to expect NOT to have massive spots at the age of 37?

[iwanttoseethezoo]

every month without fail i get a massive painful spot, usually on my chin, just after my period. My skin is pretty crap at the best of times, but this puts the tin lid on it. FFS, i'm in my late 30s, i was expecting lovely clear skin by now!

Any advice for combating (combatting?) hormonal acne? i presume that some hormone or other is either dropping or peaking at that time and that's why this huge BOIL / CARBUNCLE appears on cue every month? Any dermatologists or doctors got any ideas... is there a supplement i can take or anything i can avoid?

Yes, i wash my face regularly and use a light non-oily moisturiser, don't use much makeup (unless trying to disguise the zit) and always remove before bed. sigh

[iwanttoseethezoo]

Thanks for all the messages. I seem to be surrounded by friends with amazing glowing skin with no make-up, so nice to know I'm not alone in being a spotty herbert!

[chocolatehobnobs]

I really sympathise. I had pretty good skin as a teenager. Gp put me on dianette aged 19 as a cocp even though skin wasn't really a problem. After stopping dianette 3 yrs later I had 2 problems _ hair loss and then dreadful cystic acne with boils around jaw line upper back and chest. It was really painful and itchy. I saw a dermatologist who prescribed roaccutane (a vit A compound). Within 2 weeks there was a massive difference, no more new spots. My skin and mucous membranes were very dry while treated. Roaccutane also remodels skin so after 3 months all the scars had gone too . A few years later when I started getting a few spots again a saw an amazing guilain facialist. She used very soothing desensitising products such as the hydrodermy facial. It is an amazing quick fix for emerging spots that I highly recommend.
Op there is an end in site I have good skin now - also recommend mineral make-up as the zinc is good for your skin.

[jasminetom]

Me too and am 37. They throb and glow. Usually on the chin but sometimes in the middle of my cheeks. They also leave scars. I have just started taking Yasmin and have just had my first spot free month for about 3 years.

[firsttimemum77]

Bye bye blemish! When I get a zit / boil / spot, I dab a bit on overnight and it is greatly reduced by morning!!! I had BAD skin up until beginning of this year! I'm 33. Since using the neutrogena face products - 2 in 1 face wash mask and the oil free moisturiser, my skin has really improved. I also recommend Avene soapless facewash and 8 glasses of water a day! Fab!!!

[SixtyFootDoll]

Sudocrem is fab.

[iwanttoseethezoo]

I would love to get 8 hrs of sleep a night... must go to bed earlier!

Sudocrem is worth a try, we've certainly got plenty of that in this house.

[beesimo]

Some of you are messing about far to much with you skin

Eat proper plenty of dairy food

Drink no more than twice a week next day flush your body out by drinking water and working up a proper sweat exercising.

Sleep proper at least 8 hours per day for women 6 hours for men.

Do not take pill it will kill your looks as make you spotty, puffy and ages yer

[IfAtFirstUDontSucceed]

oh I can totally sympathise with you ladies. I also had gorgeous skin until my twenties and then I started getting PMS break-outs (currently nursing a mountain on my cheek BTW). Generally, my skin is combination. I can have dry patches, but will also get one or two huge spots a few millimeters away . I'm continually changing my cleansing & moisturising products to find the right balance, but to no avail! :(

[AmazingBouncingFerret]

I was one of those bitches girls that sailed through her teenage years without so much of a blemish on my face.

Im now 27 and not only do I get huge things sprouting up on my chin that quite often require their own postcode but I also have a smattering of mini evil bastard lumpy rash type spots that have appeared on my forehead for the past week or so.

[MrsDaffodill]

I have a good old spot on the chin right now. And wrinkles. Surely they are not supposed to go together? Much older than you.

[ThatllDoPig]

Stop drinking caffeine, it made a MASSIVE difference for me.
And put a big dollop of sudocreme on the spot when going to bed, it somehow dries it all out and will be heaps better in the morning.

[Mytholmroyd]

Oh I sympathise iwanttoseethezoo!

I have generally good skin and never had acne but I went through a patch a few years ago in my late 30s where I got one big sore lump/spot that never really came to a head just before my period - barely cleared up until the next one came. Sounds just like yours?

I tried everything I could think of but was convinced it was purely hormonal although I have no idea why my hormones had suddenly changed (certainly wasnt menopausal and in between babies).

Went to the doctor in the end in desperation and was prescribed a very low dose of antibiotic (a type of tetracycline) for a few months. She assured me it was too low to be an issue for anything else.

It worked a treat with the spots - lovely clear skin back again - but I had to have my teeth cleaned every couple of months because I got black staining on the back ones!

