Hi,
I'm 32. In my early twenties I suffered with horrendous, absolutely horrendous, cystic acne all over my face. I had several courses of oxytetracycline and also used differin. Once cleared It left me with pitted scarring, uneven skin tone, hyper pigmentation and very large pores etc etc
I hate my skin. It is the first thing I notice about everyone I meet & I'm always looking for the 'miracle' cure. You name it, I've funded it.
Anyway. For the first time in many years I am completely contraceptive (implant/pill) free. My cycles and hormones are all my own & not interfered with. So now, without fail, every month around ovulation time I get terrible breakouts on my nose and chin. They resemble white heads and the area quickly becomes inflamed and red and damn painful. It's extremely difficult to cover and I am beyond embarrassed & feel it is all anyone is looking at. I'm ashamed to say that I even called in sick for work today because I was just too embarrassed to go in with my face looking the way it does. See picture.
Does anyone else have it like this? This will get worse over the next few days and then go away. And then come back next month. What treatments work for you? What can I do to help myself?
Generally, at any time of the month I still get cyst-type spots and they take a few weeks to go. They usually come one at a time though.
Anyone had success with minimising large pores? Pitted scarring?
So depressed with it all!
Hey,
I am 32 as well and have not found anything to really get rid of large pores and pitted scarring. I've found primers cover them pretty good and L'oreal youth code pore vanisher cream claims to minimize pores over time (other people have claimed success with it) I just find that it covers them pretty well. I'm also a big fan of Aztec Indian Healing Clay. There are lots of reviews of it on acne.org
For the hormonal imbalance I take this http://healthyimmunity.com/products/Estrosmart-Plus.asp there is one without vitex too. I found that my cystic acne went away when I quit soy and dairy. I am kind of pimping the whole Candida theory today but birth contol pills can cause Candida. If you had Candida you would really want to avoid sugar. The pill also kill good bacteria in your gut so you might try taking a good daily probiotic pill.
Best of luck to you
Hi,Thank you so much for your reply. I will definitely try out those recommendations. I hadn't considered candida before actually - but now you've said it, my skin is worse if I've 'junked out' around that stage of my cycle. It still breaks out regardless, but is worse if I've eaten a lot of high sugar foods. So I will absolutely cut back on that. I haven't tried the L'oreal primer, usually use the maybelline or porefessional. I will try it though because I don't find either of the above really tackle the issue. Thanks again 