Adult Acne

[Separatedandabitsad]

Hi there! Does anyone have any tips for adult acne? My periods have become irregular, so I think it’s hormonal. I’ve had it on and off for about seven years. It clears for stretches (sometimes without prescription creams) but then it comes back. I used a topical antibiotic (I can’t take oral antibiotics) for years but the GP recommended ‘getting to the bottom of it’ and broadening my search!

So I’ve laid off alcohol and I am now laying off chocolate and sweet treats as I was consuming a lot of both. It seems to have calmed a little but then I woke up to a new big cyst on my chin as well as pre-existing stubborn spots on both cheeks - they’ve been there well over a month.

I use glycolic acid wipes and The Ordinary retinol every second night. I put sudocrem on spots.

Whether it’s good or not, I wear make-up and lots of concealer by day. It’s too upsetting to see all those spots; so I’m not about to give up my make-up.

I had pretty good skin (apart from a few on my chin) all the way up to my early 30s. I used to get compliments on my clear skin! Needless to say I don’t now. I get them on my cheeks for the past few years too. I wear a mask all day so that mightn’t help but this problem was there pre-COVID.

Any manageable, DIY tips would be great. I’m thinking of going to a nutritional therapist.

Any ideas?

Wishing you best of luck , keep us informed !

Thanks. I’ll try whatever Dermatica sends me. It mightn’t be Tretinoin - i don’t mind what it is as long as it helps the acne & doesn’t cause more wrinkles.

I’ll check out Vichy & NARS make-up. Thanks.

The tricky thing about my skin is it’s not one bit oily. The big red spots emerge from normal-dry skin. It’s frustrating as my skin needs a lot of moisture but doesn’t absorb it well. Hyaluronic acid makes my skin feel tight for example.

Anyhow I’ll let ye know how I get on. It’s been going on long enough to warrant a move to something more targeted. I remember getting facials that promised a lot & they didn’t help ...

Have a nice day

@Ardnassa

Adult acne sufferer here, mid-30s. PCOS but no body hair or other symptoms, except the acne.

Skin never really improved until I saw a super expensive dermatologist. This is the regime I have been on for the last few years and it has done wonders:

AM

• Cerave hydrating wash
• Obagi Vit C serum
• Skinoren (azelaic acid, prescription)
• Avene skin recovery cream

PM

• Cerave wash
• Tretinoin - prescription (increased strength over time)
• Avene cream

I now get compliments on my skin from family and strangers alike. It's a lot of money but a nice side effect is that it is also tackling the wrinkles!

So helpful, thank you for posting this. I am using Differin and Cerave cleanser but still getting spots. I have bought the other things your derm recommended, fingers crossed.

I agree. Lots of very helpful posts on here.

My prescription is en route. I can’t believe I waited so long to take it seriously as it’s so much more than a couple of spots. They prescribed niacinamide 4%, clindamycin 1% and Tretinoin 0.025% .

I’m wondering for those of you who have used Dermatica, can you do it for 6 months and then come off it? Or do you keep using it indefinitely? Thank you 🙏

I have suffered with acne a lot of years of my life. After taking Roaccutanne I had amazing skin for a while and now, over 15 years after the treatment, I go through phases. I've go through phases of very good skin and phases of not so good. I am going through a bad phase now, getting some spots on my jawline (not lots but bad ones).

My long experience with acne tells me it has absolutely nothing to do with food/drinking, I would say not even cosmetic care of your skin. When I am going through a good phase I can do whatever...eat lots of chocolate, drink alcohol, even going to bed with my make up on, and my skin is still good, no spots.
When going though a bad phase, no alterations in my diet are going to change it.

The problem is deeper than that. I think it is mainly hormonal. Acne is not going away by drinking lots of water.

A cream that works well for me is Triacneal Expert by Avene (before bed in affected areas). It is a retinoid so maybe similar to The Ordinary one you are already using...
When I got days when I feel is particularly bad, I put a drop of tea tree oil in my moisturising cream in the morning.

I've had acne since I was about 10, I'm nearly 40 now. I have tried lots of things. Definitely recommend COSRX centella blemish cream instead of Sudocrem, it's less "gluey" & seems slightly more helpful at reducing spots and reducing post-spot marks. It's also less greasy so it doesn't seem as likely to block pores.

