Anyone had any success controlling hormonal chin/jaw acne??

[JoanDarc]

This is really getting me down, 35 years old now and currently look like a teenager with 5 lovely spots/lumps on the right side of my chin!
I normally just experience a breakout of one or two under skin lumps at the same time in my monthly cycle so I know it is definitely hormone related. These lumps can take forever to fade through and am frankly totally sick fed up of them and really want to sort it now. The only time I have been totally clear is during pregnancy and breastfeeding and feels a bit extreme to do it again for the sake of clear skin!
Am using la roche posay effaclar products and have doc appt tomorrow to request dianette.
Has anyone had success clearing it? Have read a bit about diet affecting hormones and ditching dairy as well as supplements but want to hear any others who have suffered and found something that worked before i waste more time/effort/money in vain!

[dazzlingdeborahrose]

I was suffering with a similar problem. Couple of big spots on my chin shortly before my period. I started using a microfiber cloth to clean off my cleanser. I got three for a pound from my local pound shop. The effect was almost immediate and since using it the chin acne hasn't recorded. I've been using it for four months. I rinse the cloth in warm to hit water, wring it out really well and then gently wipe the cleanser away. It's also made my skin look brighter and smoother which can't be a bad thing.

[JoanDarc]

Thanks Dazzling, sorry to be a bit gross with the detail request, but was it the under skin lump type spots you got? Ie, not a whitehead. If it was then I may give that a try.

[WhoNickedMyName]

Flycloxacillin for a week to clear a huge breakout.

Then Erythromycin for 3 months.

Duac cream daily.

Then more Erythromycin, usually a 3 month prescription, then I get 3 clear months before I start breaking out again.

I feel your pain.

[Inclusionist]

I recommend getting some Serenity progesterone cream from Wellsprings and just using a tiny amount on your face and neck leading up to your period.

If you google you will find lots of people saying it's cobblers but it has worked for me and I don't think skin knows about the placebo effect!!

[itsnothingoriginal]

I get those massive under the skin cyst like spots too. Recently tried a Superdrug hot cloth cleanser after reading on here about it and its really helped so far! I was using all sorts of spot cleansers and scrubs but to no avail. I hope I've found the answer as like you, my monthly spots really get me down.

[gotadifferentnamenow]

The acne.org regimen (super-gentle cleanse, panoxyl, good moisturiser) worked wonderfully for me. It's also refreshingly gentle, which is nice for poor sore inflamed maligned punished over-scrubbed cysty spotty skin. And cheap as chips.

[Mumelie]

I suffered like you for 15 years (bar pregnancy). I eventually went to my GP as the spots were continually infected and started spreading. I hated having my photo taken and it was starting to cause me a lot of stress.
I was prescribed an antibiotic gel (sorry don't remember the name think it began with z). Within 3 weeks I saw signs of healing (after an initial period of it worsening). Its been 9 months now and I have perfectly clear skin. I no longer use the gel at all. it even cleared the bad acne on my shoulders.
It is honestly worth going to see your GP. I thought I'd be laughed away but it turns out it was acne. Best thing I ever did.

[JoanDarc]

Whoknickedmyname - tell me about it! Due to ongoing stomach problems I can't and probably wouldn't be prescribed antib's again, think it is overuse that is causing the bloody stomach problems and to be honest will be back at square one at the end of a course anyway! I'm hoping someone will come and tell us a magic solution, i am quite vain and do find this gets me down.
Inclusionist, am googling that now, never heard of it before. Thanks for the tip.

[JoanDarc]

Gota, I tried the regimen but found it didn't really work either. Had a couple of months that were quite good but then back to usual.
Mumelie, interesting about the antib gel, I can't/won't take oral antib's so that may be a point to ask gp tomorrow.

[Sheshelob]

I was exactly the same, including it clearing up during pregnancy. But my skin has stayed clear since then, which I think is down to a couple of things:

1. stopped using expensive face creams due to maternity leave skintitude.
   
