Rubbish, rubbish spotty acne skin at 43! Sooooo fed up with it!!!

[JellyBelly10]

I am 43 and have acne . I didn't have it in my teens and twenties but to be honest have never had wonderful skin. But now, along with my 43-year old wrinkles I have spotty, painful, flaky, sensitive, acne-covered skin and am sooooooooo fed up!!! Have been on antibiotics for it for 2 years (oxytetracycline) and initially this really worked but now seems to do nothing. I am beginning to suspect that my moisturiser (Clarins) isn't helping, having used it for years. Not sure why I think this, probably just grasping at straws! Is there a wonderful moisturiser for people with rubbish skin like me??

[kaumana]

I developed acne in my late thirties having never had it before. I was prescribed the topical antibiotic Zineryt which helped. I also changed to oil free moisturiser, facial wash etc Neutrogena do a good range (much cheaper than Clarins) and am happy to say it's gone.

www.boots.com/en/Neutrogena-Visibly-Clear-Oil-Free-Moisturiser-50ml_11630/

[Ripeberry]

You are not alone, I'm 41 and although I've always had spotty skin on my cheeks and chin, now I'm getting bad ones on my forehead and it's just so bumpy!
I'm going to the GP next week to start some antibiotics. Wrinkles and spots are not good

[WillieWaggledagger]

clean and clear dual action moisturiser is quite good and oil-free (I get spots just before period, but not too severe). are you going to try different antibiotics?

[MayorNaze]

i have teenage skin wrt spots and wrinkles also, rich moisturisers clog my pores and make spots worse :(

this has been wonderful, i think glycolic acid is good for that sort of thing , i put it on at night with body shop tea tree moisturiser over the top and my skin has improved no end

hth

[pommedechocolat]

Roaccutane. Seriously. I got acne at 22 and tried all kinds of things getting blood clots in the process. 6 years later gave into Roaccutane. Worked miracles.
In terms of product - Jan Marini did the best job back in the day.

[MagicSeeker]

I've had brilliant results with Elemis Pro-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash twice a day (used after cleanser in the evening and in the shower in the morning) and their Papaya Enzyme Peel mask twice a week to exfoliate. First thing to have made a real difference. My skins is very noticably better.

[disappointedwithDLP]

The problem is in the gut and killing surface bacteria - if you can get the balance right with your digestion, and also kill surface bacteria, then it'll sort itself out without the potential side-effects of strong drugs like Roaccutane or antibiotics which actually disrupt your gut health.

I'm speaking from experience btw - when I look back at pictures of me aged 40, I had horrendous acne which was cured when I read a article explaining the significance of gut health and surface bacteria. My skin, 10 years on, is completely clear and I look better than I did then.

So, with gut health - give up wheat if you can and take a good probiotic every day - something like acidophilus from a health food shop.

I also had laser treatment to kill the surface bacteria, and drank loads of water. The therapist recommended glycolic products which did help, but are quite drying.

Rene Guinot Hydradermie facials are also good - have one a month if you can.

Good luck - the biggest difference imho is with digestion - quit wheat and take probiotics regularly, especially as you've had a long course of antibiotics.

I now use the oil cleansing method www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/ and only revert to probiotics if my skin starts to look a bit dodgy again.

[LadyWord]

Some of the more drastic things here might work, but just to add my product tips - I have found aapri blackhead-clearing scrub used reguarly, and origins "have a nice day" moisturiser (in lotion form) the best for my acne. Also, a little sun (I mainly try to avoid the sun as I'm pale, but letting a bit get on my face does help with the spots) and minimal make-up if you can bear it.

For me, I haven't found a link with what I eat, but there is a link with stress.

[JellyBelly10]

Thanks for all the advice here everyone. disappointedwithDLP, I've always thought there was a link with my overall health and eating habits and state of my digestive system, but have never done much about it other than occasionally thinking I ought to try giving up alcohol and chocolate and start drinking more water. But I never keep it up for very long so never really know if a dedicated approach could make much difference. INteresting what you say though as earlier this year I went ona bit of a crash diet as needed to get into a pair of trousers for a particular event, so for 4 weeks I ate hardly anything sweet, ate lots of vegetables and fruit, hardly any alcohol and although I didn't give up wheat I was eating significantly less, and my skin became really quite good...but it all went back to normal once my usual rubbish eating habits came back!
Kumana I may try that Neutrogena moisturiser, it certainly gets lots of good reviews on the website, and at that price it doesn't really matter if it doesn't work.
But I think I definitely need to improve my lifestyle generally (get more sleep, drink more water, drink less alcohol etc) . And yes LadyWord there is a definite link with stress but I don't feel particularly stressed at the moment, so not sure why my skin looks this bad! But back in January my 6-year old DS had a major operation and around that time my skin was really, really bad, so that was definitely the stress!! Maybe I need to do some exercise of some kind too to improve circulation and relieve stress? I've always wondered if it's hormonal and whether going on the pill (at 43?!) would help? I'm definitely reluctant to spend another £40 on more Clarins moisturiser which I've been using for years as something in the back of my mind makes me think it's not helping....
Williewaggledagger I don't intend to get different antibiotics but I am due a prescription review before I can get any more of my usual anti-biotics so I may talk to the doc about whether different ones would help, but actually I would love to be able to stop taking them as I just don't think it can be good to constantly take anti-biotics...Thanks for all your advice.