But it broke the cycle and they havent come back - hurrah!

Must NOT take it when pregnant though as tetracycline can cause permanent black/blue staining in developing teeth.

[iwanttoseethezoo]

thanks Ladyhaha - I will go and see the GP at my practice who likes to prescribe :) There is one GP who won't give you anything unless it's absolutely medically necessary... anything 'cosmetic' and he tells you to go and buy some homoeopathic tablets . So I avoid him

[Ladyhaha]

I've got exactly the same problem and was prescribed erythromycin for 2 weeks by my GP to clear the huge spot I had on my chin. He also gave me Duac (benzoyl peroxide) gel, which has worked brilliantly - not had a spot in months.

[sprinkles77]

PS i was seen NHS, if that helps.

[sprinkles77]

I had lovely skin as a teenager. Then got a pizza face at aged 21. roaccutane are capsules. you can only get them from a consultant dermatologist. They are very heavy duty and can have some difficult side effects (dry skin, eyes and lips, depression, liver damage) but with monitoring and the appropriate dose it is wonderful. I still have the dry lips, but everything else has recovered. I also had the depression, and the consultant halved my dose, leaving me feeling much better but not affecting the roaccutane's good effects. I was on it for 6 months i think. This was 12 years ago and my skin is really good and has been ever since (apart from a little blip when pregnant). I totally recommend it.

[iwanttoseethezoo]

sprinkles77 hmmm, it's not THAT bad on a normal day. I certainly wouldn't have been classed as an 'acne-sufferer' as a teen... just when i DO get spots they are quite noticeable. I get spots around my hairline and jawline (which I read somewhere is linked with PCOS but fairly sure I don't have that - have conceived four children with hardly any ttc) and have an oily T-zone, and have blackheads on chin and nose area... (lovely!).
Also, I don't fancy taking antibiotics long-term. Or the pill. My family is complete, and DH has had the snip, so would rather not take hormones unless it just gets unbearable. A dermatologist sounds fab! Is Roaccutane a tablet? I remember a friend of mine in sixth-form had bad skin and she had a sort of 'roll-on' medication to put on her skin at night (but it did make it very dry). Presumably some sort of peroxide med.

Oh, I forgot - also sometimes get these painful spots in between my eyebrows too. In fact I can feel one coming up now! Bleh.

[SixtyFootDoll]

I am 40 and was told that I was too old by one gp for dianette, although another contradicted this.
I wanted to stop anyway as had been on pill for so long.
Dermalogica is quite expensive but lasts for ages but most importantly is lanolin free, which clogs pores, so if on a budget seek out lanolin free products.
I also use Panoxyl aqua gel when skin at it's worst, a thin layer at night under moisturiser.

[Bizkit]

I've had shit skin since I was about 13, I'm now 28 :-(
The only thing that's helped is the pill, and it's bearable now but still an everyday downer, just wish I was normal.
I have a cream called duac prescribed by my gp which is pretty good at halting any spots that you can feel coming

It's true about the diet thing, google low gi and acne and there should be some info out there... It's all about the sugar!!

[sprinkles77]

How bad is your skin? It might be worse than you realise. I had acne and found it a nuisance, and only sought treatment cos my mother went on at me. I saw some photos pre- treatment, and fuck it was bad, I can't believe I used to go out! WIthout make up too! If your skin is generally a bit crap as you say, and you also get a monthly flare up, I would get to a dermatologist. See your GP. She might want to you try antibiotics (need to take for 3 months to see an effect and may make you sensitive to sun, shit in the summer) or a pill (dianette and yasmin are good) also for 3 months. Then if no good tell her it's making you miserable etc and insist on seeing a dermatolotgist. I was given roaccutane (a complete no no if preg or ttc). wonderful stuff that saved my life.

[KoolAidKid]

I find washing my face with a really hot clean flannel works to some extent - use very hot water, as hot as you can bare.

[Deaddei]

I am 51 and get spots on HRT.
At the moment I also have about 10 bumps under my skin from a suncream allergy...not good, as spot cream won't work. THey will take days to fade.

[beesimo]

Do what nopimple suggests but no longer than for three days, if you are not on the pill your woman time will be controlled by the moon so take cure week before moon full that is week before your period due.

[create]

I'm the same re diets iwant. That's why I have to follow it religiously - that way it's set out at the beginning of the day/week exactly what I will eat/buy (which is actulally quite a lot, as long as it's the right stuff) If I just say I'll cut such and such out, that never works.

[beesimo]

I am not going to tell thee now as you might do it wrong and I will get the blame!

Yous will just have to stay spotty!