Clearing Up Acne

I'm 15 and I've occasionally had a pimple here and there in the past but lately I've been developing small patches here and there every other week and I've been washing my face about one time a day every day and it seems like my face is gettng worse! What's going on? I'm tempted to go to the dermatologist for help. My brother in the past had REALLY REALLY bad acne, I don't have it anywhere as close as bad, it's just somewhat mild or small bumps around my chin/cheeks. I've been using Cetaphil and Neutrogena products to help clear it up but to no avail. ANY TIPS or should I just go ahead to the dermatologist before anything else happens or gets worse? By the way, I play baseball every day and I tend to sweat alot during practice/games. Anything I could do about that too?

- Josh

Any help would be appreciated!

Hi - Actually, it sounds pretty normal to me. You're just at that age. Actually, I still get pimples sometimes myself. I'm supposed to be too old for this by now!!! Getting regular facials and keeping it clean helps keep my skin under control.

Anyways, those are good cleansers. You may want to wash twice a day, in the morning and at night. Also, after physical activity.

Don't pick! It may be tempting, but more will grow back!!! It spreads the infection.

Sure, go talk to a dermatologist. See what they have to say. I used to take tetracycline. It made me nausous and turned my teeth yellowish and did nothing about the pimples. Grr... I stopped, and now teeth are back to normal.

But, if you have a few pimples here or there, don't worry too much. Good luck!

It's not like really bad like others I see @ school, but it still bothers me and I feel like whenever I'm having a conversation or whatever w/ someone else it's all they look @. I do tend to pick and pop them occasionally but isn't it alright if I'm getting all the junk out of it? I'm going to try and just keep my hands away from my face and wash more daily from now on. UHHHH ACNE IS GAY!

- Josh

Hi josh,

I know just how you feel. i had the same pimple problem at that age, just like annie said you're going through that phrase.

Have you heard of On-the-Spot acne treatment? the stuff works GREAT. you apply a small amount of the cream on each acne pimple and rub it in. you do this twice dailyfor the first few days. when you see the pimples begin to dry out you apply less, like once each two days. Ive has the same bottle for over a year because you only use so much of it.

After a month or so my face was pimple free! Each day i'd wash my face with face wash, just like you, and apply the cream.

Also i would use a swivel stick of cocoa butter lighten any scars that the pimples left. This treatment worked for me, hope it does for you

Try not to stress of this as it will cause more pimples to emerge. Almost everyone has had a pimple or two, no big deal. if you are really concerned you should see your dermatologist, like you mentioned. good luck

hi there!

i have had a fair few spots and one thing i can recommend "Brevoxyl" its pretty good thing just wash you face in the morning and at night it helps it go with in days!!

Hey I saw this commercial with P Diddy and it is about acne treatment. So if you want to be cool like he is maybe you should look in to it? Haha, just kidding, probley a scam. Anyway, no celebrity teen has acne. Know why? Well I think it is because they go to a dermatologist. Anyway, if its just some slight problems I wouldn't go that far. It isn't that big of a deal, there are many successful people with some acne. It doesn't effect their relationships at all.

Well... the thing about picking is that if you're not absolutely sanitary, you could wind up spreading the infection further around your face. Now, 4 pimples instead of one. Bad, huh?

If you REALLY need to pick, you should use a sterile needle (you can disinfect with rubbing alcohol or flame). Drain the pimple, and then gently squeeze it out. You should do this before a shower, so then when you shower, it will clean your face very well. You don't want to just spread bacteria all over your face, you know? Anyways, this is the technique that my old aesthetician told me to do.

The on the spot treatments are good also.

Do you have a light moisturizer? It may help you. My skin really breaks out in the winter, when it's dry, because it's like my skin is compensating for the dryness by making too much oil. My skin is fine now though! Whew!

Yeah I got acne too, but I don't really worry about it.

Iv got acne and it was going away and now its came out big time aggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Annie, what type of facials do you get regularly?

Meet your dermatologist and have him put you on Accutane--it's the best thing that ever happened to my face.

I've had acne problems (mostly mild, but with worse outbreaks sometimes) since I was 13, but my freshman year in college after trying antibiotics, Retin-A, you name it, I decided it's finally time to do something serious about it... Although my acne was considered too mild for Accutane, my dermatologist claimed that it is the only treatment that works.

Now my skin looks great after 20 weeks on Accutane (last year): it's great to not have to deal with greasy, blotchy skin & outbreaks anymore...!

