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What's your regimen in the battle against acne?
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Top 3 causes of acne : 1) bacteria, 2) skin cells not shedding properly and 3) over production of oil
(there's also genetics but can't do much about that.....)
So to kill the bacteria, I use a topical antibiotic, Erythromycin 2% in the morning and at night.
To make the skin cells shed properly I use Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Stress Control with 2% salicylic acid
And to help decrease the oil, I use a concoction my derm prescribed for me which has: resorcinol, sulfur, talc, zinc oxide, glycerin, and alcohol 70%. (i think the sulfur also helps to kill bacteria).
I also think that when I eat too much dairy and sushi I break out a lot. Anyone else think that certain foods make them break out?
I also try to wash my hair frequently (every other day or so), change pillow covers every night, sanitize phones, wash hands before touching my face in order to minimize extra oil and bacteria coming in contact with my face. I also sleep with gloves on because I think I scratch/pick on my face while sleeping.
What are your regimens? What else do you think helps keep your acne at bay?
Thanks in advance for all your comments and info!!!
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My son started IPL treatments by an estetician at a dematologist's office. Wow. What a difference that has made; far better than any meds or ointments.
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- SLEEP!!!! My face just gets more oily when I don't sleep
- AVOID menstural periods (like that is possible)
- AVOID stress and stressful situations
- 2% BHA gel
Other then that, I don't do anything else special.. and luckily my face has cleared up with age.. -
Definitely agreee with taiwanesegurl!
AVOID: stress and menstral periods. Unfortunately the two are synonamous(sp) for me. And I'm getting ready to start a new job with an infant (awww) but very stressful in its nature.
AVIOD: touching my face! I think that is the worst offender. I just told my father the other day that he needed to spray me with a water bottle every time he saw me touching my face
WASH my face daily.
I never thought about changing pillow cases daily...but I do LOVE a clean bed...hrmmm -
taiwanesegurl, I think with the new birth control pills you can avoid periods, does that reduce acne as well?
Somehow my pimples are also related to weather, when it's hot and humid it's worst, so being away from Philadelphia in the summer helps, a drier climate always makes my pimples almost go away.
I settled with the following regimen, Aveeno clear complexion tratment at night, and 10% benzoil peroxide in the morning, T zone only, if a pimple appears anywere else I spot treat. I also use La Roche posay anthelios spf 15 every morning, that has actually helped with the brownish marks pimples leave sometimes
Of course I wash my face twice a day, and apply retinol treatment at night, but not sure the retinol makes any difference on the pimples -
I wanted to go on birth control to help with acne and reduce the number of my periods, but would birth control interfere with the topical antibotics I apply on my skin?
Fitness Brain, I feel like warm weather actually helps my skin. I go to school in Massachusetts and when the brutal winter hits, I break out so much. The cold weather dries out my skin so much and then my skin starts making even more oil to compensate for the dryness and my skin becomes an oily mess. But when I went to Costa Rica for a month, the warm and humid weather actually cleared my skin a bit. Or maybe my skin cleared because I wasn't stressed out there...or maybe because I ate a vegetarian diet there? I don't know...I feel like its always so hard to tell what actually helps my acne and what makes it worse :(
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I so understand what you mean darkeyes. Unfortunately we can't limit the number of variables in our own acne-reducing experiment, so we may never know for sure what causes our acnes and what helps them. I think about it everyday, and attempt to reduce and control the number of variables, but it's just too difficult.
As for the pill interfering with your antibiotics, you have to check with your OBGYN or your pharmacist. Unless you are speaking with an OBGYN or pharmacist online, don't trust online advices on drugs! -
Taiwanesegurl, I just found an answer to my question about whether birth control decreases the effectiveness of topical antibiotics.
It turns out that I understood this wrong.
Taking birth control (like Yaz) and topical antibiotics will both help with acne, but if you are using the birth control as a means of preventing pregnancy, then the antibiotics might make the birth control less effective in preventing pregnancy NOT less effective in treating the acne.
!!!
Maybe I will try this to help my skin out :) -
I'm on depo (the birth control shot), which does stop your periods, but, trust me, it does not help with acne. It didn't make it worse, but it's still the same and I've been on it for 4 years. I hear a lot of people have a lot of luck with the pill clearing up their acne, though.
