Thread: "Adult" acne

I have just been to the derm....again.... to renew all of my RX's to try and combat this "Adult" acne that continues to torture me. I spend a ton of $$$ on this stuff.

How is it I never had acne as a teen and young adult and now the best I can manage is to keep it under control? And now, since my skin is "mature" every blemish is capable of leaving a scar.
I take oral antibiotics, use a topical retinoid, and when my skin is relatively clear I use Glytone products( it does help maintain a clear skin period) but then I will get a horrible breakout and have to stop using the Glytone. Last year a breakout triggered a SHINGLES episode on my face!!!! Horror!

Am I the only person who has this problem? I feel very alone......any advice from people who know would be appreciated...cr.:..cr.:

I feel you. I've had acne ever since I was a teen and I am 27. I was able to control it with Rx creams, but my script ran out and I need to refill. I am also horrifed by my scars. It sucks. :(

The doc told me that my acne is purely hormonal. Birth control pills offered some help, but the other side effects were not worth it.

Hi Andalee...yes, this is such an embarrassment sometimes. And I am with you on the birth control pills, I didn't want to deal with the other side effects.
I have found Cetaphil products do well for my skin, I like the moisturizer and the antibacterial bar soap,
my derm says is it hormonal especially the breakouts along my jawline and chin.....
I actually had some of my acne scars revised at one time, it helped because they were distressing me, but now I have more and I think I need some more revisions, but how can I keep doing this too my face????

I had beautiful skin as a teenager, the occasional spot in my 20s and now I'm 44 I have rosacea. Last year I had an outbreak of cystic acne which was horrific. I've just finished a course of antibiotics and I've noticed the odd spot coming up again - I'm REALLY hoping it's not going to get bad.

No ideas, just commiseration.

Commiseration might be the best help for me, ya know.
The painful, deep cysts that don't ever come to the surface, just hang out as a big knot forever.....I had 5(!!) come up on my face last week, which is why I had to head back to the derm. to get refills of all my acne meds

As for birth control pills, you have to make sure you are taking the right pill for YOU, that will give you minimal side effects. I started having issues with adult acne about a decade ago, and finally came upon the right combination of things for me. . . I now rarely get outbreaks and even then its only in times of stress.

What I do/use: Birth Control (3-4 months straight thru, I skip the placebo pills, giving me only 3-4 periods a year as the hormonal flux with having a period is a trigger for my acne), I wash with MAC Green Gel Cleanser and use VERY mild moisturizers (I tried prescription washes but none of them did much for me). And I have a prescription for doxycycline, in a very LOW dose. 2 pills a day for a month, then one a day for 2 months, and then I am off them. Totally cleared me up. If I start to have an outbreak, I start on the doxy again and it clears up.

Been doing this for several years now and am pretty clear. I tried all the Retin and Tazorac and other stuff, most of them just made my skin worse. Though topical sulfur ointments DO help the deep cysts become less red and swollen.

Hi sweetie, I have it on my back (ugh), so I can commiserate. I've never been to the dermatologist, but I am going to make an appointment this week. Some of the places on my back I'm really frightened might be cancerous, because they are more like itchy moles. I have a lot of sun damage from working in the woods so much when I was younger.

For my face, where I don't have acne but do get frequent breakouts, I use a glycolic acid peel (you can get these online, I can recommend some brands...but you have to be very careful if you're using Rx lotions already, so you may want to avoid unless you talk to your dr about it). I do the peel about once a month. Then I use an over-the-counter acne solutions kit I get at Walgreens called "skin essentials" or something like that...it's 3 white bottles that come together in a triangular box. A 3-step process. The first is a benzoil peroxide wash, the second is a very mild glycolic acid peel, and the 3rd is a benzoil cream (which can bleach fabric, so be careful). Then I additionally spot treat with salycilic acid. That system is the only thing that works for me to clear up those cystic (painful) pimples. Also...I've started taking fish oil and that has actually helped A LOT. And, no side effects there, so you might give it a try...can't hurt!!!

sorry, duplicate post

I know it can seem really scary, but if nothing else works you can consider Accutane. I went on it as a teenager. Nothing else worked for me and I was afraid that years of taking antibiotics were going to cause me to have problems where antibiotics no longer worked on me.

I was almost completely clear for about 10 years. Since my late 20s I've started breaking out again, it doesn't seem to be hormonal, just my bad luck. It's definitely not as bad as when I was a teen (my worst spots where actually my chest, back and neck). I've moved to the doing less idea - I wash with Cetaphil, use a 2% BP lotion under a Cetaphil lotion and sunscreen when I'm outside. My skin isn't totally clear but I'm aiming for mostly okay and doing less.

