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Adult acne Last modified: |
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Reviewed by: Josephine
Date of review: 02/06/01 Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nurse, nutritionist, herbalist, or otherwise medically trained person. I am an ordinary person who has suffered from adult acne since 1995 and I have found no solution to my acne through conventional medicine.
Birth control pills
Comments: I used to have perfect skin, until 1995 (age 29). At that point, my whole face broke out and stayed that way. I've managed to treat the acne and even prevent most of it, but the experience has been more than eye-opening. What's up with adult acne? No one had it when I was a kid. All acne medications were targeted toward teenagers. Now there is a slew of $$$ OTC and prescription topical and internal medications for the stuff...mostly targeted toward adults, particularly women. Since it's doubtful that humans mutated that much in the last 5 years, it's well to conclude that environmental factors are causing adult acne. Here's my take on it anyway. My acne did begin when I started taking a new birth control pill. It's been posed that the wrong birth control pill can make an individual more sensitive to acne...which is a hell of a statement, since that sensitivity did not end when I stopped taking that pill. On the other hand, taking Ortho-Tricyclen did (and does) reduce my acne. Not that it makes my skin as clear as it was before 1995. Conclusion: it's more than possible that birth control pills are a factor in the adult acne phenomenon. I made the mistake of trying to make that pill work...I took it for around 6 months iirc. I'd never had luck with birth control pills before, they all made me throw up. The advice I got later on is to try any pill for 1 month only--if your side effects are horrible, try a different pill. I've seen posts claiming acne as a side effect of birth control shots as well...and it's well to be cautious about those, since they take much longer to get out of your system. Even more than the Ortho-Tricyclen, avoiding hormones in food has helped me clear my skin. By hormones, I mean growth-promoting hormones added to beef, chicken, dairy products, eggs, et cetera. I do not claim scientific proof of this, but, since I started buying my meat and milk at health food stores, my skin has dramatically improved. Try it, it might work for you. Some mainstream brands of poultry... Zacky Farms for example...don't use hormones and don't bother labelling their products "hormone free." I've tried retin-A and a topical anti-biotic. The anti-biotic did not work, but the retin-A did...but it worked in a very specific way. No acne prevention...I've come to believe that topically preventing acne is impossible. But an excellent zit-zapper. Big zits, that would cause scarring, respond very well to retin-A. In the topical mode, Differin has gotten the best beauty board reviews as of late. Internal medications though, beware. I've read posts from women who claim depression as a major side effect from taking Accutane. Seemingly permanent bouts of depression, after the course of Accutane was over. Others have reported no side effects. It still seems overly risky to me. Some internal anti-biotics cause permanent darkening of the teeth. Some board posters say they were warned about this side effect, others say they weren't. There are some good ones. I use Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash (salicylic acid). It takes a few weeks to start working though, you have to be patient. When my skin started getting better, I began cutting the Acne Wash with a mild cleanser (Johnson & Johnson Head to Toe Baby Wash). I do still use this and I do notice a change whenever I stop using it. Neutrogena Clear Pore gel ...eh...it's not bad, but it really works on only very mild acne. This was a board lemming, but it does help a lot. Change your pillowcase frequently, even every other night. I've found the concept of something "breaking you out" kind of a bygone thing. Makeup these days is better and better--I think most manufacturers are sensitive to the adult acne phenomenon and overall higher consumer standards. C'mon, when I first started fiddling around with foundation, the only really good (drugstore) ones were Almay and L'Oreal --because they were fragrance-free and made for sensitive skin. Now I think each line has something similar. Not that something can't break you out...in fact anything too moisturizing makes me break out. But other factors could be at play when you experience breakouts. The only way to be sure is to test your makeup carefully, several times. By this I mean those reddish-brown marks, not the little holes. I don't know of an OTC way to treat the holes, I think you have to go to a derm. You can successfully fade the brown marks OTC. I used St Ives Fade Cream (turquoise tube) faithfully for six weeks, and got rid of all my acne marks. I reviewed this product under Beauty reviews/Skin treatments. The active ingredient, hydroquinone at 2%, can be found in other fade creams-- Ambi, Black Opal, Esoterica, Porcelana. Higher concentrations of hydroquinone are available through prescription. If you are a fellow adult acne sufferer, here is my advice in order: If your acne is severe, see a dermatologist. It's expensive, but putting off treatment can give you more scars. Second, check your birth control. If you're trying something new (hormone-based), do not put up with major acne--switch to something else. I know that is difficult if you don't have health insurance, but it is important. Third, eliminate as much hormones from your food as possible. Again, this is not easy, as hormone-free foods can cost more, but I say it is worth it. Seafood does not contain these hormones. Investigate your local brands of chicken to see if any are hormone-free. Health food stores carry naturally raised beef and lamb, eggs and milk products. Fourth, do the pillowcase thing. Fifth, if you've decided to try OTC acne treatments, be patient with them. Try one cleanser at a time, one product at a time. I remember freaking out if something didn't work right away. The salicylic acid stuff does work on mild acne but, as mentioned above, it takes a few weeks to kick in. I've seen good reviews for Clean'n'Clear cleanser too (it has an anti-bacterial ingredient, triclosan). Give your