Acne Agony

[CareerChange24]

I have really bad acne on my chin and often on my forehead and hairline. I know it’s only one area. But I love to not wear makeup, so if I don’t it’s so red angry and a mess. Wearing makeup I have to spend ages covering it up.

I’ve tried doxycycline and duac to no avail. Can someone recommend something please! My confidence is really low and I didn’t realise how something like this could knock you. The hard lumps I get are massive and I feel the scarring and redness may never go away.

Skin rocks? Skin and me? Medik8??

Try Salcura skincare

I had typical teenage spots then it developed into a painful cystic type in my early 20s. I was sharing a flat with a medical student (this was pre-Google so hard to find info) who told me to ask the GP for Dianette. It was brilliant and completely sorted it (I used Brenda in Australia while travelling).

Interestingly, the only stuff I ever put on my face that I think made any difference (to an extent) was Lush's Fresh Farmacy soap. They still make it and I now buy it for my teenage dcs who also think it helps when they have breakouts.

Before I discovered that, my main strategy that used to help me was only washing my face once a day in the shower with plain soap (apart from taking make up off on the very odd occasions I wore any). I'm a great believer in sorting the hormones and leaving the face alone (plus pinning back fringes at night).

There's a school of thought that thinks that acne that doesn't respond to normal medication is actually caused by Dermodex - I believe the treatment is different. Check it out online x

Skin and me made my skin terrible too

Skin mites can't cause acne, but they can make the inflammation worse. Dermodex are a common aggravating factor in roseacea as well. You can treat them with a prescription from the gp, and the natural way is with tea tree (which you will see in a lot of acne products).

I use a tea tree cleanser every day to keep skin mites under control, although they were never a factor in my acne, it's just another thing you can do to mitigate possible causes of inflammation.

Actually dermodex can cause a very similar skin problem to acne and it responds to different treatment.

Yes, the two conditions can be co-existent. It's more common to find a dermodex issue along side rosecea, but it can be an aggravating factor in acne sufferers too. People with sensitive skin in particular should be aware of inflammation from skin mites as they are more susceptible.

I have also struggled with acne around my chin. I have been using skin and me and I really like it (as opposed to some other people on this thread). But the thing that made a massive difference to me was to stop drinking (cow's) milk and soya milk. Like a light switch my acne is gone.

While acne vulgaris is a distinct condition, demodicosis, or overgrowth of Demodex mites, can present with similar symptoms.

Late to the party but I feel like acne is my specialty. I've had it now for 20 years (!) So have tried literally everything, including accutane three times. I'm currently on topical spironolactone and a tretinoin x azelaic acid cream from online dermatologist City Skin Clinic. They are london based but they post out their prescriptions and everything is remote. It's been really good but took an age to work. I have just accepted ill never have perfect Skin but I definitely know its hormone-driven hence the spiro is working. Good luck! Acne is awful and feels like such a losing battle sometimes.

Yup, two separate conditions that can both be present at the same time, making treatment more complicated.

But that's often the way with chronic acne, there is normally more than one factor combined that makes the condition so difficult to treat. For each person those factors will be different, and may be many, which is why some might say they were 'cured' by x, but for another person it does absolutely nothing.

What I'm disagreeing with is that you stated that dermodex is only a contributing factor. What I'm saying is that it may not be acne at all. It may be soley Demodicosis. So when you said dermodex doesn't cause acne, it was an irrelevant statement

Sorry, I didn't realise we were disagreeing! 😂

Hi, 'if' it is spots/acne then the only advice I have ever been given is a good skin care routine, and that I passed onto my sons and seems to work.

The obvious is always to cleanse/tone every single evening. Then after a shower I tone only every single morning. Was always told to avoid spot creams that dry the spot out (clearisil etc). This can help in the very short term if you have an occasion to attend but in the long term it just makes your skin produce more oil to compensate for the dryness. Drink lots of water - not so much milk too! I hope that helps x

Oh 😅😂

...but prepare for a very long wait on the NHS. My child has been taking antibiotics for over 2 years and is now on a 1 year waiting list to be triaged onto the proper waiting list for this medication.