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real solutions to acne post-accutane?
my acne looks like picrel but ive been on accutane THREE times. my dad and oldest sister have some scars but my middle sister has a face thats clear as can be. same with other family members. i guess i got the shitty end of the genetic stick.
asked my doc to do a 4th round and he said no because people can get psychological addiction to it. my skin did have times where it was clear and had very little acne but its gotten worse recently. im even eating healthy/clean and washing my pillowcases once a week, doing cold showers, etc. everything in the book.
do i just give up to the genetic pool or? should i exfoliate more?
thansk frens
if you’re a girl, you might try taking birth control pills, they sometimes fix acne because of the change in hormones
if you’re a man, maybe see an endocrinologist and get your testosterone levels checked: you may have high test levels in which case you need to lift weights and exercise more to burn it off so it doesn’t feed the bacteria in your skin
another thing you can do is a detox where you only drink fruit juice for a week and it changes your whole body flora and sometimes will end an acne problem
I take bc and estrogen specifically for acne (not a tranny) and i still get breakouts even tho it significantly reduces the acne. I feel like I’m just cursed with it forever. Did accutane twice. I feel your pain OP… heck ACNE
This anon has absolutely no concept of how endocrinology works and you should disregard almost every sentence, holy shit.
>im even eating healthy/clean
Define clean, in most cases it helps to minimize dairy. Water, vegetables, and fruits clean your body.
soap and water also works
try it sometime
>just like… wash your face bro
have a nice day smoothskin
Acne isn’t genetic.
Its solely caused by modern diet.
Cut out all dairy and sugar and go from there.
Good diet definitely helps your skin and wellbeing in general, but saying that modern diet causes acne is a bit of a leap. Combination of medication, healthy diet and hygiene is the way to go.
I had/have the same issue and spent 3-4 years trying to find the right solution/skincare stuff to get it under control. Works 100% after a couple months of routine I dont get any breakouts period.
Azelaic acid and topical retinoids are your friends. Exfoliating is good but overexfoliating can make it worse and should only serve to manage blackheads and to improve penetration of the first two anti-acne actives I just listed. Listen to your skin, nuking it and drying it the heck out will make it worse. Stick to a routine and do not get impatient.
I bought into this and tried an all homemade keto diet drinking a heckton of spearmint tea to lower androgens for 6 months straight. It didn’t do jack shit. It might work for some people but for me it wasn’t the issue. Dairy isn’t a trigger for me either. Just happens.
It does not work better than accutane, if anything results are a lot more mixed. Among people i know personally its been like 50/50.
a routine fixed your acne but accutane didn’t? the heck?
Accutane fixed it for years while I was ON it. But about 4-5 months after I stopped taking it it slowly came back every time. A routine was the only way to keep it gone, and I had already taken it for 3 cycles.
To follow up, when I say I spent years trying different things, I mean it. I even tried sulfur creams, diaper rash creams (for the high zinc content), and raw celery juicing.
Different supplements etc. Some stuff helped a little bit with the smaller nodules but as for anything cystic, it wouldn’t stop. Doxycycline didnt do shit but heck up my gut. Accutane works but you cant be on it forever.
Bro trust me when I say AZELAIC ACID, and a TOPICAL RETINOID. Build a routine around those actives that moisturizes your skin without oversaturating. Whatever you try needs a few months to take effect. If you want I can list what products and supplements I use currently.
Good luck.
If you want I can list what products and supplements I use currently.
Post it. Also using azelaic acid and tret at the same routine wouldn’t cause irritation?
I don’t use tret, I use a milder retinoid. Not as strong as tret but also not nearly as irritating. My whole routine was trying to find products that had the least chemicals that would cause their own breakouts/sensitivity issue or anything else long term. Example: the most common is benzoyl peroxide, which is known in studies to be mutagenic (cancer/growth accelerating) so I dont use it. Not even that effective anyway. Things like PEG or other preservatives are also carcinogenic.
