Adult acne is causing me problems! Any advice?

[Norris63203]

I am a 23 year old male that has had problems with acne since I was 10 years old. It was very bad at 12-14 and left bad scarring.

The trouble is my acne is still lingering. It's nowhere near as bad as it was but It's so frustrating because I have had it for 13 years so I think I have been punished long enough!

I am getting some co2 fractional laser treatment in two weeks to help the scars. I am worried that when the treatment is over I will get fresh spots and fresh scars which will undo all the good work that the laser has done.

I am using adapolene gel which helps a bit but not 100%.

What do you think I should do?

Thank you

[MatildaTheCat]

Ask your go for a referral to a dermatologist if you haven't already been. I know of two young men with moderate and severe acne both treated very successfully with roaccutane. It seems as if it is no longer saved for the worst possible cases. What a shame about the scarring, again a dermatologist would be able to advise.

Please don't suffer any longer.

[Norris63203]

Thank you for your answer.

I have been on roaccutane twice in the past when it was very bad. I will see my doctor on Thursday.

The trouble is the waiting list is always very long for roaccutane so I would have to put back the laser treatment which I don't really want to do because I have already waited 10 months to get the laser.

I'm not sure...

[MagicalHamSandwich]

I had Roaccutane in my late teens and it didn't really help permanently. Bucket loads of BP did but gave me dry, flakey skin.

I'm now in my mid-thirties and my skin is fine. In my case what finally helped was fruit acid peels - but that's a really individual thing. Go see a dermatologist ASAP. Wish you luck, OP, I know exactly how much acne sucks!

[MeadowHay]

Definitely go back to see your GP. I am a fellow 22yr old acne sufferer, like you I've had it in varying bouts of severity since I was about 13. I think genetics play a part in my case as my mum also has struggled with acne most of her life and so did her dad.

I have tried lots of things from the doctor though so I do know there are lots of things around. Have you tried oral antibiotics? Topical BP treatments/topical antibiotic treatments? OTC remedies? There are soo many things to try, a lot of it is just about trial and error I'm afraid. Personally I have tried adapalene gel and didn't find it to be of any benefit, it just set my eczema off.