Okay so I've suffered with acne since primary school. I'm 19 now, but my skin is the worst it's ever been. I have no idea what type of acne I have, it's red marks and white heads on my cheeks, underskin cysts, forehead is relatively clear but bumpy. Is is moderate? Mild?
Im not on birth control, would try a pill again, but apprenhensive about which one to ask for. I get quite depressed on the pill as well. Currently using Lumie light treatment and 2.5% benzoyl peroxide, I have used stronger cream but just seemed to use my skin worse / aging. I wear make up about once or twice a week. I can't see make up being the issue as I used to wear it everyday and my skin was better.
However, my skin dramatically improved in summer when I was using sun beds and tanning on holiday. I thought because of this light treatment would help, but my acne soon became worse post-summer / sun exposure
The first pictures is my skin in summer and the second lot is my skin now..
Can someone just assess my acne and give honest advice? Thank you
I think sunlight can definitely help your skin. But the problem with Vitamin D supplements is that many are made with lanolin, a waxy substance from sheep, and fish oil. Some theorize this could make acne worse in some people. So if you can't tolerate either, it's not a good choice. I believe D-2 is the vegan version but it isn't as effective, but there's that.
For acne in general, avoid an acidic diet/drinks like soda, chocolate and citrus, as well as coffee and tea. The area where you're getting acne is definitely hormonal and could be a sign of androgen sensitivity or dominance. Are you on the pill or have you tried Spiro?
20 minutes ago, cloudydreamer said:I think sunlight can definitely help your skin. But the problem with Vitamin D supplements is that many are made with lanolin, a waxy substance from sheep, and fish oil. Some theorize this could make acne worse in some people. So if you can't tolerate either, it's not a good choice. I believe D-2 is the vegan version but it isn't as effective, but there's that.
For acne in general, avoid an acidic diet/drinks like soda, chocolate and citrus, as well as coffee and tea. The area where you're getting acne is definitely hormonal and could be a sign of androgen sensitivity or dominance. Are you on the pill or have you tried Spiro?
Not on the pill, as not sure which one to ask for, not sure which pill would actually do me some good. Never heard of spiro? What's that?
Thank you
32 minutes ago, ckb2210 said:Not on the pill, as not sure which one to ask for, not sure which pill would actually do me some good. Never heard of spiro? What's that?Thank you
I think it would help you, mainly because your breakouts are in the are women get hormonal acne, i.e. the lower half of the face. Especially if you tend to get it on your chin or jawline, too.
You can see a regular doc or OBGYN and ask about Ortho Tri Cyclen [not LO, just regular] and Yaz. Both are formulated for women with hormonal acne. Check out GreenGables on here for a master post of the best and worst birth control pills for acne, but those 2 are the most popular. The estrogen in the pill helps your body stop the production of androgenic acne.
Spiro is an alternative, or you can use it conjoined with birth control. It's great if you tend to have signs of androgen dominance as well as hormonal acne, like I did -- oily skin and scalp, chin/jawline spots with ovulation and PMS, perhaps excess hair [either fuzzy blonde ones or actual coarse ones]. I'm taking it not only for oil and pore size control, but also for the hair issue.
It's all worth a try, before you go on something more serious like Accutane. Not that Accutane is necessarily a bad choice, but if it's truly hormonal, you could relapse after stopping Accutane from a hormone imbalance.
Hello ckb2210,
Contrary to Cloudydreamer's advice, I would not recommend the pill (sorry!). Specially if it makes you depressed, it's not worth it. I took Yaz for years, I was given it when I was a teenager, without really being informed about its secondary effects and possible consequences. I'm not gonna lie, it does make your skin much better while you are taking it, but it doesn't fix the problem. In fact, it can make people that had normal skin before starting Yaz break out badly after they stop taking it. It also has many side effects that you should research before making a decision, and then decide by yourself. I didn't have serious secondary effects for years but eventually I got migraines, palpitations, etc. It was actually quite scary as it can end up with a blood clot or stroke. The worse thing was that after all those years taking the pill, I read about people breaking out once they stopped and I was dreading it. I would recommend trying to find a solution instead of a temporary fix.
I left the pill about a month ago and I have been taking really good care of it. My skin now looks better than it ever did, but it's still early and it could still break out. I take vitamin D supplements and also zinc. Every morning as soon as I wake up I squeeze half a lemon into a glass and add warm water and drink.
It might be that BP is not for you and you need to try something else? Skinceutical's blemish+age defense works nicely for me, so does pai's rosehip bioregenerate oil for cystic acne.
Even though it was expensive, I bought the Tria Blue Light one month ago, which I guess is similar to your Lumie light treatment? Do you feels it works for you? The Tria doesn't work for cystic acne but it works really well for me on the rest, it has made my skin much smoother. I use it for 3 minutes, both morning and night.
What is your skin regime apart from the lumie light and BP?