   
2. stopped regularly washing face due to new mum exhaustitude.
   
   
3. stopped smoking and drink much less due to near-death of social life.
   
   
4. stopped taking truckloads of painkillers on a daily basis, thanks to osteopathic magic.
   
   The painkillers were the key for me. I didn't realise how much they got my chin boils going until I fucked my back recently and dosed up for over a week. The crop of boils was eye-watering, I tell you.
   
   Now I have the clammy, pock-marked skin of a 40 year old. I am 34.

[Maverick66]

My daughter suffers with hormonal/ stress related acne. She has been advised to avoid all tomato based products such as ketchup,bolognese sauce etc and there has been a good improvement

[Solaia]

I have had this type of skin since coming off the pill 2 years ago to TTC. It is awful and I feel your pain.

I've been unsuccessfully TTCing as my cycles are a bit mad, so I started taking B-vits to try to regulate my hormones/periods a bit more. A side-effect of the B-vits has been that my skin is also better and last month I didn't have any cysts at all and very few small spots.

Do you take supplements?

[QueenofLouisiana]

Could be acne rosacea? I take tetracycline for mine. Clears it up beautifully. I also avoid heat, spicy food and in theory alcohol.

[SneezySnatcher]

I got this when I stopped BFing DD. I eventually went to the docs and was given Zineryt roll-on. It went after two weeks.

Currently BFing 5 mo DS and expecting the same thing this time (another motivation for extended BF)!

[Mumelie]

Yes I can't take antibiotics easily due to dodgy tummy! The gel was fine.
Also I'm on a low carb diet which could also help. It's only been a month so can't really comment but it's been the last month I've not needed the gel at all.

[JoanDarc]

Sneezysnatcher, just finished feeding my 13 month old and has slowly got worse with each feed that I dropped. The only time I haven't used concealer or foundation has been during preg or bfeeding.

Solaia, no supplements, am willing to take anything, just don't know where to start, have read omega 3 fish oils but didn't know about b vitamins.

[dazzlingdeborahrose]

Hi Joan. Yes big lumpy red sore lump. Now a great big lumpy red sore ex-lump! I think you should give it a go.

[lurkingaround]

Get to your GP. There are many treatments that help. Dianette might help if you don't want antibiotics. There are topical preparations that also work. It depends how bad your acne is. There are other medical options too.

Dietary-wise, a low GI diet might help. Avoiding milk and milk products helps read here
Watch your fruit intake, fruit acids or sugars (not sure which) can make it worse. I'm not aware of any supplements that help.

But I would get to your GP and get on the treatment pathway.

[buildingmycorestrength]

I get them if I eat wheat. Since stopping wheat my skin is lots better...spots at ovulation and menstruation are much less awful.

[peanutbuttersarnies]

Another vote for not eating tomatoes. Or oranges.
The acid in tgem csuses me to get spots.

[BubaMarra]

I had EXACTLY the same problem. What I found to be effective in treating them was laser. I went for laser treatments for completely different reason and one (very nice) side effect was that all the painful unders skin lumps were gone.

[daisychicken]

I never had spots as a teenager - the odd one but nothing like most teens seem to get. I hit 30 and the spots just started - mostly on my chin and around my mouth but a few elsewhere. My GP did a blood test to measure my hormone levels and prescribed topical antibiotics plus another very expensive (OTC) treatment - both helped but neither stopped the spots from coming.

The only thing that has honestly worked has been changing my diet and going strictly low carb. I came off the diet for a few months and the spots came back. I've been back low carb'ing for about 3-4 months now and since approx 8-10 weeks of low carb, the spots have gone again.

Could you give the diet a try? Or at least cut out sugar to start with and see if it helps?

[FoxPass]

Things that have helped mine:

Going low carb
Progesterone cream
dermabrasion flannel
laser treatment, which was for hormonal hyper-pigmentation, and the neck and jaw acne clearing up was a welcome additional bonus. The effects lasted about 3 months.