AM (right before you go out the door)
1. Mad Hippie Cream Cleanser.
2. Cos De Baha 10% Azalaic Acid Serum w/ Niacinamide. (This is great, 10% azelaic is the highest you can get without prescription, and it has hyalauronic acid to act as a moisturizing/last step serum. The one with the red label.)
PM (Start about an hour before bed)
1. Mad Hippie Cream Cleanser
2. Mad Hippie AHA Exfoliating serum. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes for the next step. (this serum is great because it’s not overly irritating but does the job)
3. Mad Hippie Vitamin A Serum. If you have dryer skin, The Ordinary’s Granactive Retinoid in Squalene may be better. (This is the retinoid. It’s not tret, it’s more similar to Granactive Retinoid, a way way milder recently developed retinoid that has no significant peeling or skin nuking phase.)
4. Cos De Baha 10% Azelaic acid.
Once or Twice a week I’ll switch out the exfoliating AHA for an Aztec Secret Clay mask and add 2 drops of tea tree to the mixture. Cleanse again after and continue to retinoid.
My skin is NOT sensitive but its not an overly irritating routine. If its too rough for your skin, either remove the exfoliator or alternate the days you use the retinoid and azelaic acid.
Supplements I use:
AM-
Vit D3/K2, CoQ10, Magnesium, Fish Oil
Midday-
Marine Collagen, PQQ, B12, Biotin (Biotin may break you out so keep the dose lower)
PM-
ZitSticka Skin Discipline, Contains Zinc, Copper, fish oil, probiotics, selenium, other anti-acne pro-skin shit.
Wash off exfoliating serum? Moisturize after the acid?
Also, the tea tree oil in the mask may be the most irritating thing in this routine. The mask isnt necessary and the oil even less. If its too irritating try less oil or without it. The mask is great for cleaning out your pores.
No, Once it’s on your skin you stack them. The AHA and Vit A serums dry…. more dryly and benefit from having time to sit undisturbed, which is why i said wait 20-30 mins before next step. The Azelaic Step dries a little more wet/oily, but it shouldnt be caked on if you get what I mean. Use everything lightly w extra maybe as spot treatments. Using too much will gunk your shit up. Apply everything before bed then wake up and cleanse.
AND this. Use a fresh clean side of a pillow every night.
But my skin gets flakey when dry. Dryness promotes excessive sebum production also
I’m not saying these serums dry out your skin I’m saying the way they dry is inherently dry. Like…. When you wipe water vs oil off a counter. Water leaves behind nothing, whereas the oil will be gone but the counter will still leave a bit of a slick residue.
I put this routine together against the western skincare idea of drying things out to fight acne, it’s supposed to deliver the actives in a way that doesnt leave you feeling like your skin just got hecked.
Again, that’s why I specifically picked that azelaic serum, as it has hyalauronic acid to moisturize and "finish" the steps and moisturize for both halves of the day
so Azelaic acid moisturizes?
That specific Azelaic acid serum also has Hyalauronic acid, which moisturizes.
ty for all b
Stop eating fast digesting carbs and sugars
Take a 10-15 min walk after every meal
stop washing your face with face wash
Stop using moisterizers and exfoliates on your face
Basically only wash your face with water
Try and get sunlight on your face and take 10,000 IU of vitamin D every day
All of this is what has fixed my face acne
>stop washing your face with face wash
Why
it kills all the good bacteria and strips your skin of protective oils
Go to a different dermatologist if your current one is out of ideas.
photodynamic therapy (PDT). It’s a laser surgery that you get once every few months. It’s not fun but it works better than accutane.
And try drinking a lot more tea.
your doctor is a hecking stupid who didn’t prescribe you enough. Let me guess he put you on a baby dose like 20mg a day? Just find a source and do a proper cycle because most derms have no clue
This could be it for sure, there is a new total dose recommendation based on weight, add yours up and see what the total is.