I feel your pain, and I`ll tell you how to keep your skin clear on the cheap. I`m 39 years old and have had acne since age 11, have been through the whole gamut of treatment schemes, from long courses of tetracycline and several other other antibiotics to 2 1/2 years on accutane, to the pill (four or 5 different formulations, in consultation with a dermatologist/ GYN, and NO change for the better), to a dermatologist who told me I needed to go to the tanning booth, to a Japanese dermatologist with a pretty severe skin condition of his own (kind of like "Never go to a doctor if the fish in the waiting room tank are belly-up"?). I`ve been to dermatologists in 7 or 8 different countries, and have spent YEARS and quite a bit of money on trying to fix my skin. I`ve used every type of over-the-counter treatment ever made, and talked to lots of skincare professionals and facialists. Finally I am having more success doing it myself than I ever did with medical treatment. That`s just my experience, but I`m happy to offer some tips that have worked for me-

1) Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. I know it sounds strange, but here in Japan people actually WASH their fruits and vegetables with mild organic soap and a scrub brush before peeling them...there are a lot of pesticides that don`t always get removed before the produce makes it to the supermarket, and after a tour of an apple farm during my first year here and seeing the various sprays stacked up ready for use, I started doing this, too. Fruits/ veggies that are entirely peeled like bananas or onions don`t need to be washed, of course. Make yourself a big fruit salad or a chopped veggie salad and keep it around for when you get hungry. Food processors are great for this!! Juice is fine, too, but make it yourself in the blender so that you can keep the fiber. I like to get a couple of pineapples, some frozen blueberries or raspberries, and some oranges and a cantelope, cut it all up, throw it in the blender, and make a couple of liters of juice. It is often gone the first day, and my only "problem" is now the neighbor kids come on over for a juice break...fine with me, actually!! I just make a bit extra. If you are a drinking person, throw in a bottle of sulfite-free red plonk, and presto! Instant sangria!! Drink lots of water!! I go through 2 2-liter bottles of mineral water a day.

Of course, while on this topic, I have to quote "the" song...take a break for music!

===============================

When you feel down, I recommend to you

Have lots of fruits and vegetables

When you feel sad, I recommend to you

Have lots of fruits and vegetables

Nice fresh fruits and vegetables, Make you feel so free

I'm talking about my own life, I love to feel free too

When you feel lonely, I recommend to you

Have lots of fruits and vegetables

When you feel like crying, I recommend to you

Have lots of fruits and vegetables

When you feel down, I recommend to you

Have lots of fruits and vegetables

When you feel sad, I recommend to you

Have lots of fruits and vegetables

Nice fresh fruits and vegetables, Make you feel so free

I'm talking about my own life, I love to feel free too

Vitamins, minerals, energy and more

Let's eat fruits and vegetables

Orange, apple, banana, grape, cherry, melon

Avocado, carrot, radish

Nice fresh fruits and vegetables, Make you feel so free

I'm talking about my own life, By the way, I eat chicken, too

-Shonen Knife "Fruits and Vegetables"

========================================

Sorry for the intermission...now back to the topic at hand!

2) Take a multivitamin.

3) It sounds hugely counterintuitive, but, believe it or not, you need to MOISTURIZE when you have acne. You can do your own facials/ facial massage. Cetaphil and Neutrogena products are excellent choices, and with a bit of study on the internet you can add a few drops of essential oils or flower essenses that will help your skin to cleanse itself and stay moisturized. Gentle facial massage, which you can do in the shower or in front of the computer or whenever, is a great way to prevent breakouts before they start. Neutrogena has a great product that I found here in Japan...but it is so great it must be sold everywhere...it is called "Acne Vitalizer"...it`s non-drying, and if you apply it at night, you`ll wake up to find that your SKIN will be more "vitalized"-looking (although I have to admit, when I read the name, I was a bit worried that it was the acne that would be vitalized and take over the earth, starting with my face...fortunately that scenario turned out to be all in my mind...)

3) Again, it sounds entirely counterintuitive, but here in Japan we have "Face Washing Oil"!! If you can`t find this commercially, sesame oil works great, and Canola will do fine, also, although it doesn`t smell as good as the sesame! Again, you can add a few drops of appropriate essential oils or flower essenses. Basically, the theory is that the sebum and oil that creates the pimples is oil-soluble, not water-soluble, so you need to massage and wash the gunk in your pores out with oil first, then you can follow with a mild soap-type cleanser like Cetaphil or Neutrogena. There is also facial oil to use for massage before bedtime (same theory applies) DHC is the best-known, with Olive Virgin Oil (basically just Extra-Virgin olive oil with the color and smell removed...but I don`t hate the smell, so I just use the good old olive oil from the supermarket, which is a LOT cheaper! It can stain, though, so wear an old t-shirt and put a towel over your pillow).

