Acne Appearing at 20 - Not Experienced In Skin Care!

[WickedSunrise]

I've always been very lucky with my skin - I've never had major acne problems. Just a blemishes here and there never usually more than one at a time. All of a sudden in the last 3 or 4 months I've been having consistent acne, maybe 5-6 spots at a time, but once I think one batch is going away, more comes along. What is causing me to just get acne now? I wouldn't consider myself a late bloomer or anything (first period at 12 years old) so I thought I escaped acne...

I've never had much of a skin care regimen because I've never had problems. My routine has always been washing my face with usually just water in the morning and lotion, and at night I have always used Clean & Clear Cream Cleanser. Once my acne appeared I started using clean and clear twice a day, morning and night. But I feel like even with lotion my skin has been getting more dry and just not looking as bright. Any recommendations for my external skin care?

I have always been a good water drinker. I never drink soda, juice rarely (only when I'm home on vacation and my mom buys it). I've been trying harder to drink more water to help my skin. I've been refilling 6 vitamin water bottles with Brita filtered water and keeping them in my fridge so I always have a cold one to grab on the go. I've been going through 4-5 of those a day (I think they're 16 oz??) Plus the water I drink in my room and with meals. Are there any other ways to battle acne internally? (other than medication, which I don't feel I need).

When I do get a zit, what should I do to it? I have a desire to scratch them... and so far I have been. I know that's bad. I don't want scars on my face, so I've been putting Mederma on anything I scratch. To me I'd think you need to scratch them to get the impurities out, but from what I've heard that is not the case? If you just leave it does your body re-absorb it eventually?

[WickedSunrise]

Oh, also: Does anyone know anything about steaming your face? I love face steamers. I've gotten a few facials before and it felt really nice, so last xmas I got a Conair Facial Steamer (though you could do the same thing by pouring boiling water into a bowl and leaning over with a towel over your head). I used it maybe every other week when I'm relaxing and am not too busy. Is too much steam bad for your face in any way? Would it be helpful if I bumped it up and did it a few times a week?

[g84]

Aw i know how you feel. My skin has been pretty unpredictable in general. I dealt with some inflamed/cystic acne when i was around 18-19, and it went away for a few years..then returned at age 23 lol. Now my skin is doing fairly well, but it's hard for me to really understand what was wrong before. It can be related to so many factors: diet, makeup/products used on skin, stress, hormones. What helps me most at this point is eating healthy and drinking lots of water (as you do), and also focussing on anti-inflammatory foods. I sometimes like to make/drink ginger tea (since it has natural anti-inflammatory properties). If it is okay with you, i can PM you the products that i'm using right now which seem to be gentle and helpful to my skin.
If you're very worried though, it would be a good idea to see a dermatologist; they might have some good suggestions for products that will suit your skin's needs.

[RipTideRush]

Go to your local WalMart or Target and look in the skin care section. They have a bunch of "spot" treatment stuff to choose from.

You could try washing your face with "Purpose" soap (its a brand). Thats what my dermatologist recommened me.

[TheSmilingTurnip]

I think you need to get on a specific skin regimen and follow it. Like a cleanser and a moisturizer morning and night. And I would have all the products be from one brand - for example - the moisturizer and the cleanser should be from the same maker.

I don't think washing your face with water does much. Get a good moisturizer if you're having dry skin areas, just make sure it's oil-free. Personally, I use Mary Kay intense moisturizing cream every time I wash my face. I don't get zits from it at all. It helps, and I have combination skin.

[1WayTicket2Norway]

Originally Posted by stargirl08

I've always been very lucky with my skin - I've never had major acne problems. Just a blemishes here and there never usually more than one at a time. All of a sudden in the last 3 or 4 months I've been having consistent acne, maybe 5-6 spots at a time, but once I think one batch is going away, more comes along. What is causing me to just get acne now? I wouldn't consider myself a late bloomer or anything (first period at 12 years old) so I thought I escaped acne...

Something might have caused a hormonal change in your body... are you on any oral contraceptives? or are you stressed?

I've never had much of a skin care regimen because I've never had problems. My routine has always been washing my face with usually just water in the morning and lotion, and at night I have always used Clean & Clear Cream Cleanser. Once my acne appeared I started using clean and clear twice a day, morning and night. But I feel like even with lotion my skin has been getting more dry and just not looking as bright. Any recommendations for my external skin care?

Try to avoid products that dry your skin out. this causes your skin to produce even more oils. These will then block your pores, get infected and your skin will get inflamed. Always moisturise after washing your face!

I have always been a good water drinker. I never drink soda, juice rarely (only when I'm home on vacation and my mom buys it). I've been trying harder to drink more water to help my skin. I've been refilling 6 vitamin water bottles with Brita filtered water and keeping them in my fridge so I always have a cold one to grab on the go. I've been going through 4-5 of those a day (I think they're 16 oz??) Plus the water I drink in my room and with meals. Are there any other ways to battle acne internally? (other than medication, which I don't feel I need).

there is no substantial evidence that suggests that acne is caused/ treatable by certain foods and drinks. And I'm sorry to say that i've tried a whole range of products on my own skin, and the only things that actually worked were the proper medications such as pro-acnetaine and ilotycin. you have to have really serious nodular acne to use those medications btw. You could try the pill. It worked the best for all of my friends.

