Adult acne

[Mumofboys000]

I have always had very oily skin, which means that I’ve always had a few blemishes here and there, and the odd cystic spot linked to hormones every now & then. However, I am now 38 and my skin is worse than it’s ever been. Every morning there’s a new spot and they’re the painful, cystic type that you have to just ride out and wait ages for them to settle - and then they leave a scar! I’ve also been diagnosed with perioral dermatitis a few months ago which cleared up with a course of antibiotics - as did the rest of my face. But after a few months it’s back with a vengeance. I’m always buying oil-free this and blemish prone skin that but nothing seems to actually work. I’m fed up of wasting my money - can anyone suggest moisturisers, cleansers etc that have worked for you?

I had something which sounds very similar. After a few years of using things such as Clinique anti blemish I went to the doctors . I was diagnosed with a type of rosacea and given an antibiotic cream or gel. This absolutely worked and I so wished I'd done this years before . I used it for a couple of months I think and since then I have had clear skin - I now use a vegan moisturiser and a simple cleansing routine and this seems to work. Good luck I know how down this can make you feel.

I would definitely see your GP. I had acne on my face and cystic acne on my upper back from the age of about 20 until I was early 40s- when perimenopause rocked up! In my case, I think it was probably caused by a bit too much testosterone (I’m also quite hairy and had a v high sex drive as a younger woman!) It might be something different in your case but GP is a good starting point.

In the end I paid to see a dermatologist. He suggested Roaccutane but it felt too risky for me as I have a history of a few MH wobbles (which that drug can exacerbate in some patients), but I know lots of people who had a great experience with it. I was prescribed Spironolactone instead which lowers testosterone and worked really well for me. I also recommend La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo. I usually roll my eyes when people suggest skincare stuff for proper acne, as in most cases, acne really needs proper medical treatment, but the LRP cream really did help, for me.

Thanks for your responses really appreciate it. Have any of you tried Skin+Me? They get good reviews and seems to be tailor made to your particular problem

I’ve tried skin&me. I’ve got acne problems. Skin&me cleared my skin up. Problem is, they can’t leave clindamycin in the formula forever. Once that was removed, my skin slowly started to break out again. Tret doesn’t suit me either- my skin appears to like it for ages and then I get awful redness and stinging.

I’m just about managing my skin now with benzoyl peroxide. I’ve got a nasty break out right now, but I blame myself as I haven’t been cleansing or eating properly.

The contraceptive pill worked brilliantly for me recently. I had to come off it though for health reasons. What I really liked about the pill was it dealt with the oiliness too.

I’ve done Roaccutane too. Let me know if you want some info on that.

A condition called polycystic ovaries may well be the root cause. I would go to your GP and have a blood test done to compare your LH level against that of FSH. It’s called a day 2 test.

Your username has me wondering if we adult-acne sufferers have predominantly boys rather than girls! (I only have boys.)

First, your skin will be better again soon: don't lose sight of that. From 18 when I finished Roaccutane until my mid-30s I had pretty good skin with only very occasional small spots. Since then it's been downhill.

Nothing has worked consistently other than a) not wearing sunscreen unless absolutely necessary to avoid burning (whatever else I do, sunscreen makes things worse), b) using as few products as possible and touching my face as little as possible, c) very thorough cleansing in the evening with Eve Lom cleanser and a hot cloth. Light masks have been moderately helpful but more with pigmentation than new spots.

Try red and blue led light masks.

@hopsalong I’ve got 2 girls.

I have had adult acne since the age of about 22 - now nearly 50. I was also diagnosed with PCOS at the same time as the acne started. Sadly, I didn’t find anything for the PCOS that helped. I did try the pill but I couldn’t tolerate it. My acne has been cystic at times too.

Over the last 30 years I’ve tried so many different products, including high end beauty products and script meds from the doctors. Honestly, if I had a £ for everything I’d spent that turned out no good, I’d be rich.

For the past few years I’ve been using Tretinoin from Dermatica and it has completely kept it at bay. I can now even use products that I used to have to avoid. I tried Skin & Me but I prefer Dermatica. It’s worth trying one of the services like this though because they have dermatologists look at your skin and your first tube of the product is usually just the cost of postage so you can at least try it out and see.

Do you have hormonal contraception? I had terrible cystic acne for many years, even having two courses of Roaccutane in my 30s and 40s. During this time I had the Mirena coil. When I had my third coil ( after third child) I felt terrible, really low etc. Had it replaced with a copper coil and very quickly the acne just went. I twigged that maybe the Mirena ( with progesterone) was the problem. Ten years later another Mirena was put in during a hystoscopy ( I had not agreed to this) and within a week had acne again. Obvs I had that unwanted Mirena removed pronto! This is a reason why I hope to avoid HRT ( now in my 50s) as synthetic hormones wrecked my skin ( and it took decades to figure out). Good luck xx

I am same age as you and used to have great skin, but in last few years I've had acne all over my chin. Like you, one spot goes through its cycle and before it's clear another one appears. I've been left with quite a red chin.

Started using Skin + Me two months ago and it's made a huge difference, I've only had one or two chin spots since early Jan. I also use Malezia BP gel (Skin + Me in the evening, BP in morning). Malezia's core treatment package (cleanser, moisturiser and BP gel) are excellent but very pricey as you have to buy from USA.

Maybe give Skin+Me a go? Took a couple of weeks to notice difference.

Definitely worth a try. I no longer have acne (presumably because my testosterone levels have dropped along with my oestrogen as I go through the menopause). But I use Dermatica for tretinoin. I am using it for wrinkles and acne scarring but I believe it can be effective for active acne too.

Hope you find something that helps OP. Acne made me so self-conscious and it was just shit because aside from that I had a nice face and a good physique but never really felt attractive as a young woman because of my skin. No acne now but I’m the wrong side of 45 and my face is heading south along with my boobs and arse 😂

Yes be careful of roaccutane, it’s incredibly harsh on the body and potentially mentally too! I believe tretinoin is a topical alternative. It’s changed my skin drastically really. You can buy in the US, but over here I’ve been getting it through Monderma, and my partner has been using Skin and me, but I prefer the consistency of the monderma and feel like I get much more than him in my dose

Thank you so much for all your replies! Very useful advice and things to think about. I have bought Skin+Me last night, will try that first and see how I go. I need a light, non pore clogging moisturiser that isn’t too drying - any suggestions?

La Roche Posay Toleriane Sensitive Fluide moisturiser. A few years ago, skin&me recommended cleansers and moisturisers to go with their treatment. I had the acne treatment and this was one of the recommended moisturisers. I still use it now. I don’t think it breaks me out.

I downloaded an app on my phone called SkinSort and it recommended the Roche-Posay Toleriane moisturizer to me, too.

Unfortunately, it broke me out quite badly. No idea why. It has almost no ingredients. Or perhaps I simply developed more spots while using it. Either way, I relegated it (like so many overly light moisturisers!) to hands only.

I am now using a very light hyaluronic acid Korean moisturizing gel from BePlain, which I bought at Seoul Republic. May again be luck, but my skin has improved quite a lot in the last two months.

It's expensive and I didn't like taking it every day, but myoinositol made some improvements to my skin. I often have ovarian cysts on ultrasound but have never had any other symptoms of PCOS -- slim, pear-shaped, pretty hairless. Just spots.