I would first like to thank Dan for this website, it's such a terrific resource with invaluable information.
Hi, my name isAumkar. I'm 19 and will be 20 in about 2 months. I started gettingAcnewhen I was 17 which is pretty normal age for Male hormonalAcne. It started off pretty mild so I didn't may much attention to it, it remained to be calm and acceptable till I was almost 19 when it started to get out of hand and severely embarrassing. I didn't do much as I had no knowledge on the subject and was just busy with life to even bother going to adermatologist. I battled through it trying to tell myself that it was just a phase and will be history in no time but at one point it got so bad that I had to seek professional help.
This was around October, 2016. I had my first major breakout. I do have to agree that myAcnewas still very moderate compared to others I've seen on this forum and I consider myself very lucky for that but still, it was a bad breakout..around 8 large zits. It was time to meet aderm.
Mydermprescribed me "Clinictop" a brand name forClindamycinPhosphate gel and someHomeopathymedicine,LOL.Scammer.
Clindamycinwas a blessing in disguise. It completely cleared my skin within 3 months, I got occasional breakouts in the first month but the intervals were drastically increased, I was thrilled. The second month I had only one breakout the entire month, I was shocked. The third month, I was clear all month. I for the first time in my life found true profound happiness after experiencing such marvellous results.
I continued to useClindamycinand added a new mix ofClindamycinandAdapalenewhich I used at night. I noticed no noticeable difference in this change which was sort of unsurprising.
I was clear the next month too. 2 months of breakout free skin, I was convincedAcnedays were behind me until three week when I noticed breakouts appearing after 2 long months of being clear. I was a little upset but I wasn't too unhappy as it was after a very, very long time.
The following days the I started breaking out again with 3 consecutive zits. I started to panic and then discovered this website, it took my a couple of days to educate myself on whyClindamycinwasn't working.
I was disappointed but relieved to learn that "Clindamycin" an Antibiotic can only work as long as theAcnefinds aresistance against it which takes around 3-4 months which is what happened in my case. I knew it was time to change the regime.
I have to admit that I did have some experience with BP before Clindamycin, a week before I went to my derm in October, I tried BP and Retino-A and had terrible dryness and flaky skin, I think I might have used 10% BP, as I said before, I had no knowledge at the time.
So when I took a look at theAcne.org regime and saw that BP was the hero of the movie, I was very hesitant to use it.
Fast forward to today here's the regime I follow with promising results.
Morning - 2.5% Benzac AC w/Plum Green Tea Mattifying Moisturizer (Which has Glycolic Acid and other Non-Comedogenic chemicals)
Afternoon - Clinictop (Clindamycin Phosphate Gel)
Night -2.5% Benzac AC w/Plum Green Tea Mattifying Moisturizer
I noticed the same results with BP as I did with Clindamycin, a very mild initial breakout which has settled down considerably now. I use a "generous" amount as Dan recommends. Side effects of dryness took more than 10 days to surface, it's still not bad and is masked after using theMoisturizer.
I'm exactly 15 days into this regime and already can tell where it's headed. I'll upload pictures of my skin before Clindamycin and after Clindamycin and intend to do the same for BP after a couple of months.
Update 1 -
I have been on BP for around 1 month now.
WOW, what an interesting ride it has been.
The good thing is that I live in a Tropicalenvironment so, zero dryness with BP even when I used a full finger's length twice a day for about 2-3 weeks but it all went to shit last week when I was on a Holiday in Canada which had striking humidity difference than what I'm accustomed to.
My skin became dry, I mean dry. Flakey, dry, dead skin layers all over the face. I made a mistake of not using BP in an effort to stop excessive dryness, it kinda worked, my skin was dry for 2 days but the 3rd day, it was flawless, all the dry skin had perished leaving a smooth layer of skin but the side effect was I broke out with a pimple. I was pimple-free for 2 weeks so it was scary to realise how badly Acne comes back when you skip a day or two of BP dosage.
I of courseMoisturize but even than didn't help prevent the dryness, it surely helped mask the dryness but that was about it.
I cut down BP dosage to only at night and Clindamycin in the day with better results. I'm grateful to live in a humid place as there I can continue my regimen without worrying about the dryness side-effect.
Another thing I can't stress enough is keep the interval between applications at least 10-12 hours apart just like Dan recommends, any early and you're fucked.
Update 2 -
Have been on the above regimen for 3 months now.
Here's the basic breakdown -
1) Breakouts are eliminated by 95%, in this month my face has stayed clear but my Nose had 3 breakouts which is according to my theory is due to lack ofmoisturizing in that area, I have bumped upmoisturizing my Nose and had no breakouts this week. Face is clear though, since 1 month. If there was a bump, it went away by the next day.
2) I tried the "Night Only" method last month for around 2 weeks and it was a bad move, I definitely need 2 times a day of BP to stay clear so I went back to 2 times and haven't broken out since. This, I think is very important, 2 times is a must.
3) Dryness, dryness is something I still haven't been able to escape from. My skin flakes up quite easily every 4-5 days. I surprisingly never faced dryness in my first month but it is now part of the treatment and Jojoba helps a lot to mask it.
4) Hyperpigmentation marks are starting to fade, it's very minute but it is improving. That's something I never expected! Probably Glycolic acid in mymoisturizer is helping or just natural healing, don't know, don't care as long as it keeps on getting better.
5) Picking, I have finally developed the will power to not pick on my sin and boy! the difference is incredible. Picking and irritation will do no good regardless of how powerful your regimen is. Just not touching my skin constantly has helped more than I can express, what a difference.
Overall,
My Acne is controlled but it there are no signs of outgrowing it yet. I'm 20 now and have been a sufferer for 2 years and on treatment since 8 months. I hope the days of my Hormonal Acne are numbered now.