there other vitamins that work hand-in-hand with D3 that I should be taking as well?
Thanks and looking forward to your thoughts guys!
I'M66 go ahead and try the vitamin d. I do believe it can help acne. Search on this site and you'll find many others it helped too. If you can talk your doctor into the actual blood test that would be good. But go ahead and try it 1000 or 2000 international units a couple times a day for a month and see what happens
Hey vitamin D3 definitely helps control my acne. I take 5000 IU but sometimes take twice the amount since the most one should get is 10k IU. But yeah I completely agree with you about being vitamin deficient. Clearskinforever said the 3 vitamins that acne suffered are deficient of are vitamin D3, zinc, and omega 3(DHA/AHA). My acne cleared up a lot and have stayed clear ever since taking those 3 supplements. And it's a lot cheaper than going to the derm and getting prescription that don't even cure acne..
I've been taking omega 3/vitamin d3/zinc for a couple of days now and i'm seeing a progress when it comes to sebum. My skin would always be REALLY oily when I woke up (I could basically cook some eggs on my face), but after taking the supplements my face is less oily, but there's still a long way to go.
I've been taking omega 3/vitamin d3/zinc for a couple of days now and i'm seeing a progress when it comes to sebum. My skin would always be REALLY oily when I woke up (I could basically cook some eggs on my face), but after taking the supplements my face is less oily, but there's still a long way to go.
Haha yeah I agree, I'm experiencing a lot less sebum production after taking those 3 supplements.
Even though it may not be the cure everybody is looking for, I think everybody with acne should take it since sebum is one of the factors that cause acne
I've been taking omega 3/vitamin d3/zinc for a couple of days now and i'm seeing a progress when it comes to sebum. My skin would always be REALLY oily when I woke up (I could basically cook some eggs on my face), but after taking the supplements my face is less oily, but there's still a long way to go.
Haha yeah I agree, I'm experiencing a lot less sebum production after taking those 3 supplements.
Even though it may not be the cure everybody is looking for, I think everybody with acne should take it since sebum is one of the factors that cause acne
I'm still breaking out pretty badly but I hope to see decent results after ~1 month. Got to give it time I guess.
I've been taking D3 at 5,000 IUs twice a day (10,000 IUs/day) for over a week and while that isn't a great span of time, at first I saw a reduction in oil on my nose and dryness, but it doesn't seem to be keeping my acne at bay much... I have a feeling Omega-3s are making me breakout more. I've been on a krill oil version of it for months anyways, but recently I stopped and seem to be getting less acne. I also stopped taking Zinc because I felt it really wasn't doing much and the small amount I was taking made me sick, even after eating food.
I've just added daily Vitamin C at 1,000mg (it's just one pill) recently but it's too soon to say if that works on anything. But I'll keep taking it since cold season is upon us.
The one change I've made to my daily acne struggle has been cutting moisturizers out and instead using Vaseline once at night, covering my face with pure 100% Petroleum Jelly. It's made my skin very smooth, completely taken away the red inflammation around my pimples, and keeps my dry skin relatively soft and hydrated. I also use an extremely gentle CeraVe cleanser. I wash my face once a day at night too because while I believe most should wash twice, my skin is so dry that in the morning even though the Vaseline makes it pretty soft, the natural oils are still trying to come to the surface. I've always had dry skin so washing in the morning I've found has been detrimental to my skin.
I'm not sure if the Vaseline was the trick, but since I've started it, it seems to have been working great for my face. I wake up with only 2 white heads most mornings now, compared to a half dozen before. But I also top it with Retin-A, but I have a very hard time believing that the Retin-A can break through the thick Petroleum Jelly barrier to penetrate the pimple... I'll be testing it out tonight to see if not using Retin-A over the Vaseline has the same wondrous effects.