I recently came across the Murad products. Right now I'm using the Neutrogena Microclear line, which I really do like. Their stuff is super-strong, though, so anyone with sensitive skin should run for the hills. I found the Murad products, though, when I was getting a sample of their moisturizer at Sephora. The moisturizer (which I really like so far) is apparently part of a larger line of acne-battling products. It sounded good, and the price was decent compared to the moisturizer alone ($33 for the 1.7 oz, $60 for 2 months supply of whole kit). I was thinking about getting it since I have a GC right now, but then was scared a bit by the Makeupalley reviews. People say this stuff is scary! I think I might have to do a little more investigating before decided to check it out or not. -
One word: Nixoderm.
More of a spot treatment than acne aid, but it's actually amazing how well it works. Have a look on google for it, as it's a fairly unheard of product. I actually bought mine off ebay after reading the reviews for it on an acne website.
Also, Dermalogica Special Clearing booster is good, but about 10 times more expensive than the Nixoderm.
I dont suffer from acne, thankfully, but im always on the prowl for really good spot treatments. These 2, along with Clinique Anti Blemish gel, are my favourites so far. -
pas71, I think not all birth control helps with acne, not sure what's the difference, probably the type of hormone and combination. Yaz and Yazmin are supposed to help. And I definitely noticed a difference when I was on Yazmin. However It made me put on weight, so I prefer some pimples. But each body responds a litlle bit different.
I was thinking about trying the Murad anti-acne kit, it comes all toghether in a 28th day cupply in sephora and it's not that expensive, however it does have the typical active ingredients, slaycilic acid, etc, and no sunscreen. Why is it supposed to be scary??? now you are scaring me -
Fitness Brain, you are definitely right. Depo is not known to help acne at all, but some of the pills are, like ortho tri-cyclen. It is actually marketed as "clinically proven to reduce acne." The shot is a totally different hormone than the pill, which is why I can take it (I can't take the pill). It's progestrone.
As for the Murad, I haven't looked at that closely at it, but have a look at the reviews on makeupalley.com... they're brutal. Some people say they think it's the sulfer that's in it. I haven't looked at the ingredients myself yet, but a lot of people mention sulfur in their reviews.
Thanks for pointing out the 1 month-sized kit, maybe I'll try that. I only saw the 2 month one before (for $60).
Please let me know if you do decide to try it. -
hey mystique i was thinking about buying some of that nixoderm stuff, is it really worth it?
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Hey Rach! :)
I actually do think NIxoderm is worth it. I've tried EVERYTHING really when it comes to spot/acne related stuff, and this was one thing that had quick results and i could actually FEEL working. I would suggest though, if you have sensitive skin, once you apply the Nixoderm, put some vaseline over it to sort of dilute it, in a sense. It's quite potent.
It does sting a bit, but "no pain, no gain."
One downside is though, you can't go out with it on, or wear it under makeup. Leave off applying it till you go to bed as it's quite thick and heavy, similar to Vaseline actually.
If i was you, have a look for it on ebay. You can get it incredibly cheap there. I got mine for about £3, and it was perfect.
But yeah, we all have different skin types etc, but if i were you, i'd totally give it a go! It's a LOT cheaper than many acne aids out there, so you won't be out of pocket if it isn't to your liking! -
There are a lot of fans for using straight Tea Tree Oil for acne. A Google search will pretty much show you the excitement. It seems to work well as a spot treatment but people complain it can be very harsh and smells awful. I'd like to hear the science behind it. I know it kills bacteria and it's used in some shampoos and facials but I think the amounts in those products are small.
Any input on using this for acne, Brains?
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I use Tazorac .05% , a retinol product that can be highly effective in some cases for mild to moderate acne albeit with some redness or peeling for some as a side effect. I also apply Bezaclin, a gel that is a combination of an antibiotic, Clindamycin, and 2.5% Benzoyl Peroxide (the latter of which can be purchased at most pharmacies OTC). I usually put one of the two treatments on in the morning and the other in the evening and I always wash my face with a prescription skin cleanser containing (yet again) Benzoyl Peroxide and a mild abrasive that I find highly effective for my combination skin and I always moisturize my face before applying any acne-fighting agents to prevent over-drying.
Teddy
p.s. I also use a SMALL amount of cortisone cream ( I use prescription 2.5% strength but I'm sure the OTC 1% strength will be sufficient for many for spot treatment of breakouts) but beware that overuse of this medication can actually CAUSE breakouts so be careful.
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