Hi all! I have a very damaged skin barrier. It feels dry, even though I live in Puerto Rico and it's super humid here. Also, it gets extremely oily during the day which causes large cystic breakouts.
For a month and a half I've been relentlessly hydrating my skin but I haven't been able to heal it to even close to the way it once was.
I had damaged my skin barrier from no sun protection, 10% BP and no moisturizer which caused me to get some acne so I was prescribed tretinoin. This absolutely destroyed my skin barrier. I used it for 2 months and saw awful results. My skin was super oily and I got bad cystic acne.
My brother got off of tretinoin after a year of use (with similar results) and immediately switched to a routine of just cetaphil cleansing and 5%BP with clindamiacin and his skin almost instantly became fairly matted and acne free. He did do a good job of using sunscreen while he was on tretinoin so that could be the difference.
I've been doing tons of research on this subject and I read this article that said damage can be permanent.
"for those with years and years of using harsh products and exfoliating too often along with excessive smoking, alcohol consumption and unprotected sun exposure, yes, some damage has occurred." http://blog.reneerouleau.com/dry-tight-irritated-skin-your-moisture-barrier-might-be-damaged/
It also says it should take 2-4 weeks to repair your skin barrier and I have been on a hydrating and irritation/exfoliation free routine for almost 6!
My skin is in really rough shape and I'm scared that I have done permanent damage. For about 4 years I've been using fairly harsh acne products without proper moisturizing or sun protection. It was never bad until I started getting sunburned a lot more in Puerto Rico and after using tretinoin it got terrible.
I've always heard that your skin barrier could be restored but I'm freaking out because my skin is absolutely horrible and I don't want this for the rest of my life! I'm about to go to college!!
I would love some recommendations/advice and to hear from people who have gone through similar experiences with a damaged skin barrier. Please help me.
Scarlet te entiendo muy bien pase por lo mismo y aun sigo intentando curar mi barrera en asian beauty hay muchos hilos q te pueden ayudar creo q podrias enfocart en una hidratacion mas profunda puede ser con vaselina o algun paquete para dorrmir ultra pesado como ultimo paso de tu rutina y prueba por un mes aver como te va y mucha suert espero poder seguir ayudandot 
On 3/11/2018 at 10:18 AM, Cobrakio89 said:Scarlet te entiendo muy bien pase por lo mismo y aun sigo intentando curar mi barrera en asian beauty hay muchos hilos q te pueden ayudar creo q podrias enfocart en una hidratacion mas profunda puede ser con vaselina o algun paquete para dorrmir ultra pesado como ultimo paso de tu rutina y prueba por un mes aver como te va y mucha suert espero poder seguir ayudandot
Si he visto asian beauty! What sunscreen are you using? I'm looking for one that isn't super greasy but doesn't contain alcohol or irritants.
On 3/9/2018 at 8:12 PM, ScarletEar said:Hi all! I have a very damaged skin barrier. It feels dry, even though I live in Puerto Rico and it's super humid here.
hi, I know there is conflicting info out on the web, but I have read, even on this site in the forums, that honey is not good for dehydrated damaged skin barrier because it is very exfoliating. And you don't want to exfoliate or irritate damaged barrier in any way. I swear I don't know for sure, but it may be worth doing some research about. I know you don't want to risk damaging it more. I've been there ... I use hyaluronic acid to retain moisture. And I used cerave healing ointment to fix my barrier really quickly putting it on after shower before bed. Or on spots after they no longer are acne to treat the dark pigment and dry spot left behind from acne. It's kind of been a life saver for me. The rest of the cerave line I'm just meh about because I think it gives me acne. But if you aren't prone to acne, the only other cerave product I like is the plain "cerave moisturizing cream" not the a.m. or the p.m., the one in the round tub with the pump. But I swear by the healing ointment by them. Its magical.