When I do get a zit, what should I do to it? I have a desire to scratch them... and so far I have been. I know that's bad. I don't want scars on my face, so I've been putting Mederma on anything I scratch. To me I'd think you need to scratch them to get the impurities out, but from what I've heard that is not the case? If you just leave it does your body re-absorb it eventually?

what ever you do DO NOT SCRATCH them! this will lead to more inflamation and you could spread the bacteria deeper into your skin. this will lead to cystic pimples(under the skin zits). just use an antibacterial cleanser everyday and if one happens to get really bad, use 2 cotton swabs to gently squeeze it, and make sure you wash your face straight after or put some alcohol on it.
NEVER use your fingers. your nails are dirty and will just worsen the bacterial infection in your pores.

[WickedSunrise]

Originally Posted by TheSmilingTurnip

I think you need to get on a specific skin regimen and follow it. Like a cleanser and a moisturizer morning and night. And I would have all the products be from one brand - for example - the moisturizer and the cleanser should be from the same maker.

I don't think washing your face with water does much. Get a good moisturizer if you're having dry skin areas, just make sure it's oil-free. Personally, I use Mary Kay intense moisturizing cream every time I wash my face. I don't get zits from it at all. It helps, and I have combination skin.

Washing my face with water was before I had any acne. Before I would just do water in the morning to wake myself up -I figured if I didn't have a problem I didn't need to overload with products, so I did water + lotion in the morning. Proper face wash at nice.

After getting acne, I've been consistently doing face wash and lotion BOTH morning and night - for about a month and a half now. But I don't think the Clean and Clear is really doing anything. I'm seeing no change from when the acne first arrived.

Originally Posted by 1WayTicket2Norway

Something might have caused a hormonal change in your body... are you on any oral contraceptives? or are you stressed?

Try to avoid products that dry your skin out. this causes your skin to produce even more oils. These will then block your pores, get infected and your skin will get inflamed. Always moisturize after washing your face!

there is no substantial evidence that suggests that acne is caused/ treatable by certain foods and drinks. And I'm sorry to say that i've tried a whole range of products on my own skin, and the only things that actually worked were the proper medications such as pro-acnetaine and ilotycin. you have to have really serious nodular acne to use those medications btw. You could try the pill. It worked the best for all of my friends.

what ever you do DO NOT SCRATCH them! this will lead to more inflamation and you could spread the bacteria deeper into your skin. this will lead to cystic pimples(under the skin zits). just use an antibacterial cleanser everyday and if one happens to get really bad, use 2 cotton swabs to gently squeeze it, and make sure you wash your face straight after or put some alcohol on it.
NEVER use your fingers. your nails are dirty and will just worsen the bacterial infection in your pores.

I'm on the Nuvaring - but I've been on that for 3 years now, so since that hasn't changed, it isn't the cause. And I've had no changes in stress level or in my diet. It must be some kind of natural hormonal change? Who knows!

Thanks for all the info! I think I'm going to try another product out, but still taking any advice! I'll try not to scratch...

[Sparchitecht]

Diet has not direct relation that can be empirically proven. As far as we can tell, acne is sebum, that oil that shows up on your face. It's supposed to get secreted from the pores, but what happens is that external dirt or skin flakes that aren't falling from the face are getting stuck and clogging the holes, so to speak. This is why exfoliating products are so popular in acne treatment. You need to wash away this surface oil to make way for your body to send more to the surface, but you also need to increase the rate at which your dead skin leaves your face, hence the exfoliates. They've personally been beneficial to me. I'm a third-generation sufferer of some pretty wicked acne, from the age of thirteen right up to this very day @ 22.5 years old. Never got rid of it. Got better when I went on antibiotics, but that isn't an answer; only a band-aid fix.

My face produces oil like a petroleum plant, and hence washing my face twice a day is considered a minimum. I love alcohol-based products that leave my face feeling on the dryer side, although I've gotten much mixed information on whether or not the drying effect will increase secretion or help to sterilize only.

Dealing with what's there depends on the type of aberration. Whiteheads, being ugly but painless, are supposed to be ignored until they either seep out on their own or redistribute. My OCD still doesn't always let me win that internal struggle.

The other ones are the bigger deal. When it's just a red bump it usually hurts like heck and all you want to do is squeeze it until the whole thing bursts out of there and embeds itself in the mirror. I tried that for years as a kid, but a few years ago reading taught me that there's nothing in there. The red ones are just a whitehead under flesh, and after you squeeze the white sebum out, you still have pain and a bump. I didn't get that that's just my flesh that's inflamed from having a foreign infection in it pushing and ruling about down there.

Anyway, don't touch those for your life. Any attempt to alleviate the pain via force is pure vanity, and you only risk breaking cell walls beneath the surface and making the darn thing 4 times the size. Done it a few times, not cool. All you can do is make the pain stop so it stops bothering you. I use a topical numbing agent to kill the pain (Oragel, for tooth ache). Anything with Benzocaine in it will do, though. Then cover with makeup if need be.

I've always meant to look into a topical NSAID cream and see if it exists and if it would help the discomfort, but for now I get by with what I've got.

Hope this doesn't last for you. Hope it doesn't for me, either, but I'm working more on living with it and less on hoping.

[TheSmilingTurnip]

Hmm...I used to have some acne. I started using Neutrogena anti-acne cleanser and moisturizer. Worked like a charm. Good luck!

[ghost69]

hormones can shift at any time. my acne didn't go away until i went to a dermatologist and got accutane. i had no signs of acne until i hit 15. it was all gone quickly with accutane. no problems since.