Breaking out for the first time in my mid 20's, help! Is this acne? Picture included

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I've never had a problem with my skin until having my daughter this year, now this unsightly mess is a regular occurrence and quite painful

It affects several areas on my face such as chin (pictured) forehead, side of face.

My skin is very sensitive and it seems whatever product I try just makes it worse.

My current skincare routine is washing with soap and water every morning, a basic moisturiser and I remove any make up with miceller water. Anything else and the spots are aggravated even more.

I drink plenty of water and eat clean.

Is this acne? Should I be asking my GP for something?

I imagine it’s hormonal, spots in that area tend to be. Funnily enough I had no changes after having my 2 sons, but after I had my daughter my body just went mental, hair falling out, spots and awful periods! It’s a good job she’s worth it.
As to what to do about it, I’m afraid I’m no use as I have been trying and failing to tackle this myself. It’s cystic acne in my case.

La roche posay, avene, mario bedescu all good for acne

Are you resting your chin on your hand at all?

Thank you for the replies,

I too suspect it's hormonal, it's a very new issue coinciding with having my DD. It's not just my chin but my chin is the worst affected. Can a GP not prescribe anything for cystic acne?

Thanks for the suggestion MrMeSeeks (fab nsme btw) I'll look into those products

Jingle, no I'm not doing that. I barely touch my face at all infact.

I’d swap soap for something more gentle. The CeraVe hydrating cleanser is brilliant and affordable. The more you strip your skin the more it’ll be aggravated.

Something with salicylic acid in may help as well. Boots own brand (the new one in the pink packaging) have a gel. If your skin is sensitive dab it on the areas that are breaking out only.

Yeah looks like horminal acne as it’s on the chin and cheeks and came up after pregnancy.

The GP will probably initially prescribe benzoyl peroxide and you can get that over the counter, it’s called acnecide and you can get it from a pharmacy. Make sure to use a moisturiser though because it it very drying.

See your GP. Antibiotics should clear it up.

Zineryt may work well for you longer term but stopped working after a year. Skinoren cream worked for around 3 years and stopped working. You may have to rotate what you use.

Benzoyl peroxide works but it took 8 weeks for me! It made me breakout more first and made my skin itchy and red. Start very slowly at first, I suggest contact therapy where you put on a VERY thin layer and leave for 10 mins and wash off. Research has shown that is almost as effective as leaving on. And should cause far less irritation.

I would do that twice a week at first then build up to every day. I still do contact therapy in the morning as BP does not sit well under make up!

You can then slowly start to leave on overnight. Use a moisturiser, then a tiny bit of BP, then more moisturiser. Let each layer dry first. Try twice a week and build up slowly to every night. If the irritation and redness is noticeable, do every other night.

My skin looks okay now, hardly any new spots and they are small and go quickly. But it’s taken 12 weeks to have nice ish looking skin back.

What @Fluffykittensinabasket said
She’s got it spot on.
The only topicals that work well long term are benzoyl peroxide and things like differin.
Benzoyl peroxide is very effective but build up v gradually and moisturise like never before! With something very simple like CeraVe.
The gp can also give oral antibiotics but they aren’t good to take long term due to antibiotic resistance.

These replies have been very helpful thank you

Definitely see your dr. Google NICE guidelines on acne & ask how long to give each product to work before going back for further treatment.

I'm going to give my GP a call today, hopefully they won't think I'm taking the P bothering them about spots given that there are much more serious things going on at the moment.

It's very sore and getting worse as new spots have come up over night.

At least it’s a condition they can do something about and NICE are very clear on treatment protocols.

I’m glad you are making an appointment OP! Acne is a medical condition that requires treatment. You’ll be getting it sorted before it causes scarring.

It may be worth asking for a blood test too to rule out PCOS or thyroid issues.

Thanks ladies

I'll mention a blood test too, it didn't occur that they could be a symptom of something like thyroid issues or PCOS