4) You can use a toner, but make SURE it is alcohol-free. Alcohol in toners has caused me to have massive reactions...but Clean and Clear makes a nice, cheap, alcohol-free toner. Witch Hazel is another basic and cheap one. Get a cotton pad, soak it in toner and swipe it over your face or other areas of trouble.

5) EXFOLIATE...but gently!! The goal here is to clear off the flaky old skin before it clogs things up. Once a week is fine, but twice or more is no problem if it works well for you. I like the St. Ives Gentle Apricot Scrub...it`s cheap, effective, and smells good. You can do this step in the shower.

6) If you are having an extra-bad time, you can steam your skin by putting hot water in a bowl, making a tent over the bowl with a towel over your head, and steaming for 10 minutes or so. Don`t put the water on your face or anything...just use the steam.

7) Use an antibiotic cream or liquid or Retin-A on especially tough areas or any spots that look like they might be becoming infected. I use a cheap, over-the-counter antibiotic liquid that`s to put on kids` scraped knees...hey, as long as it works and makes things better instead of worse, right? Avoid the Retin-A gel...it has alcohol, and also peels off in sheets, giving you a complexion (temporarily) remniscent of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, which is not exactly the look you are probably hoping for. The Retin-A cream has a weird, glurpy consistency, but just massage it in thoroughly and it will work better than the gel.

8) If you DO decide to go on a course of oral antibiotics, take lactobacillus acidophilus or other stomach-friendly flora, `cause the antibiotics will kill all the friendly bacteria in your stomach and guts, and that leads to digestive trouble.

9) If you EVER take Accutane, be CAREFUL. DON`T go out in the sun...ever. Don`t get any facial waxes or other rough treatments while on this drug...I had my eyebrows waxed at a salon while on Accutane and the hair came off just fine...along with about 3 layers of SKIN, leaving absolutely raw, weeping, oozing sores that took a month to heal completely. Not exactly the look I was seeking, and I would NEVER want anyone else to have to go through that. Needless to say, the salon staff almost fell over dead when they saw what they had done to me...but it was my fault for not THINKING about how fragile my skin was on Accutane. After all, all the skin peeled off my lips 2 or 3 times a month, plus I had constant nosebleeds at the drop of a hat, so I should have known that something was up!!

Another caveat (just my personal opinion, and I sure haven`t done any double-blind studies or anything)...Accutane and depression may be linked. After 2 1/2 years on Accutane in high school/ college, I spent the better part of the next 15 years struggling with various degrees of depression. I was a happy person before...now, finally, I am happy again, but boy was it tough in between! Accutane has helped a lot of people, but I would advise folks to use it only as a last resort, after giving other treatment options a chance to work.

10) If you have other areas that are affected (back, chest, etc.), treat them in the same way as you treat your face.

11) You know that ProActive stuff they sell on the infomercials? It WORKS.

Hope this helps!!

ProActive is a systematic course of treatment for a chronic condition, which is what acne is. It is not a cure...there is no cure as yet. Of course you have to keep buying and using it consistently, and if you stop and start your skin will certainly get shocked and rebel...so if it is too expensive, don`t start! Stick with the cheaper options.

Sheyna, can you tell us more about Quinoderm?

Yeah Goddess - I use the DHC olive oil wash set also! It is really counter-intuitive, but it hydrates my skin nicely, and I get less breakouts as a result. My skin is super soft now from it. good stuff!

DHC world headquarters was next to Temple University Japan, where I used to work (irrelevant aside- If anyone is thinking of going to that school, send me a pm and I`ll give you the skinny. They are doing a lot of overseas recruiting now, and of course there can be various reasons for that...). The DHC employees, male and female, all had the most fantastic, glowing skin. After riding the elevator with them about a million times I thought...hey, wait a minute...maybe there is a connection here. I`m smart, but not always so swift. Better late than never, though, right?

don't kill me for I didn't read all of the posts, but I quickly wanted to drop a note on the accutane.

I was on ROaccutane for 1 year total (2 treatments of 6 months, with about 6 months in between).

During the treatment, all acne vanishes. But that doesn't mean it's gone. If I could make the decision again, I would change my eating patterns first, before I would try accutane. It made me really depressed etc...