You might also want to look into allergens. I have one friend who is allergic to dairy and when she cut it out of her diet her skin cleared up a lot.

Thanks everybody, you all are giving me some things to think about...fish oil, allergens....hmmm
It is helping me feel better to know I am not the only person in the world who has this problem. Sometimes I feel I need "Therapy" just for my acne issues.
Sonja, do you have a derm. in mind? I can recommend one in ------. Even though I still have acne problems they are really great in trying to work with me.

Okay, this is going to sound crazy, but I swear it worked for me:

Stop washing your face with soap or cleansers.

Seriously. I had acne as a teenager and finally took Accutane as an adult. It cleared up my skin for a while, but then the acne came back. I was tired of all of the various RX solutions that dried me out and then I had to moisturize and it seemed like a vicious cycle. So I decided to step off.

I figured that my acne was caused by overproduction of oil and the clogging of pores. Yet my skin was also dry and flaky. My skin was simply out of balance. And since oil is a solvent, I decided to try using oil to dissolve whatever was clogging my pores and to also seal in moisture.

Each night, I rinse my face with water and then apply raw shea butter (after emulsifying it in my hands). If I've worn make-up that day, I'll tissue off the make-up and then reapply the shea butter.

I started with Jojoba and Vitamin E oil which also work great, but are much more expensive than the raw shea butter I get from African immigrants here in NYC. (I also had noticed that the African women I saw on the subway had the most beautiful skin.)

Within a week, I noticed a difference. Two years later, people stop and ask me what I use on my skin. Water for moisture and shea for "cleaning." That's it. It's really not that much different from the old days of cold cream. But without the petro-chemicals.

Uh oh. I think I've outed myself as a crazy hippie.

If you wear make-up during the day, you have to use the shea butter at night so your make-up won't slide off. But if you don't, the water and shea feel great in the morning.

Munirah, I do find that the more chemicals in a cleanser, the more I break out.
I do have very oily skin and the more I wash, the more aggravated it becomes and then more oil production.
I did try an olive oil cleanser once that touted the points you brought up, and that oily skin needs a similar solvant to dissolve whatever is clogging pores, but that caused a horrible breakout within one day and I quit using it, maybe I should have stuck with it? Did you notice your skin becoming worse initially?

I have had adult acne during my adult years. I used everything. I have had pretty good luck with Neutrogena anti-acne anti-wrinkle (can you believe that?) cleansers and with Clearisil cleansers because they have no oil in them and they do get your skin clean. I also used a toner with a light alcohol base so your pH level isn't so dried out. Then in the winter I used an oil free moisterizer, if needed, and once a week a mud peel from Fango by Borghese, but only if needed. And stay away from any face make-up unless it's oil free because that stuff is the absolute worst for acne.

The problem is mostly hormonal. I never used the pill for it but tried to stick with mostly topical aids. I have had all of the same problems you have and I know how much it really sucks. After the scarring, I would use the mud pack because it did help with a slow elimination of the scar tissue.

But every year it's a different routine. Cetaphyll products work pretty good but really watchf the moisturizers. I had a dermatologist tell me that even if you have topical dryness, there is still all that oil underneath. My skin was so oily in my twenties that every two hours I had to literally wipe it off my face! Of course, I looked sixteen then because it really does keep aging down.

But I really hate it. I was told that when I reach menopause it would slow down. My mom still got some even after menopause - the good thing is that she never looks her age either so hopefully that will pay off someday for us.

I tried the Olive Oil method for a week - 75% Olive Oil and 25% Castor Oil, no soap.

I think I had a little too much castor oil, because my skin did get a little flaky - but it was still a different sort of dryness. I'm currently using a Burt's Bee's Deep Clean Cleansing Cream, which is basically a bunch of emollients. Doesn't dry me out.

The olive oil method is kinda weird to get used to, but it did work (and I'll probably use it again once I get the balance right).

Good luck!

Originally Posted by cgoltry

Thanks everybody, you all are giving me some things to think about...fish oil, allergens....hmmm
It is helping me feel better to know I am not the only person in the world who has this problem. Sometimes I feel I need "Therapy" just for my acne issues.
Sonja, do you have a derm. in mind? I can recommend one in ------. Even though I still have acne problems they are really great in trying to work with me.

I'd love a recommendation!

Originally Posted by cgoltry

Munirah, I do find that the more chemicals in a cleanser, the more I break out.
I do have very oily skin and the more I wash, the more aggravated it becomes and then more oil production.
I did try an olive oil cleanser once that touted the points you brought up, and that oily skin needs a similar solvant to dissolve whatever is clogging pores, but that caused a horrible breakout within one day and I quit using it, maybe I should have stuck with it? Did you notice your skin becoming worse initially?

