Really working acne treatment?

[Damib]

Hello guys,
I am getting really desperate about my acne now. My acne started when I was like twelve, but I nearly managed to get rid of it after spending hundreds of bucks on medications, but I'm nearly twenty now and it started again after taking broad-spectrum antibiotics for bacterial infections. I started wet shaving a couple of weeks ago, and it actually helped me a lot, but I didn't get rid from all of it. Sometimes I just suddenly start having zits my mainly on my chin and under my nose. My actual problem is the fact that no anti-acne medication actually helps me. It's even worse when I use any kind of anti-acne treatment like micellar water that I know. Cosmetician recomended me ten remedies at my last ultrasound cleansing, but that's really insane because I would have to clean my skin every minute of the day. So, I would like to ask you if you could recommend me something to take care of very oily skin because I don't really think that puberty is my only cause of acne now.
Thanks, and maybe sorry for bad English.

 

[md1234]

I am 34, have oily skin and still get acne from time to time. I noticed that some foods can make me break out (too much dairy, wheat or processed foods etc.). One thing that has really helped me other than watching what I eat, is to wash my face with Razorock thermal mud bar soap twice a day and to use Thayers medicated witch hazel. I exfoliate twice a week with Nivea exfoliating face wash which also helps. Another line of products that worked for me is the Bodyshop tea tree cleanser.

Don't give up, you will find what works for you!

 

[Damib]

Thank you very much! At least, I now know what kinds of products I have to aim for.

 

[jdp93]

I was also blessed with oily skin, and I have the occasional breakout and I am in my 40s. One thing that helped me was some products from the store linked below. I use the gentle cleanser and the Benzoyl Peroxide and it helps me.

Acne.org Products - Cleanser, Benzoyl Peroxide, Moisturizer & More

Also, I found that diet does seem to impact my complexion. Specifically, too much dairy causes flareups for me. Good luck to you.

 

[Matt P.]

look into buying an Alum block, you can find plenty on Amazon. I started using one after my shave in the morning and have not had any issues with Acne. I also had a bad breakout of Acne on my chest and applied the Alum block there too and had solid results. It is a cheap and easy alternative. Plus if you cut yourself while shaving, its phenomenal at stopping the bleeding.

Just make sure that you follow up the Alum block with a solid Face moisturizer because it will dry out your skin.

 

[WalterK]

1) My first suggestion, which was mentioned earlier, is to cut dairy completely for three weeks and see what happens. Dairy is my Achilles' heal, when I go on a ice-cream or cheese binge, I will get acne. If you have no results after three weeks then dairy is probably not your issue.

2)I have heard good things about sulfur soap, but cannot vouch for it personally since I haven't tried it. They have some at Walmart, so it should be fairly easy to find:

3)I too have oily skin, but have no problem using common olive oil based soaps. Years ago an artist friend showed me that to clean oil paints from her fancy paint brushes, she used vegetable oil first to dilute the paint, then used ordinary soap or detergent to wash away the vegetable oil. Oil dilutes oil. If you've tried all the harsh drying soaps and they didn't work, perhaps go the other direction.

 

[SoullessSingularity]

This may sound odd but if you have trouble with acne you may want to consider charcoal or clay based face masks. Charcoal handles oil, clay handles oil. However if it’s acne I you may want to use calamine- it is a calming agent. Mix honey or witch hazel with a calamine, charcoal, or clay based facial mask and put it on your face. Leave to dry. Once dried, clean off.

Try this once every few days. I have oily skin and do this every other day, currently trying out the blueberry based mask from LUSH but you can get powders to control your consistency.

I would also highly recommend going to sephora and explaining your skin issues. They should be able to recommend a good toner and moisturizer that would do excellently to help calm your skin down and clean out your pores. In my case it was the Ole Henricksen Balance line but I was looking for deep cleaning.

The main question is if your face is acne because of oiliness, sensitivity, diet? Because if it’s diet no amount of cleaning will help, and if it’s oiliness you can go ham with blotting paper, but if it’s sensitivity (reacts to face stuff) then you should move to calamine/clay based cleansers or mask treatments to chill it out.

Sorry that was a lot of info. I hope some helped.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

For what it’s worth - probably not much - the only thing that made any difference when I was young was alcohol based aftershave. It dried up the spots and they went away much faster.

Any sort of balm or cream or moisturiser exacerbated the problem and seemed to just block pores and cause more spots. None of the anti-acne products had any noticeable positive effect - I suppose they’re just expensive placebos, like cold medicines or anti-hair loss treatments. Selling placebos is very lucrative business, as you are finding out.

But, like the doctors, I don’t really know anything. I would assume that the propensity to have acne is genetic, like any other condition, and no cream is going to alter your DNA or do anything to stop you getting spots. If there really was an effective treatment for such things we would all know about it and nobody would have spots, or be bald, or ever have a cold. You probably just have to live with it, but at least it will pass. The best thing you can do is not let it affect your self-confidence - if you act with confidence then nobody will care about your acne.

 

[CANES]

For what it’s worth - probably not much - the only thing that made any difference when I was young was alcohol based aftershave. It dried up the spots and they went away much faster.

Any sort of balm or cream or moisturiser exacerbated the problem and seemed to just block pores and cause more spots.

Amen to this. Me too, but it wasn't aftershave that helped me...it was Ivory soap. I think it worked on the same principle, though. It's a very drying soap on the face for me. Rest of the body it works fine. A drier face got rid of it much faster.

 

[luvmysuper]

FYI - this is a 5 year old thread that was bumped today by a Spam-bot.

 

[Mr. Shavington]

FYI - this is a 5 year old thread that was bumped today by a Spam-bot.

Hahaha. Well, I hope the spam bot makes progress with its acne problem.

 

[Knuckleballer]

Amen to this. Me too, but it wasn't aftershave that helped me...it was Ivory soap. I think it worked on the same principle, though. It's a very drying soap on the face for me. Rest of the body it works fine. A drier face got rid of it much faster.

I’ve noticed the same, except instead of Ivory soap I use Head & Shoulders shampoo, or the Equate Everyday Clean Walmart equivalent. I don’t have dandruff but always liked using it due to the scent and it makes my scalp feel good and cleans my hair well. It’s only drying on my face at first though, and that goes away quickly by the time I’m out the door.

 

[MikeTbass]

Everybody is different, but the only effective treatment for me has been Accutane. I have no control over my condition and no amount or variation of products helps.

Just putting this out there as some have it worse than others.