Also my derm prescribed me tret after I got a very small amount of minor acne that came back after 6 months after stopping and I’ve been about 95% clear since then, with only a minor surface pimple every few weeks. I used to have horrendous massive cystic acne
Don’t ever go on accutane without a derm but def look for a new one if he put you on a shit dose (daily or total). For it to be most effective you’ve gotta be on a high daily dose as well as a high mg/kg total dose over a period of 6-8 months. Look for a younger, female derm. My faith in older general practitioner doctors was destroyed when my basically lifelong doc wouldn’t give me a fin script when I asked because he said it’s for old men with prostate issues. He literally had no idea it’s been FDA approved for hair loss since 199 hecking 7
Genetics has nothing to do with it and you’re coping hard.
Acne is the result of pathogens colonizing your disgusting face and body. Your face is filled with bacteria and is from years or decades of sun deprivation, not daily washing your face and not daily switching your pillow case. It feeds on sugar, iron and B12. You need to cut out all excess carbohydrates from your diet and eat meat, vegetables, and fruits. No bread or processed slop or snacks or candy.
You need to treat this like any other infection. Here is the protocol
– 200 MG of doxycycline BID for 3 days
– lower to 100 mg BID for 3 weeks
– lower to 100mg for 1-2 weeks
Wash your face with regular wash during and salicylic acid scrub after you’re done. Wait about 5 days for all of the antibiotic to leave your system.
This is the most important part. Religious sun exposure for at least an hour a day during peak UVB hours (11 AM to 1 PM ) for a few hours. If you can’t do this, you need to buy a tanning bed or UVB phototherapy device and use it every day for at least 5 minutes. Hit it hard early on after the doxycycline clears, and then ease off. If you burn easily (ginger), take MT-2.
WARNING: DO NOT exposure yourself to UV radiation on doxycycline. Wait for it to leave your system.
And when you wash your face, don’t dry it with a disgusting dirty towel.
This is all bullshit. Nobody listen to this. Wear sunscreen if you’re going to be outside in the sun for an hour. Diet will help a little but won’t solve the issue for most. Doxy helps with acne because it kills the acne bacteria temporarily but only while you’re taking it. The best action doxy takes against acne is it’s anti inflammatory properties. But acne bacteria is not an infection, it’ll always be there, and it’s there for everyone. And doxy is not a long term solution because antibiotics aren’t good long term. Doxy is usually combined with tret initially to help stop the acne immediately until the tret can kick in. If you have acne that’s more than just little zits here and there your only real solution is tret or accutane, or better yet a full course of accutane followed up by nightly .025 tret as maintenance if you continue to get a little bit of leftover acne.
t. someone who tried every single old wives tale solution and OTC solution and vitamin solution and topical/oral antibiotic solution over a period of 12 years before finally going on accutane which literally cured me
>This is all bullshit. Nobody listen to this
No refutation, no argument.
>Wear sunscreen if you’re going to be outside in the sun for an hour
Bad idea, that blocks the antipathogenic effects of UVB and UVA exposure.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12850803/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34015228/
>Diet will help a little but won’t solve the issue for most.
False, diet contributes immensely, because the bacteria responsible for acne thrives off the inputs I elaborated on.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6049814/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4565837/
>The evidence suggests that high glycemic load (HGL) diets may trigger acne by inducing hyperinsulinemia [9–12]. Low glycemic load (LGL) diets may play a dual role in the prevention of hyperinsulinemia by lowering the postprandial insulin [9–12]. Recent reports have shown that high intakes of refined, high-GI carbohydrates may be a significant cause of acne in Western countries [6].
>Doxy helps with acne because it kills the acne bacteria temporarily but only while you’re taking it
Yes, which is why it is important to follow it up with sun exposure.
>The best action doxy takes against acne is it’s anti inflammatory properties
Wrong, this is pertains mostly to chronic lesions that have difficulty healing; not acute outbreaks.
>But acne bacteria is not an infection,
Wrong
> it’ll always be there
Wrong
>and it’s there for everyone.
Wrong
>And doxy is not a long term solution because antibiotics aren’t good long term
I didn’t suggest long-term. You’re entire post shows you’re a smoothbrain repeating hearsay that’s why you fell for old wive’s tales in the first place. You backed your statements up with nothing, no mechanisms, no sources and speaks more about your own mental ineptitude than anything and you should be embarrassed by it.
