Accutane gave me the worst breakout and scarring of my life (I mean 3D scarring, not just red marks).
My question is about the exact mechanism behind it. I don't really buy the "oh you were gonna get those cysts anyway, you had all the oil lurking under your skin", because I WAS breaking out with dry skin. My brother also has nodular acne and accutane worked immediately on him.
My acne was local and caused by past tooth abscess/inflammation. I know that now.
So could it be that maybe we break out because Accutane is toxic and our immune systems are already on overdrive?
I am considering getting botox injections on my masseter muscles to treat bruxism. I have read many patient reports on breaking out after getting Botox. I also heard that Botox could actually cure acne.
I'm afraid I'll break out again because Botox IS a toxin afterall. Any input?
I had always heard that the reason for the initial breakout is because the medication works to clear your skin from the inside out. It literally pushes everything to the surface, cysts, blackheads, whiteheads.. It all comes to the surface then begins to heal. It changes the "make up" of your skin by decreasing the amount of sebum you have. When I first started Accutane my nose, forehead and chin had every blackhead possibly brought out and then they all flaked off! Maybe I'm wrong but that's what I had been told about why the initial breakout happens.
Think of it like this.
Suppose you're filling a balloon with water and it's too full to tie it. So you open the open end and let some water out so the water balloon will become smaller. Sorta like your skin. The medicine is shrinking your oil glands, sorts squeezing on that "balloon" forcing everything out. If it didn't do that you'd just have clogged pores and no exit point for the bacteria to leave.
Think of it like this.
Suppose you're filling a balloon with water and it's too full to tie it. So you open the open end and let some water out so the water balloon will become smaller. Sorta like your skin. The medicine is shrinking your oil glands, sorts squeezing on that "balloon" forcing everything out. If it didn't do that you'd just have clogged pores and no exit point for the bacteria to leave.
Ahh, that makes sense. That also explains why we get so many friggin' blackheads too. Inflamed or non-inflamed, all the old sebum is being discarded. That clears things up, thanks!