Hello, this is just a quick discussion to get help with my chest acne. It used to be really really bad, but i™ve gotten it to be much much better. Now, i have all the tiny small clogged hair follicles ONLY on the upper left side of my chest (same side as heart). I thought I was doing well to take care of this, but recently it started to get really bad ONLY in this area and NOWHERE else on my chest. I use a lot of skincare products. I don™t know if this is bacterial or fungal acne or over exfoliation. My typical skincare routine is showering twice daily (I like the gym) with a wash cloth with a 2% Salilycic Acid bar Soap by dermaharmony. I™ll occasionally wash with a tea tree oil body wash cleanser afterwards just to get rid of residue. After, I use a Clindamycin Phosphate solution (prescription) followed with Cetaphil pro oil absorbing moisturizer with SPF 30. I Exfoliate every three days with dr. brandt microdermabrasion cream followed with a silicone body brush to apply moisturizer. Lemme tell you, this is what i™m doing now, BUT I HAVE USED MANY different products in the past. I used a zinc bar for 3 months to help if it was fungal acne. I used a sulfur body wash with salilycic 3% for 4 months but couldn™t stand the smell anymore. I™ve used benzoyl peroxide for like 3 years and am basically done with it. Yes I have had this problem for many years and am tired of it! maybe i™m over exfoliating? I can™t imagine it™s bacterial because none of these are pimples unless i pick at them. It could be fungal but these bumps aren™t itchy, red/inflamed. All they are are tiny clogged pores that I can™t seem to address. Sometimes it white heads. sometimes it™s headless IDK. In cases, the bumps will work their way out and i™ll be able to squeeze them out. What comes out? sometimes is puss and sometimes it™s dirt and dunk depending on the appearance of the clogged pore. I appreciate all the advice and input I can get!
It is definitely a mix of small blocked pores and blackheads. None of which are inflamed unless i pick at them :/. When I tell you I use to have these all over my chest, i really mean it. I was able to get them to go away (and now only have to focus on this current area) using many different products so to say there is one product that curedmy acne is wrong lol. Like I said i dont know if its fungal or bacterial, but I read something that Salilycic acid is good for both so I use a bar of that in the shower. Ive also been using a tea tree oil body wash recently which I really like b/c it has a a lot of essentials in it so it makes me feel like im helping my skin. Finally, dr. brandts microdermabrasion exfoliating cream seems to help my chest also. Ive been using it every three days and it makes my chest and skin feel hella smooth with very little irritation.
I would say something that definitely helped my body acne was showering twice a day. Yeah its a lot on ur skin, but I figure its like washing ur face twice a day, they say to do that so i just includedmy body. Obvi my skin gets STUPID dry so i moisturize a lot a lot a lot.
Thats what I got so far if you think you have the same problem as me!!
Update: Went to the Derm about a week ago and he referred toit as comedonal acne. He prescribed me with .1% Tazerotene to apply to the affected area once every night and 6% Benzoyl Peroxide wash pads to use every morning in the shower. Ive been on this routine for a week and will update this forum every week to track progress.
So far Ive stopped using the majority of the products ive been using...at least on the effected area. Moreover. I switched moisturizers to CeraVe SA moisturizer for bumpy skin. It has salicylic acid and lactic acid in it. Not irritating at all, makes my skin feel smooth, but feels greasy when i was off in shower. Anywho it doesnt seem to hurt my skin which is shouldnt lol. With regards to the Tazerotene, its in a cream form. So far it seems to be just irritating my skin, but im trying to stay positive! I understand that if it works, my skin will purge and get worse before it gets better. Derm said he doesnt know if this will work, set to see him again in 4 months.
Update: Its about to be 3 weeks on friday. This stuff seems to be working. I still have blackheads but a) theres less and b) my other pores dont look too clogged anymore which is cool. Skin has gotten pretty irritated at times and at one point it looked rlly bad, but that mightve been a purge. Pretty surprised its worked this quickly so hopefully im not speaking too soon. Now the skin is just red, flaky, and pretty much very unhealthy looking other than the fact that my pores are clearing up!!
Ive stuck to the routine very well. Only missed one morning shower where iuse the Benzoyl Wash Pad. Ive never moisturized the area at night, i only shower then apply the Tazarotene. After my morning shower I moisturize hella and it stings at first but then feels better.