Cleanliness, Sun Exposure, and Diet are the primary modulators of acne and its pathogenesis is chiefly bacterial.
>wearing sunscreen is a bad idea
>sure, there are various other antipathogenic methods that don’t involve getting sunburnt, and are available at all times of the year instead of just spring and summer, but you must be in the sun for an hour because I, a random expert on the internet, says so!
>False, diet contributes immensely, because the bacteria responsible for acne thrives off the inputs I elaborated on.
Then explain why everyone has p.acne bacteria, but only a certain segment of the population suffers from moderate to severe acne. Explain why those with moderate to severe acne who have tried old wives tale diets continue to suffer from acne just as badly. Explain why birth control solves acne for most women. Explain why benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin gel and doxycycline cut back on acne a little, but do not cure it, even when taking it daily.
>Yes, which is why it is important to follow it up with sun exposure.
If sun exposure were the solution, doxy wouldn’t be necessary. And if sun exposure was the solution due to antipathogenic effects, then there are far less skin-damaging methods than sun exposure (which is good to a degree, but your anti-sunscreen position is stupid and will make 99% of people here ignore everything else you say)
>Wrong, this is pertains mostly to chronic lesions that have difficulty healing; not acute outbreaks.
Incorrect, there are various studies that prove you wrong. There are also various studies showing that one of the main factors in acne is inflammation, as, acne lesions are, in fact, inflammation.
>>and it’s there for everyone.
>Wrong
lol
Doxycycline clears the excess colonization. Habitual UV exposure afterwards prevents future outbreaks. It’s not that hard to understand.
>Cleanliness, Sun Exposure, and Diet are the primary modulators of acne and its pathogenesis is chiefly bacterial.
Interesting, because I tried sun exposure, I tried UV light therapy, I tried doxy, I tried clindamycin, I tried benzoyl peroxide, I tried salyclic acid, niacinamide, azelaic acid, I tried going dairy free, I tried cutting back on sugar drastically, I tried going low carb, yet strangely I still had acne. Same goes for the likely millions (minimum) who also tried all of the above.
You are going based off of very old data, the bacterial part of acne is a huge contributor but there are other much more important factors at play. Hence why the only known cure today for most people is Accutane (whose primary method of action is not antibacterial lol), followed up by tret, which is literally just topical accutane. One of the main mechanisms of Accutane is shrinking your sebaceous glands and permanently reducing oil production. Interesting how your post doesn’t address that at all, despite the fact that when you explode a zit it’s literally sebaceous shit that’s coming out that was trapped in there. Also interesting how your post doesn’t address the other aspects of how isotretinoin works on the body to cure acne, that have nothing to do with bacteria.
There is nothing wrong with people with minor acne trying some of your solutions (except going sunscreenless, you absolute hecktard) as a first resort, and if it helps, more power to them, but there is so much bullshit in your post it’s laughable even for a Costa Rican BBQ enthusiast forum. I’m so glad I graduated from getting my medical advice on the internet, went to a derm, a real life medical expert, got prescribed Accutane, had dry lips for 8 months, and have been cured of my acne ever since.
>except going sunscreenless, you absolute hecktard
Only a Soijack.jpg would talk like you. We evolved for millennia under the sun. Slathering shitscreen on is not only irritating your skin but also is preventing the UVB from killing the overgrowth of harmful flora that causes the acne.
>Acne is the result of pathogens colonizing your disgusting face and body.
Wrong. This is only one of about five factors. Hence why even the most rigorous of benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin gel regimens will only reduce acne a little bit, rather than cure it, despite both being proven to kill all the acne bacteria.
A lot of you cunts will go on a 13 step skincare routine but refuse to wash your bedsheets and pillow covers 1-2x a week
Accutane ruined my life. Pls stay away from it
Anyway to stop the back of my neck from breaking out? I get short haircuts and constantly have ingrown hairs or pimples