Hello,
It has been 3 months of the regime and I am still breaking out. I am 14 and I continue to get whiteheads and small bumps on my checks and forehead. Not sure if these are the right products for me. Anyone else this did not work for or another product line that may work for teen acne?
The regime targets the bacterial form of acne. Your acne may have a different cause. Acne can be caused by bacteria, fungus or microscopic demodex skin mites. The treatment for each type of acne is completely different. To succeed at clearing the acne, you have to get the correct type of treatment. A good, knowledgeable dermatologist can test your skin for the exact cause. Regrettably, many old school dermatologists just do visual exams without doing actual tests. When locating a qualified dermatologist, ask if they do skin test for fungal acne and demodex before making an appointment. When visiting a dermatologist for the first time make sure you tell them the products that you are using for bacterial acne that did not appear to help. That information can help the dermatologist focus on finding the cause without wasting months treating you with the same type of treatment.
If the cause is fungal, there are topical treatments and oral treatments that can help. Aussie Scientist who posts on this forum has some good advice on this form of acne.
everybody over the age of 5 has microscopic demodex skin mites. If immune system is suppressed due to illness or stress, the mites can get overpopulated causing skin issues. There are 2 kinds of demodex on humans, one lives in the follicules (pores), the other lives down in the oil glands. The mites eat skin oil. The mites live on a 2 to 3 week cycle which may make the acne appear cyclical. If the cause is demodex skin mites, the symptoms may include: blackheads, white heads, papules (bumps), acne on face and possibly body/scalp, pustules (die offs - dead mites) that may occur on a 2 to 3 week cycle, red eyes, styes on eyelids, ocular rosacea (also known as blepharitis demodex), itchy skin.
If the cause is the very common microscopic demodex skin mite, there are several options. The most effective is the 2 week oral treatment using Oral Ivermectin + Oral Metronidazole. This treatment was published in the May 2013 International Journal of Infectious Diseases entitled: "Evaluation of the efficacy of oral ivermectin in comparison with ivermectinmetronidazole combined therapy in the treatment of ocular and skin lesions ofDemodex folliculorum". I had demodicosis (demodex skin mites) that was misdiagnosed for decades as bacterial acne. None of the 4 board certified dermatologist I visited over the years ever ran one test to find out why the antibiotics, retinoids and benzoyl peroxide prescriptions ever worked. This treatment worked for me.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S120197121201315X
Topical options for treating demodex include topical Ivermectin in the expensive, prescription Soolantra Cream (1% Ivermectin) or the non-prescription Horse Paste (1.87% Ivermectin) available from Amazon for $5 per tube.
Tea Tree Oil based face cleanser is anti-microbial and can help all 3 types of acne.
A simple face mask made of Boric Acid Powder and a few drops of glycerin can also be very helpful. Boric acid is anti-microbial and can help.
