Any Dermatologists around? Acne-Prone skin at age 31?! Anyone tried a peel or Accutane?

Question

I've dealt with breakouts since puberty. Never full on acne, but still bothersome. I'm now 31, and still dealing with them. They are usually tiny, and I pick at them to oblivion. I'vte taken Doxytricyclin(sp?) for a year, tried Clinique, Neutrogena, etc. And, have now been on Bactrim antibiotics daily and Retin-A topical gel 2x a week for several months. I still experience problem skin! I drink alot of water. I cleanse morning and night, and I've beren using an oil-free moisterizer by Mary kay recently I like pretty well. I guess it could be stress, or hormonal, but I really don't care what it is..how do I get rid of it?! Should I try a chemical peel? What about Accutane? I'm seriously considering it! Has anyone else had any experience with this?

Answer 1

Try Differin (gel, not cream, it's more efficient). If it will not help you then try Accutane. It's more powerful but it's antibiotic. Ask your doctor what is better for you.

Good luck!

Answer 2

Personally, I tried everything on the market and everything the dermatologist prescribed, but nothing worked. My last resort was to try Accutane and I was terrified. I was on it for just over a year, though, and let me tell you...it was the greatest decision I have ever made.



Yes, there are lots of POSSIBLE side effects, just like with any other medication. It is a very strong medication, which is why most dermatologists won't prescribe it until nothing else has worked and only in moderate to severe cases. Blood tests must be done every six weeks to make sure your triglycerides do not shoot to a dangerous level, as it does cause them to rise. I stopped drinking soda and just watched my overall sugar intake and was able to keep it stable. If you are as desperate as I was for a solution, then talk to your doctor and see if this is a good action for you.



If your acne is not bad, though, then I would not suggest it. Like I said, it is a very strong medication. There is no need to put your body through it unless absolutely necessary. Chemical peels are great, but tend to be more for getting rid of scars as opposed to a cure for acne (at least in my experience).



Years after Accutane, I still get a pimple here and there, so when that happens I have found that the Clean & Clear Persa-Gel 10 works wonders! So if your acne is not that bad or that frequent, give that a shot. It's only about $10 for a small tube.

Answer 3

I can tell you that products like accutane and retin-a are not good for your skin. They do clear up acne on a lot of people, but they can greatly increase sensitivity, causing a ton of other problems. They also rapidly increase your skin's cell turnover rate which causes premature aging and your skin to get thinner.

The clinique and neutrogena products you are using are not good for your skin issues, either. Clearly they're not helping, they could have ingredients that you are allergic/sensitive to. I know they probably say they're for acne but they're mass marketed and not well made. There are so many fillers in them that people can have reactions to. You need to go to a salon or spa and get a real quality line of products, including a cleanser, toner(to bring your skins pH back to normal which is so important to protect your skin from bacteria that cause acne), moisturizer, exfoliant (to release dead skin cells from clogging your pores), mask (this will be done 1-2 times per week to help dry out acne and moisturize) and medicated acne gel. A really great line is Dermalogica, it is pricey but a great investment. You may find the products cheaper on ebay. I can reccommend some if you'd like to check them out. If you're so serious that you'd pay for a chemical peel, a good line of products will save you some money and be better for your skin- all without the redness and peeling! There are also specific acne facials that will clean out your pores and heal your skin wonderfully.

Stress and hormones play a huge role in your skin. If you are stressed out, you need to find an outlet to channel that, whether it be taking a walk every day or every other day or writing in a journal. If it is hormones, then you need to see a specialist, NOT a dermatologist. A derm will just give you pills and harsh things like what you've been using, which is not working. I've heard many women have their acne clear up when going on birth control, in which case, their acne is a hormonal issue that the bcp's take care of. You may consider having your hormone levels checked.

Where your skin is already inflamed and you have active acne I assume, a chemical peel can do more harm than good. You would likely have to wait until your acne is no longer active. The peel would be taking care any scarring more than the acne. You are slightly young to begin peels- they have the same effect of speeding up your cell turnover and thinning out your skin, you will have to keep up with them more than you'll want to and it gets costly! There are also photo-light treatment facials in which the light kills the bacteria in the acne and helps clear up your skin. If everything else isn't working, I'd get off all these meds that could be aggravating your skin more and see and esthetician who can really heal your skin without all the harsh chemicals. Good luck!!

Answer 4

Accutane is very severe on your skin, and should only be used if you have severe acne. Instead of using the antibiotics, why not try switching to a birth control pill? When I was on a full does birth control pill, my skin was perfect. I never had anything even close to a zit. They do have very costly procedures out there for acne prone skin, but you should go to a skin clinic to see what they suggest, or ask your dermatologist which one would be good for you. I use retinol for my skin too, but I use it every night. Maybe you can try using the retin A nightly, or get a less severe dose to use nightly. Good luck!

Answer 5

NATURAL ACNE PROTOCOL

1/ Never, ever touch your face.

2/ Use 3 facecloths to wash your face, one to soap on, one to soap off with very hot water, one to rinse off with ice cold water, in that order, once a day.

3/ If you are under 18 take 5,000 IU of vitamin A once a day with a full meal

4/ If you are over 18 take 5,000 IU of vitamin A twice a day with a full meal.

Do not get pregnant while taking vitamin A. Do not take any more, like Accutane, it will stop you growing.

5/ Never, ever. pick, squeeze or pop your spot. Read number 1 again.

6/ Do this for 90 days.

7/ Invest in a brand new pillow and 2 new or more pillow cases to �double bag' your pillow. HOT wash every couple of days.

Source:

A bit of advice given to me as a teenager, a bit of science as I am studying allergic reactions and vitamin A is a part of that. A bit of research: I sat in a lecture at the back and watched the acne prone pick at their faces, those with the worse acne touched their faces 32 times in an hour, the clearest complexions didn't touch their faces even once. I have circumstantial evidence that acne is the result of dermatophyte transfer from hands to face...where it does not get washed off and is well fed by hormones, sweat a

nd oil...just a hypothesis... But it would explain why vitamin A is so effective as vitamin causes skin to remove dermatophytes.



The secret is never to touch the spots



Tips on how to treat acne and achieve perfect clear skin in as little as 7 days?

Answer 6

I have use the zenmed's scar treatment. From the first day I tried Zenmed scar treatment, it worked really well. As a woman in her 40's this kind of product quality has been lacking from other companies lately and it's great to see people out there still committing themselves to creating great products that actually work. Really impressed with the product quality and results.Above all I am also impressed as their customer service is top-notch and it comes with 100% money back guarantee.

Answer 7

Acutane is bad news! Being 31 and I gather a female, even worse! I took it for a while when I was in my late 20's for boils! My Dr was an idiot! It has really bad side effects. My skin was so dry that I had to use a prescription moisturizer. I had to give them a urine sample once a week to make sure it didn't shut down my kidneys! I would not recommend Acutane to anyone!

Answer 8

Roaccutane. From your description a doctor would prescribe this in an instant? There are 2 tiers with acne. Commercial products to avoid the odd spot and ACTUAL acne treatment that normally needs a prescription. If you genuinely suffer acne, please talk to a doc about roaccutane - it completely cured my extreme acne at your age very fast!

Answer 9

Could it be Roseaca? You may want to ask your doctor about that - If it is normal acne treatments won't help.

Answer 10

ok I'm no dermatologist but i know that Apricot Scrub blemish and blackhead control works really well i haven't had any zits in months