[CeliaFate]

You could try a Caci facial and microdermabrasion, that's supposed to be very good.

[castlesintheair]

I had a course of peels and microdermabrasion for similar problems. Worked wonders. The key is to exfoliate and cleanse the pores, not overload them with expensive moisturisers.

[Tinasan]

Retin A cream is great for wrinkles AND acne - it's prescription only so you'd need to see your GP or a dermatologist, but it works wonders. I've suffered from acne since my teens (now in my late thirties) and this has really really helped. And stopped the wrinkles deepening! Good luck, I know how depressing it can be to have skin problems...

dermatology.about.com/cs/topicals/a/tretinoin.htm

[MotherMountainGoat]

The only thing that has ever worked for me has been benzoyl peroxide 2.5% plus tons of moisteriser afterwards. There's a website about it run by some guy from San Francisco - it might be acne.org - and I don't even find it necessary to go through the ridiculous time-consuming regime he recommends twice a day. I just cleanse and bung the stuff on every evening before bed. I started off with some ridiculously expensive moisturiser for sensitive acne-prone skin, and now just use some relatively cheap stuff from Loreal (one tube lasts a month or so). Haven't had a spot in months.

[pollyblue]

I've developed acne on my chin in the last couple of months, I'm 42 and it's pants. Just finished course of antib's but not noticing much difference - have just started using quinoderm cream on recommendation of pharmacist on most horrible spots - it's 10% benzyl peroxide which is pretty strong but so far skin is tolerating it pretty well, and it is having an effect.

I've been doing a lot of research and i've read several articles about the benefits of following a low-carb, high fat diet. So might try that, esp as you noticed a big improvement when you were eating a more 'natural' diet jelly. Could do with losing a few pounds too . Also supplements of vitamin A, Zinc and Chromium are recommended too.

[SillyOldHector]

It could be hormone related. Polycystic ovaries can give you acne. It might be worth getting a check up.

[JellyBelly10]

SillyOldHector when I was trying to conceive 7 years ago I was put on Clomid as I wasn't ovulating and yes, it was due to polycystic ovaries . However after having my first DS my periods became totally regular and have remained regular ever since and I didn't need to use Clomid to conceive my scond child, just got pregnant straight away (literally first time we tried!) so I've always assumed the polycystic ovaries had sort of resolved themselves...but maybe not. The thing is I don't have any of the other symptoms of PCOS, I'm not overweight and do not have facial hair and all those other things that are associated with it...having said that I never had any of those symptoms when I definitely did have PCOS. I think I'll definitely mention all this to GP when I go for a review of my anti-biotic prescription. When I was on the pill from age 22 to 35 was when my skin was at its best. But as I'm now 43 I assume they wouldn't let me go back on the pill, especially as I don't need it for contraceptive purposes (DH had the snip!). If you read books about polycystic ovarian syndrome they always talk about controlling the symptoms with diet, and it tends to be that they advocate a low-carbohydrate diet. And I must admit my diet is really high in bread, breakfast cereal, biscuits and more bread and more bread!! So maybe it's all related and I really need to do something about my diet. Would find it incredibly hard to give up bread and cereal though! What on earth do people eat for breakfast if they don't do bread!! I haven't got time for cooked breakfasts but suppose I could eat fruit and yogurt but really don't think that would feel satisfying...hey ho, won't know until I try! Pollyblue I think I'll definitely go and get some of the Quinoderm or whichever benzoyl peroxide product I can find as so many people seem to have success with it.

[dontrunwithscissors]

I don't know whether it's just a fluke, but I take a high concentration supplement of starflower oil very day. (I also take omega 3 and a vitamin b supplement for other reasons.) I've gone from having terrible spots in the week before having my period to have just one or two very small ones.

[SillyOldHector]

Yes, with your history it's definitely worth getting yourself checked again for PCOS, just in case. If you get the all clear, it might be worth asking for a referral to a dermatologist.

I tried every potion and diet under the sun when I had acne (14-35), and nothing worked. Like you, I tried Oxytetracycline but it gave me awful thrush. Mine started to go in my late 30's, and apart from the very odd one or two, they've completely gone.

I've had my fair share of spots over the years, and I think if they came back again I'd ask for a course of roaccutane to blitz them once and for all.

Nlite treatment is supposed to be effective.

Best of luck.