skin a chance to settle into a product. It's important too not to overdo it. Too much salicylic acid treatments will make your skin tough. You can alternate medicated cleansers with mild, nonmedicated ones, or even mix the two together. If you're using prescription topical meds, you'll probably be advised to use no other acne treatments and to use only mild nonmedicated cleansers. When your skin gets better, think about fading the marks, that is important also. Old acne marks can make you look as if you still have acne. It takes patience to fade them but you'll be glad you did. Finally, take heart! There are things you can do to help your condition. I have never tried Sage or Proactiv, or other high-priced adult acne treatments. Some beauty board posters claim success with these treatments, particularly Sage, others say otherwise. I've been put off by the price, myself, I feel there should be a positive consensus before I fork over $$$. More importantly, I feel that prevention should be emphasized more than treatment. I would rather spend money on fish or hormone-free beef than on Sage or other $$$ stuff. I believe that true acne is caused by hormones and comes from the inside out, and that is where you should start treating it. One last thing--I've never tried this but have been meaning to since forever. Someone on LP said she put plain aloe vera gel on her face every night and that she never had a breakout. I've been impressed by the anti-bacterial properties of aloe vera baby wipes--my baby used to get yeast diaper rash, but hasn't since I started using the wipes. It's quite possible that this would work. |
Date: 03/17/01 Wow, hold everything. I said I didn't believe in miraculous topical acne treatments...aside from Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash and retin-A, nothing topical has budged my zits. But all that has changed now, thanks to a poster named hat-trick. Here is a shrine to her! :) The miracle product? Plain old jojoba oil, available at health food stores. The brand I have is Heather Loraine but I suspect any brand would work. I got the clear one...there's a golden one marked for "darker skin," I'm not sure how dark this would entail, but it's worth experimenting with! The medium-sized (4 oz.) bottle I got was around $10.75...the smaller one was $6 and change, then there was a very large one but I didn't check the price. I've been putting a few drops of the oil on my face twice a day for around 2 weeks now; it seems nutty, putting oil on an already oily, acne-prone face, but it really does work. It moisturizes (as you would expect) and prevents flakes, while not leaving your skin greasy. But, far better, it unclogs pores and prevents further clogging. It will get rid of small zits and keep zits generally from forming. You're still better off with a regular spot treatment (retin-A or something OTC) for medium to large zits, and I don't propose treating major acne with jojoba oil. But for that nagging, annoying, always-threatening-to-break-out kind, it's next to being a miracle...and cheap, considering you use it drops at a time. The first couple of days I didn't notice much results, so if you do decide to try it, keep that in mind. I started out putting a few drops of it on under my tinted moisturizer, then thought, why not just mix it into the TM? Less of a hassle, plus doing it in two layers did make my skin slightly oily. At night of course I just put the couple of drops of oil right on my face after washing it. I haven't noticed any residue on my pillowcase. I don't use enough of it to make my skin particularly oily either. It takes some small practice getting it successfully from the bottle to your face, but this is a very cool product and imo it's well worth trying. |
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Good and bad news...the bad news is that my skin, which had gotten progressively better for over a year, started getting bad again a couple of months ago. I tried to pinpoint why...at first I thought it might be a stress thing. But it stayed bad. Finally--the good news--I decided to go to a derm again. This time I think I got someone more experienced--he prescribed a different topical antibiotic, Erythromycin Topical Solution USP, 2%. I've been using it twice a day for almost two weeks now. I was told that it might take up to two months to really start working, but I did see some results overnight. Fewer new clogged pores, fewer new zits...the existing zits healing faster. Currently, my face is OK--it's not as clear as it was before this recent zit attack, certainly not as clear as it was before 1995, but better...I don't feel self-conscious right now. I can leave the house comfortably without foundation on. My skin is slowly improving, too. It's not particularly pleasant to use...it's not irritating, to me, and the alcohol in it helps keep my skin from getting oily. It smells strongly medicinal though. You're supposed to let it dry on your face for half an hour before putting anything else on top of it. After the half hour, the smell is pretty much gone. But if you get hot sun on your face, it gets a bit smelly again. Not P-U stinky, just a bit annoying. I'll write more here after the two months. It's been about two months now (coincidentally, one of the bottles of the antibiotic lasts about two months). Hmmm. My skin is OK. It's interesting...because the antibiotic is treating the acne at the skin surface, I still get clogged pores...but the clogs don't blossom into full-fledged zits, they just get dried up. All in all I'm happy with this stuff. The sole side effect I've gotten was, whenever I used it too close to the corner of my mouth, I would get a cut there that wouldn't heal. It's simple enough to avoid that area. Of course, it's something I have to keep using, or else the zits come right back. It shows even if I miss some place...like the very top of my face, right at the hairline...the zits try crowding into any area I haven't been thorough about. But, screw it. I don't get the side effects I would with an internal medication. My skin, also, has adjusted well...no flakes, peeling, et cetera. The antibiotic reduces the oiliness of my skin without drying it out. In fact I don't even need moisturizer any more, the way I did when I was using salicylic acid OTC treatments. I'm thinking of using fade cream again soon. |
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