31 minutes ago, JDN said:

Hi everyone. I'm now 28 and have severe acne since my early teens. I have tried everything, the doctor even had me on medication for months, which I can't remember the name, but it really dried out my skin.

It's not as bad as it was when I was in my teens, but it's still pretty bad. Like I say, I have tried everything.

I exfoliate, my skin turns dry and flaky afterwards and tight and it's even more imflammed. I try mositurser, that just seems to increase spots. I use warm water, my skin is tight and flaky afterwards. I have tried to shave all the time, but my skin is more inflammed, I then try to leave shaving for a while, but there's no difference.

The acne is always around my mouth and chin. It used to be all over my face years ago. It always seems inflamed. I always get small whiteheads and my skin looks bright red.

I also have two permanment red scars, they're both to my top left of my lip, one ajoined, and the other one in the middle. I have had those for a coulle of years, and never get better, and they look really bad in certain light. But there is also inflammation around my lips, which spots always develop too.

I just feel dirty all the time, and I have no idea what to do. I have also been told it's hormonal, but I don't know what to believe anymore. I also don't think its dairy, because I tried to gain weight a few years ago and drank loads of milk, but it did not get worse.

Sorry about the pictures, they're horrible.

 

Not sure what is called, but it looks mostly like razor burn/bumps and not really acne. I'm not 100% sure, but it looks like it is only where you have beard. Try using disposable razors, and if you use them again use alcohol on them before shaving.

Try follow this routine

Evening:
1) was your face with a gentle cleanser (use cold water)
2) use a product with Benozyl peoxide, the one from acne.org or even better Clindoxyl
3) Moisturizer on top of the layer with BP

Morning:
1) Wash your face again with a gentle cleanser (cold water only)
2) AHA creme
2) moisturizer with SPF

Your skin is very dry, so you can buy avene thermal spray too, that you use after you have washed your face. Another good thing is to do lactic acid peels.

And there must be something wrong with your diet somehow.

I would say even though you don't believe dairy sources is causing acne, avoid it anyway. Moreover, buy some strong probiotics and take some Omega-3 pills (for instance from Udo's choice) which will help your skin from the inside.

The above routine which Alex9945 wrote is pretty good advice, especially if you are not on a typical kind of routine currently. I do also agree that it doesn't look like regular acne per se but perhaps irritation due to shaving. How long ago were you on the acne medication for which sounds like it may have been Accutan/Roaccutane?

My acne used to be very bad as well and my doctor put me on Accutane when I was about 19 and it got rid of it completely.

I'm 32 now, but when I was about 24 it slowly it started to come back and I eventually found some things that really worked well for me. Of course this is different for everyone, but it might give you some ideas.

1. I now shower before I sleep (I used to shower when I would wake up). I think this helps because my hair is clean and doesn't have oil all over my pillow case at night.
2. I put a new pillow case on my pillow every night. I will seriously break out if I go 2-3 days without changing my pillow case. My wife thinks I'm crazy, but it's true lol.
3. I don't shave. I have an electric shaver and I never use it on the shave setting. I use the attachment that gets it close to a shave, but still leaves a little but of stubble. I ALWAYS break out when I would use a regular shaver, once I stopped that it helped stop at least one cause of me breaking out.
4. I wash my face twice a day with purpose soap (once when I wake up and once before bed when I shower). If my face is dry I will put on some aloe. The same aloe you would use from CVS for when you have sun burn. For some reason it works really well for me and doesn't give me break outs.
5. If I am ever going to exercise (I play a lot of tennis) I make sure to ALWAYS wash my face before I play. If I don't wash my face before I sweat /exercise I always break out.
6. I try not to touch my face too much and if I do, I always make sure it's after I have washed my hands.

Not sure if any of this will help you, but this is kind of the routine I am in and I have had pretty good skins for awhile now.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks everyone for your kind help. I will try what you all suggest and see if it helps me.

I have also tried Omega 3 supplements a few times, but it never seemed to work.

As for avoiding dairy, I have been for a while now. I don't drink any milk no more and I only have the occasional chocolate bar and that's it really.

Thinking back when I was seeing my doctor about it, that along with the medication was around 12 years ago now, made a big deal about oil, but my skin is actually really dry, so all that was a waste of time, lol.

Thanks again everyone, appreciate your help.

Hi there, I'm a 28 yo female who stopped taking birth control about 5 months ago. When I first stopped it was fine for about a month and then I started to break out not unlike you are around my mouth. My dermatologist said it was "acne's cousin," called peri-oral dermatitis. It lasted for a couple weeks and hasn't been back (she gave me a product called Avar foam and something else called fanacea. I tried the first one for a couple days and it only seemed to irritate it but I have very sensitive skin) I would recommend searching for products that target this condition as opposed to targeting acne per se. I hope this helps! Also change your pillow case frequently. I just throw a clean t-shirt over my pillow every other day which is easier than washing a pillow case over and over.

On 9 May 2016 at 9:06 PM, Islandgirl329 said:

Hi there, I'm a 28 yo female who stopped taking birth control about 5 months ago. When I first stopped it was fine for about a month and then I started to break out not unlike you are around my mouth. My dermatologist said it was "acne's cousin," called peri-oral dermatitis. It lasted for a couple weeks and hasn't been back (she gave me a product called Avar foam and something else called fanacea. I tried the first one for a couple days and it only seemed to irritate it but I have very sensitive skin) I would recommend searching for products that target this condition as opposed to targeting acne per se. I hope this helps! Also change your pillow case frequently. I just throw a clean t-shirt over my pillow every other day which is easier than washing a pillow case over and over.

