hey guys, my 21 year old girlfriend has some pretty rough looking breakouts on her forehead/upper nose area. She gets those white heads on her forehead (relatively small ones). Outside of that, she actually has nice looking skin - her skin looks healthy but the breakouts are nasty.
She exercises regularly, eats healthy, doesn't stress, gets lots of sleep, drinks lots of water and comes from a good family - her mom and dad are both good looking. Her mom is in her 40s and beautiful with perfect skin.
What could cause this? is there any way to fix it? My girl is so gorgeous that this is super frustrating. Is there any chance this doesn't go away long term? Should I tell her to go on accutane? What's the side effects for someone like her and her age? Right now she just uses drug store stuff like benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. She also moisturizes all the time. She should have beautiful skin. I don't get it
Your girlfriend may have fungal acne not ordinary acne.
I suggest that your girlfriend does the following -
1. Buy and apply clotrimazole anti-fungal cream (no prescription required) 2-3 times a day. TOPICAL antifungal creams are TOTALLY safe.
2. Wash her hair in an antidandruff shampoo.
3. Do NOT use any organic oils or moisturisers with organic oils on the skin with "acne". Malasezzia fungus (which causes acne) feeds on organic oils and all fungus loves moisture.
4. Do NOT exfoliate your skin or use anything harsh on it.
If you get back to me with answers to the following questions on behalf of your girlfriend, I can provide more targeted information for her situation.
Does she have one or more of the following - white tongue, dandruff, flaking skin, toenail fungus, itchy skin, red rashes, sinus problems, gut problems, unexplained tiredness, "brain fog" or headaches.
Has she taken antibiotics or any other meds ??? If she has taken antibiotics which ones has she taken ?
I look forward to hearing back from you.
1 hour ago, Aussie Scientist said:Your girlfriend may have fungal acne not ordinary acne.
Fungal acne is and other fungal problems are caused by prescription meds, usually antibiotics, and also birth control pills, prednisone and possibly accutane, and sometimes by skin moisture (applying moisturisers and/orsweat).I suggest that your girlfriend does the following -
1. Buy and apply clotrimazole anti-fungal cream (no prescription required) 2-3 times a day. TOPICAL antifungal creams are TOTALLY safe.
2. Wash her hair in an antidandruff shampoo.
3. Do NOT use any organic oils or moisturisers with organic oils on the skin with "acne". Malasezzia fungus (which causes acne) feeds on organic oils and all fungus loves moisture.
4. Do NOT exfoliate your skin or use anything harsh on it.
If you get back to me with answers to the following questions on behalf of your girlfriend, I can provide more targeted information for her situation.
Does she have one or more of the following - white tongue, dandruff, flaking skin, toenail fungus, itchy skin, red rashes, sinus problems, gut problems, unexplained tiredness, "brain fog" or headaches.
Has she taken antibiotics or any other meds ??? If she has taken antibiotics which ones has she taken ?
I look forward to hearing back from you.
she doesn't take any pills. She doesn't have any of those issues. She is very healthy
Brahm
Notwithstanding that your girlfriend does not have strong indicators of a fungal problem (ie, no dandruff, no white tongue, has not taken antibiotics or accurtane or birth control pills, no birtth control implant (Mirena or similar ?), her acne could still be caused by fungus, ie, it could be fungal acne.
Ah - I''ve got it !!! Good thing you got back to me. I think I know the cause of her acne !!! and therefore how to treat it
Moisturising can cause fungal acne because fungus loves moisture and one type of fungus that fungal acne feeds on the organic oils which are in most moisturisers.
Topical antifungal creams and antidandrufff shampoos are totally safe, so I suggest that she does the following and see if the "acne" clears'
Do the following to control fungal acne -
1. Wash hair in an antidandruff shampoo - antidandruff shampoos are antifungal.
2. Apply clotrimazole antifungal crream (often sold as Canesten) - no prescription required. If she can get terbenafine topical antifungal cream (sold s Lamisil or similar), also buy that and apply it to the areas with acne, together with the clotrimazole cream.
3. Keep the area with acne very dry. Do NOT apply moisturisers or organic oils on it. Fungus LOVES moisture, including sweat, and one type of fungus that causes fungal acne feeds on organic oils.
4. DO NOT EXFOLIATE SKIN or use anything harsh on her skin, such as benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. Doing so breaks down the skin barrier and allows the fungus to invade.
5. If she can get it, buy some Mustela Foam Shampoo for Newborns (which is antifungal and very gentle on skin) and wash the areas with acne in that.
If your GF's acne does not clear with the above treatments, then your GF's acne could be caused by demodex mites, and I can then provide information on how to control those, if necessary.
But I suspect that your GF has fungal acne caused by moisture and/or organic oils in moisturisers.
Are you absolutely certain that your GF has NOT taken antibiotics in the last year or two.
I am happy to hear how things go... with the antifungal "treatments"
On 7/1/2019 at 4:48 AM, brahmbull said:hey guys, my 21 year old girlfriend has some pretty rough looking breakouts on her forehead/upper nose area. She gets those white heads on her forehead (relatively small ones). Outside of that, she actually has nice looking skin - her skin looks healthy but the breakouts are nasty.
She exercises regularly, eats healthy, doesn't stress, gets lots of sleep, drinks lots of water and comes from a good family - her mom and dad are both good looking. Her mom is in her 40s and beautiful with perfect skin.
What could cause this? is there any way to fix it? My girl is so gorgeous that this is super frustrating. Is there any chance this doesn't go away long term? Should I tell her to go on accutane? What's the side effects for someone like her and her age? Right now she just uses drug store stuff like benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid. She also moisturizes all the time. She should have beautiful skin. I don't get it
The 3 primary causes of acne are bacteria, fungus and microscopic demodex skin mites ( parasites).
Demodex skin mites are microscopic parasites that everyone over the age of 5 has. They eat oil and possibly skin cells. If they get overpopulated they can cause large blackheads and apparent pustules. The mites live and die on a 14-24 day cycle and the acne may appear cyclical.
Dermatologists are only just beginning to accept the fact that demodex can cause Rosacea and occular rosacea. Many still don't accept the fact that they can cause what appears to be acne without the redness of rosacea. A knowledgeable dermatologist can test to see if demodex skin mites are the issue.
If the condition isn't too severe, the topical cream Soolantra may help clear it. It contains 1% Ivermectin which is an insecticide. For more serious cases a 2 week generic drug prescription treatment has been proven to be highly effective at clearing demodex.
A tea tree oil facial cleanser and moisturizer may help as well. Tea tree oil is antimicrobial killing bacteria, fungus and demodex skin mites. The Body Shop and Desert Essence make several tea tree oil cleansers. Derma e makes a Tea Tree Oil Moisturizing cream that can calm skin afflicted with demodex.
The 2 week oraltreatment was published in the May 2013 International Journal of Infectious Diseases. This paper was written from a bona fide medical study that showed this treatment was highly effective.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S120197121201315X
2 week oral treatment for Demodex:
1.Day 1 and Day 8 - Dose of Oral Ivermectin based on body weight. One milligram of Ivermectin per kilogram of body weight. Dose may be rounded up slightly to avoid breaking tablets.
2. Every day for 2 weeks: Take Oral Metronidazole 250 mg three times per day with food.
Brahmbul
Elaine has made a valuable contribution, but i suggest you follow my advice above first, because fungal acne is more likely that demodex mite "acne".
Start by treating for fungal acne, if no response then treat for demode mites.
It is always best to use TOPICAL ivermectin/scabies cream/lotion to get rid of demodex mites BEFORE going the oral pathway (if topical does not work).