Painful spots when “on”

[Ginnyrella]

My skin is mostly clear and I look after it really well. I cleanse exfoliate tone and moisturise and also use a vitamin C oil before I apply my make up every day. But the day I’m due on my skin breaks out in very painful very large spots. The problem then starts where I pickle my face. I don’t know why I do this. I know it makes it worse. And then as I come to the end of the week. My skin clears up again.
Any advice on how to either prevent it all together or a skin care product which will sooth my skin whilst it breaks out.
Thank you

I get this and they are hard lumps under the skin that I need to not pick.

I think its hormonal acne. I've bought some 2% salicylic acid and dab that on and try my hardest to not pick.

It does seem to help a bit.

Yes! They are definitely under the skin. I tried the “pixie glow tonic” and that actually made my skin so worse. My husbands threatened me with “scratch mits” if I carry on picking!

Spearmint tea, twice a day, it’s the only thing that has worked for my hormonal acne, I wish I’d started it years ago, I take it all month and order in bulk from Amazon.

I have conquered these with 2 things:

1. Niacinamide from The Ordinary. 2) A £5-£10 sonic face brush an example one -- afaics they are all much of a muchness .

If it’s hormonal the increase in oil is providing food for the bacteria to eat. I had cystic acne and took roaccutane, I learnt after taking it that spots aren’t meant to be huge & sore. I still get oily skin. I drink organic spearmint loose leaf tea which tastes really nice. You can buy huge bags of it on eBay.

See your dr, if they give you something to reduce the bacterial load on your skin it will still get oilier but you won’t break out.

It's hormonal. The only thing that helped me was going on the pill.

Peppermint tea. That’s supposed to ease bloating too I think! I’ll have a try of that. I do like fruit tea and green tea so I’ll perhaps give that a go!

I found reducing dairy intake a HUGE help.

I get these horrendous painful cysts and needed roaccutane in the past.

They’re not bad enough to need that again but I get four or five (at that time of the month) per year that are so bad they leave Bright red marks (I don’t even pick or squeeze them) that last 6 months +

Reduction of dairy has reduced those to almost nil.

Worth a try?

Just to say it is spearmint tea rather than peppermint that has been proven to have an effect on androgens.

@HepburnKNotA

I took roaccutane despite being allergic to milk for 15 years. Would you not consider going back for another course? They really should not be leaving post inflammatory hyperpigmentation like that.

I’ve also tried everything, and the only skincare that’s made a difference is Paulas Choice BHA Liquid Exfoliant.
Expensive but worth it (I buy on amazon)
Waaay better than the Pixie Glow Tonic

@Mrstwiddle which brand of tea do you get? Am off to stockpile it!

@tigerbear www.amazon.co.uk/Palanquin-Spearmint-Tea-4-Boxes/dp/B00CH3ZEJU/ref=sr_1_5?crid=YM6J4RCI7XYP&keywords=spearmint+tea&sprefix=Spearmint+tea%2Caps%2C350&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1580195274&sr=8-5

I’ve also found the Paula’s Choice BHA really helpful for this. I use that pretty much every morning through the month and then about a week before my period is due I also use benzoyl peroxide (OTC from the chemist, the brand name is acnecide) on the areas where I tend to break out (for me that’s my jawline) and that really helps to prevent the big, deep spots from forming.

If you’re a picker then it’s worth looking at when you’re most likely to pick at your skin and what triggers it, so you can find ways to prevent it. Some things that could help are not having a bright light on while you’re doing your skincare routine, only taking your make up off right before you go to bed so you’re not spending the evening looking at your spots and being tempted, or even covering the spots with hydrocolloid acne plasters so you can’t pick at them.

Meant to say, if you do go for an acid (like the BHA) then bear in mind that it’s an exfoliant, so you don’t necessarily need any other exfoliant/scrub alongside it and that over-exfoliation can make spots worse

@HepburnKNotA Crystal clear facials will help with the red marks, I think my face would have been a pitted mess if I hadn't had these done.

@Mrstwiddle no way! I just took a chance an ordered some tea last night, and it’s the brand you’ve mentioned! 😀

Does it have to be pure spearmint tea? Or will spearmint and camomile be OK?

@tigerbear good choice! I think it was the price that swayed my decision.

@daisychicken, I would expect it to help but you might have to drink more of it!

I also had this for years and massively rate the Paulas Choice exfoliant, it has singlehandedly cleared up mine, I only now get a couple of small hormonal spots rather than the huge painful cysts

I had exactly this about 5/6 years ago, it was horrible. I went to see my GP and was prescribed Duac cream and it was brilliant. I think you only apply it once a day (usually night time) and then do your usual skincare routine the rest of the time.

If I remember correctly it can make your skin a bit more sensitive to the sun and the cream itself stains everything so you might need a new pillow case and towels but other than that it's great.