Thanks so much.

It's always felt like it wasn't normal acne to me, from trying to tackle oily skin, when my skin has been very dry to how it doesn't change whatever I eat.

I have searched for peri-oral dermatitis, and from the images I see, it looks very similar, so I will look further into this.

As for pillow case, I have been trying to sleep on my back, which isn't as easy as it seems, as I'm not used to sleeping that way lol.

Thanks for your help!

Okay, I joined acne.org just now so I can tell people how I finally solved my acne issue at 38 years old and I choose to post the info here. I didn't know but my skin is apparently very sensitive and I was destroying the skin mantel/barrier with most of the products I was using. I also have light skin and freckles so this info may help you. I quit all products containing benzoyl peroxide, sulfates, fragrances and alcohol. I guess the message to take is perhaps, if you aren't already, you could try a more gentle approach and work at restoring the ph balance of your skin. I highly recommend checking out paulaschoice.com for product reviews and informative articles.

Good luck 🙂

This is what I ended up with and am now acne (face and body) free. All these products are very affordable.

Shower:
Shampoo and conditioner: Alba Botanica
Body wash: Aveeno daily body wash
Mild face wash: Alpha Hydrox face wash

Post-shower:
Moisturizer: Alpha Hydrox Silk Wrap Body Lotion
or Aveeno Daily Moisturizing Lotion (both are amazing)

Morning and night
Mild face wash: Alpha Hydrox
Toner: Derma e soothing toner
Lotion:Alpha Hydrox Enhanced Lotion (sometimes i skip this)
Moisturizer: Olay Regenerist serum with (day) or without (night) sunscreen

Other: Now and then I use vaseline on dry spots or areas that are healing and need extra protection.

Sorry, I don't mean to be preachy, I am just relieved that I found a solution to my skin problems (finally!) and thought it useful to share so that others can feel better knowing that there may be a solution for them too.

this is dry hormonal acne. my face is just like yours and i just cured myself. i happen to be 28 male too good luck.

here is how to do it

avoid sugary food ( I avoid all sweet fruits especially citrus like oranges/watermelons)
use a face soap that has no Sodium lareth sulphate (SLS) in it. it should not feel drying.
MOISTURIZE after washing depending on how dry your skin feels.
when i wake up i splash with water only.
when i come back from work, i wash with a very mild soap and moisturize with a plain moisturizer
listen to your body, it will tell you what to do.

Take a zinc picolinate 30mg a day, customizing the dosage according to your body's reaction. when you first take zinc, you will feel nauseating, your stomach will cramp etc. you will feel bad, but it will clear all the acne around your mouth. you should see improvement within 3 days to 1 week. eating it on an empty stomach is more effective but not recommended when first starting zinc.

after a while, your body will get used to zinc and it will lose its effectiveness. at that point you can take zinc as and when you need to maintain because the pimples around your mouth should have cleared by then.

NOTE: taking more zinc is generally not useful in my experience.

my face is also very oily, with pinkish redish complexion littered with hives and rashes.
vitamin b5 solved this problem for me, a low dose 500mg b5 per day made me clear with the occasional pimple which i can live with. i used to take saw palmetto 160mg per day with it.

these supplements are all anti androgenic in effect and thats why it will help with your hormonal acne.

On 14 May 2016 at 9:58 AM, BuzzLightYear said:

this is dry hormonal acne. my face is just like yours and i just cured myself. i happen to be 28 male too good luck.

here is how to do it

avoid sugary food ( I avoid all sweet fruits especially citrus like oranges/watermelons)
use a face soap that has no Sodium lareth sulphate (SLS) in it. it should not feel drying.
MOISTURIZE after washing depending on how dry your skin feels.
when i wake up i splash with water only.
when i come back from work, i wash with a very mild soap and moisturize with a plain moisturizer
listen to your body, it will tell you what to do.

Take a zinc picolinate 30mg a day, customizing the dosage according to your body's reaction. when you first take zinc, you will feel nauseating, your stomach will cramp etc. you will feel bad, but it will clear all the acne around your mouth. you should see improvement within 3 days to 1 week. eating it on an empty stomach is more effective but not recommended when first starting zinc.

after a while, your body will get used to zinc and it will lose its effectiveness. at that point you can take zinc as and when you need to maintain because the pimples around your mouth should have cleared by then.

NOTE: taking more zinc is generally not useful in my experience.

my face is also very oily, with pinkish redish complexion littered with hives and rashes.
vitamin b5 solved this problem for me, a low dose 500mg b5 per day made me clear with the occasional pimple which i can live with. i used to take saw palmetto 160mg per day with it.

these supplements are all anti androgenic in effect and thats why it will help with your hormonal acne.

Thanks for this! Happy something has worked for you.

Just wanted to say, that the day I first posted here, I found a thread about caveman regimen, so I thought I would try this first, before I spend a load on other products. So far, around 4 days in, my skin has really calmed down. A lot less new spots, and my redness has gone down considerably. I'm not expecting this to last, but will give it a few more days to see what happens. My skin tightness and dryness has also gone.

This seems a bit unbelievable to me, but I live in hope. If it continues, I will post new pictures in a few days.

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