Sorry I didn't think to mention that before, yes, I had a few more whiteheads the first few days. But after that it got much better. However, it took a full month before I knew that 97% of the time I will wake up in the morning without any blemishes (I still get a period zit or two).

I also exfoliate every other week or so with a sugar scrub mixed with some hippie skin oil (unscented Aura Glow which is basically peanut and vitamin e) that I buy at Whole Foods. After I exfoliate, I rinse my face with apple cider vinegar (ACV) to kill any bacteria that may have been released by the scrub and then I rinse a few times with water. I use straight ACV, but should dilute it because it does sting, but I'm lazy.

I keep the sugar and oil mix in a container in the shower and scrub when I notice the my forehead or eyebrows are a little flaky.

Good luck! Having clear skin is such an amazing confidence builder. Oh and I save sooooo much money on skin care and cosmetics. When I was planning my make-up for my wedding, a friend told me that I was lucky to not need foundation. I look great with with a bit of concealer under my eyes and dabbed on a few old acne scars.

Unfortunately I was using only organic rosehip oil on my skin when the cystic acne broke out. It's hormonal, I am sure of it. Retinol has actually made a noticeable difference to the texture. I still use oil as well, like a serum.

*sigh* ..... I was at work tonight and rubbing my brow as I became tired and guess what, another big knot in my eyebrow of all places. I waxed my brows yesterday so I am sure either the wax residue or the azulene oil caused that one.

Well, thanks yall...at least I know others understand what this is like.... I am going to try some of your suggestions.

The only thing that ever worked for me was roaccutane. It was an easy treatment for my body to tolerate and it worked....very, very quickly

Accutane worked for me too,
but now I´ve used Paulas Choice(and products on her recommendations from the drugstore) for a few years and the problems cleared out without coming back.

I feel you, I had great skin as a teenager and then I hit my late 20s, dropped hormonal birth control, and broke out like mad. And of course, I scar now. It's embarrassing and it's a huge blow to the self esteem, but at least we're not alone right? ;)

I tried the Olive/Castor oil, but wasn't too keen on it. I have heard that it works for a lot of people though. I did find that the more I eliminated from my routine, the better my skin got.

Now I use Mychelle cranberry cleanser and pure food-grade coconut oil as a night cream. When blemishes pop up, I dab them with diluted tea tree oil. If I feel something stirring, I ice it right away - it really suppresses the cystic stuff if you catch them early.

Don't get too down b/c most of the time, it's way more noticeable to you than it is to other people. Good luck!

I have never heard of the olive oil treatment. Hmm. It's very interesting. I'd like to try it but I'm a little scared of initial breakouts!!!

Sonja, I go to the Skin Wellness Center. I have seen Dr. Kimberly Grande(she's great) but now mostly I just make appointments with the P.A. Janet McClanahan(sweetheart). They are located at Kingston Pike just past Pellisippi. Phone is 584-8580,
(I think I should get something special for tooting their horn, don't ya think?)
I am thinking of letting them Botox and Rejuvenex me.......which might be a new thread soon.

Ooo, coconut oil. I like that idea. Of course, if i added that to the chocolatey smell of my shea butter, I may not be able to sleep from the delicious aroma of my face.

I also use tea tree oil for the occasional blemish if I don't want to smell like a pickle from using ACV as a spot treatment.

Originally Posted by cgoltry

Sonja, I go to the Skin Wellness Center. I have seen Dr. Kimberly Grande(she's great) but now mostly I just make appointments with the P.A. Janet McClanahan(sweetheart). They are located at Kingston Pike just past Pellisippi. Phone is 584-8580,
(I think I should get something special for tooting their horn, don't ya think?)
I am thinking of letting them Botox and Rejuvenex me.......which might be a new thread soon.

Yay, just requested an appt with them! Thanks!

Don't be surprised if you find a routine you like that down the road you will have to change off periodically. In the winter time, I now moisturize my face a little but as soon as it warms up to 50 degrees I have to stop. It's a constant battle, unfortunately, and I got tired of taking internal medicine as well because it made me sensitive to the sun which normally I am not sensitive to the sun at all, with my skin tone.

Fotia, you are right about finding a routine, then having to change it, I have found this happens with me.
I had been off my prescribed routine for awhile and was giving my skin a rest, and seemed to be doing okay, then this horrible breakout I am dealing with now. So I guess it is time to go back to my Rx's.
So....... how much does junk food play a role in this? I have read differing opinions, most say it is a myth, but what are your experiences?