@piscis

Thanks for sharing your experience & for the tips. I know what you mean-when my skin is good, I seem to be able to get away with eating or drinking whatever I want! However my sugar intake was very high so I’m just cutting down a bit right now as I’ve read that excess sugar can affect hormones & PCOS ...

I never heard of tea tree oil in moisturiser. Great idea!

@OrangeIsTheNewTwat

Thanks for that tip! I never heard of it before; so I’ll check it out.

That’s crappy having acne since you were 10. I can’t believe my acne started at 33! I got a couple of spots as a teenager/20s but it never bothered me & nothing on the scale I get now.

I am beginning to wonder about PCOS as I have other symptoms too. It would make sense. I imagine PCOS is hard to treat though so the way I’m treating it is probably the best protocol.

It is true that too much sugar can affect hormones. Sugar is not good for anything anyway, so you are only going to do yourself a favour by giving it up

Well I’m cutting down on all the cakes, biscuits & chocolate I was eating. I’m still eating sugar but cutting back ... until December anyhow!!

@Separatedandabitsad your prescription is the same as mine except I have a slightly higher dose of tret. You need to buy some nice, gentle moisturising products and a good spf. Ditch your acids until your skin is used to it them reintroduce slowly. Dermatica may recommend you use it every night or every other night but I have to leave two nights between otherwise my face peels badly. Also, I noticed you asked if you would only need to use it for 6 months but if you stopped using it the problem will just return

@cloud1183

Thank you. I definitely don’t want peeling so I’ll go easy on it. I’ll get SPF 50. At the moment I’m using SPF 20 with another layer of SPF in my foundation.

I’m baffled as the problem only came along about 7 years ago & now I’ll need to be on prescription skincare for life?! Seems extreme ... but if they work on my wrinkles too, I suppose that’s good!

Hi! I got my Dermatica prescription (thanks for the recommendation) & after just one usage my skin was so tight & dry. I’m using it every second night - it’s hard to get all over the face even when using two pumps. I spread it across my fingers before application. Any tips for application or good deep moisturisers? I have rosehip oil but hyaluronic acid doesn’t ‘work’ for me. I’m one of those people whose skin gets tight from it.

It’s strange having acne & dry skin - my skin was never oily as the acne very much seems to be hormonal. I’m very excited at how it’ll clear up all the acne though!

Some good tips already shared

When my acne was at its worst, I remember feeling so paranoid people would think I was unhealthy, unhygienic, and eating too much sugar/chocolate. In other words, putting the blame on me for my bad skin (she must be doing something wrong)

Sad that it still seems the majority of the population are not very informed about acne, and some prefer to take advice from influencers over Dermatologists / scientific evidence. 🤷‍♀️
diet does not cause acne. It can possibly exacerbate the condition for some already prone individuals, but that doesn’t mean it causes it.

Will never forget when someone had the audacity to shame a dermatologist (who had acne) for eating ice cream
www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.insider.com/dermatologist-shut-down-acne-food-shaming-instagram-2018-7%3famp

Yes you’re right @msrobot - a PP did recommend LRP for the initial dryness from Dermatica. I must check it out.

Hi OP @Separatedandabitsad, just resurrecting your thread from last winter as it sounds like your skin is similar to mine. I never suffered with spots until September last year, I don't think masks have helped but I WFH so it's not like I wear one all day.

Did you find anything that helped your skin?

@Lookingforadvice123
This is the OP with a new username. I'm sorry you have problem skin. I look back at photos of my skin and can't believe I let it go on so long. So this is what worked:

1. The Dermatica prescription really helped my skin. It took a while as I wear a mask all day long in work.
2. I took an expensive but lovely multi-vitamin tonic.
3. When the tonic was finished I took high doses of vitamin A and antioxidants aimed at clearing skin up.
4. I took vitamin D every day.
5. I ate and drank whatever I wanted, including alcohol, dairy and sugar; so I'm pretty much convinced it was hormonal.

At the moment, my skin is quite clear. I get the occasional spot but I have been able to pause the Dermatica prescription. My skin is always better in the warmer months so I'm also convinced vitamin D is a key player in skin health.

I hope that helps.