Hey vitamin D3 definitely helps control my acne. I take 5000 IU but sometimes take twice the amount since the most one should get is 10k IU. But yeah I completely agree with you about being vitamin deficient. Clearskinforever said the 3 vitamins that acne suffered are deficient of are vitamin D3, zinc, and omega 3(DHA/AHA). My acne cleared up a lot and have stayed clear ever since taking those 3 supplements. And it's a lot cheaper than going to the derm and getting prescription that don't even cure acne..
Hm I don't think you can really make the assumption that all acne sufferers are deficient in those exact nutrients... those may be nutrients that people with acne are more commonly deficient in though or that have been shown to improve acne? For me I have iron, B12 and vitamin D deficiency but to my knowledge my zinc and omega 3 levels are fine... not entirely sure if it's standard to check zinc and omega 3 levels when you get blood work done tbh, didn't notice any improvement when I tried taking zinc in the past though. I did just start taking 1,000 UI vitamin D daily recently due to the weather, will update if I begin to notice any improvement in acne or decreased oil production.
Hm I don't think you can really make the assumption that all acne sufferers are deficient in those exact nutrients... those may be nutrients that people with acne are more commonly deficient in though or that have been shown to improve acne? For me I have iron, B12 and vitamin D deficiency but to my knowledge my zinc and omega 3 levels are fine... not entirely sure if it's standard to check zinc and omega 3 levels when you get blood work done tbh, didn't notice any improvement when I tried taking zinc in the past though. I did just start taking 1,000 UI vitamin D daily recently due to the weather, will update if I begin to notice any improvement in acne or decreased oil production.
Oh yeah of course not all. Theres so many factors that cause acne and vitamins deficiency is just one, like one guy just found out that staph from his nose was causing his acne. I think the site was just saying that those 3 supplemenus are the top 3 most important for your skin, so being deficient might lead to acne. But yeah when I had my blood checked by my doctor he said I was completely healthy. But the weeks after I took Zinc all the acne on my neck vanished(only neck though), and I remember having constant neck acne for almost an year. Anyways If vitamins don't help, then I guess something else is causing the acne. You can always try checking your nose/ears for staph lol, that's what I'm doing.
Try cod liver instead. It has natural vitamin a and d in it... It's been known to help acne. And taking too many vitamins can actually do more harm than good and can put your liver and kidneys into stress causing your body to create more pimples... Just something to think about. That's why I stopped taking a multi vitamin. I take probiotic, cod liver oil, vitamin d3 and vitamin c 3x a day. That's it.
I've been taking D3 at 5,000 IUs twice a day (10,000 IUs/day) for over a week and while that isn't a great span of time, at first I saw a reduction in oil on my nose and dryness, but it doesn't seem to be keeping my acne at bay much... I have a feeling Omega-3s are making me breakout more. I've been on a krill oil version of it for months anyways, but recently I stopped and seem to be getting less acne. I also stopped taking Zinc because I felt it really wasn't doing much and the small amount I was taking made me sick, even after eating food.
I've just added daily Vitamin C at 1,000mg (it's just one pill) recently but it's too soon to say if that works on anything. But I'll keep taking it since cold season is upon us.
The one change I've made to my daily acne struggle has been cutting moisturizers out and instead using Vaseline once at night, covering my face with pure 100% Petroleum Jelly. It's made my skin very smooth, completely taken away the red inflammation around my pimples, and keeps my dry skin relatively soft and hydrated. I also use an extremely gentle CeraVe cleanser. I wash my face once a day at night too because while I believe most should wash twice, my skin is so dry that in the morning even though the Vaseline makes it pretty soft, the natural oils are still trying to come to the surface. I've always had dry skin so washing in the morning I've found has been detrimental to my skin.
I'm not sure if the Vaseline was the trick, but since I've started it, it seems to have been working great for my face. I wake up with only 2 white heads most mornings now, compared to a half dozen before. But I also top it with Retin-A, but I have a very hard time believing that the Retin-A can break through the thick Petroleum Jelly barrier to penetrate the pimple... I'll be testing it out tonight to see if not using Retin-A over the Vaseline has the same wondrous effects.