Originally Posted by cgoltry

Fotia, you are right about finding a routine, then having to change it, I have found this happens with me.
I had been off my prescribed routine for awhile and was giving my skin a rest, and seemed to be doing okay, then this horrible breakout I am dealing with now. So I guess it is time to go back to my Rx's.
So....... how much does junk food play a role in this? I have read differing opinions, most say it is a myth, but what are your experiences?

Strictly hormonal for me. Even when I was going to a dermatologist she told me that. Food and/or vitamins never mattered either. I found that in spring and autumn are my worst times when the weather is changing! Go figure - those are the times when I pull out the mud masks more but just for those acne spots to help rid my face of scarring. And then sometimes you just gotta wait it out ..cr.:

Originally Posted by LeylaFahada

I feel you, I had great skin as a teenager and then I hit my late 20s, dropped hormonal birth control, and broke out like mad. And of course, I scar now. It's embarrassing and it's a huge blow to the self esteem, but at least we're not alone right? ;)

I tried the Olive/Castor oil, but wasn't too keen on it. I have heard that it works for a lot of people though. I did find that the more I eliminated from my routine, the better my skin got.

Now I use Mychelle cranberry cleanser and pure food-grade coconut oil as a night cream. When blemishes pop up, I dab them with diluted tea tree oil. If I feel something stirring, I ice it right away - it really suppresses the cystic stuff if you catch them early.

Don't get too down b/c most of the time, it's way more noticeable to you than it is to other people. Good luck!

I'm going to echo what Leyla and Munirah said, actually stepping away from the drug cycle and using less and less complicated products really helped my skin. The short story -- I went to the derm and they kept prescribing more and different things, finally my skin was sooo irritated, even when it wasn't broken out it was blotchy and dry and hurt. I ended up being diagnosed with roscacia (which the fix for was more pxs or laser therapy. I stopped using the topicals and started to wash my face with, get this, rice bran flour (I read Japanese women used this). Anyway, it is non-drying, and mildly exfoliating. I also started to take a tablespoonful of flax oil/primrose oil every morning. AND I started to use a very moisturizing bland cream. My skin cleared up AND I no longer have "rosacia". I've gotten out of the flax oil habit (need to restart it) and I use a real cleanser now (DermaE glycolic), but I realized MY skin needed 1) mild exfoliation every day and 2) lots of moisture (now I use Nuxe). Recently I added in renova for those fine lines, but it is a cream base and the mildest strength -- my skin seems to tolerate it well when I started it every 3rd day. Now I think it is a wonder cream. Sadly, you've got to figure what your skin needs AND you have to be patient -- you have to give any regimen 3 weeks to work.

Originally Posted by Fotia

I have had adult acne during my adult years. I used everything. I have had pretty good luck with Neutrogena anti-acne anti-wrinkle (can you believe that?) cleansers and with Clearisil cleansers because they have no oil in them and they do get your skin clean. I also used a toner with a light alcohol base so your pH level isn't so dried out. Then in the winter I used an oil free moisterizer, if needed, and once a week a mud peel from Fango by Borghese, but only if needed. And stay away from any face make-up unless it's oil free because that stuff is the absolute worst for acne.

The problem is mostly hormonal. I never used the pill for it but tried to stick with mostly topical aids. I have had all of the same problems you have and I know how much it really sucks. After the scarring, I would use the mud pack because it did help with a slow elimination of the scar tissue.

But every year it's a different routine. Cetaphyll products work pretty good but really watchf the moisturizers. I had a dermatologist tell me that even if you have topical dryness, there is still all that oil underneath. My skin was so oily in my twenties that every two hours I had to literally wipe it off my face! Of course, I looked sixteen then because it really does keep aging down.

But I really hate it. I was told that when I reach menopause it would slow down. My mom still got some even after menopause - the good thing is that she never looks her age either so hopefully that will pay off someday for us.

I also use the Neutrogena anti-wrinkle cream and have notice good results (for the wrinkles) and use witch hazel as an astringent. I have to be careful as I have rosacea which causes redness & itching along with acne (nodular/cystic acne which is painful). I was using Metrogel with good results but my trial ran out. Waiting for a refill! I figured at 47 my face was getting wrinkly enough to start scaring little kids so I'd better start doing something about it!

To wash my face I use Olay sudsing cleanser (I don't feel the cream cleanser gets my face clean enough).

Originally Posted by Sonja2

I have never heard of the olive oil treatment. Hmm. It's very interesting. I'd like to try it but I'm a little scared of initial breakouts!!!

I never heard of this either, I'll have to check it out. I do break open a vitamin A capsule and spread it on my face 2-3 x per week at night and sleep on it.