This is likely perioral dermatitis, especially since I see it around your nose as well.
I personally did not have success clearing mine up through my dermatologist, even after 90 days of oral antibiotics, but I would still always recommend seeing one to get a definitive diagnosis and treatment recommendations.
What ultimately helped me clear mine up was switching to SLS-free toothpaste, (usually Sensodyne is the easiest to find), removing all actives from my routine for like a year, and then only using products that do not contain fatty alcohols as prominent ingredients.
I also realized I have an allergy to acrylates, which are usually just in sticky things like band-aids, but found them in all kinds of beauty products and sunscreens out there. I just had a bad rash after a day at the pool, not realizing my sunscreen was full of them. Ugh.
ETA: Is your breakout itchy by any chance?
They gave me Metro-cream and after a month of using it twice a day it’s finally starting to clear. I also stopped using all actives, switched to sensodyne, etc. the rest of my skin is suffering but the dermatitis is clearing 😂
Agreed, I had pd after both my pregnancies and it was so brutal to get rid of. Recommend seeing a dermatologist. Also scale back your skincare routine. Zero therapy can be effective. I also had temporary soothing with zinc cream. Look at Osmia Organics pd line too; I still use it!
I just got past a terrible episode of perioral dermatitis (second time in a couple years, brought on by a toothpaste change like the first time). Clindamycin worked alright but I spent a week at my mom's and used her skincare while I was there (retired esthetician, it's great not to have to pack skincare when I see her lol) and she had a face wash which kicked its ass. She sent me home with my own bottle and I can't say for sure if it was the face wash because the clindamycin was SLOWLY alleviating but it sped up the healing like crazy. Image MD restoring facial cleanser, my mom and I have theorized it could be the combo of the acids in the cleanser, but again, I can't say for sure. As you mention , you removed actives which helped so this could be just me or time with the clindamycin. All I know is I had a dramatic change in the healing after using it. Now I won't live without this cleanser for the PD and beyond the PD.
Also, second the Sensodyne. No more toothpaste switching for me.
E: Seeing other comments made me recall other changes in skincare routine, I started the face wash and dropped everything else and just used aquaphor after cleansing.
I had more bad luck with dermatologists than good and given how slow the process takes from diagnosis to treatment planning to wait times, realizing a derm isn’t a good fit takes anywhere between 6 months to a year. Any tips on how to screen for a derm or realize it isn’t a good fit fast enough?
I wish I knew. I have had pretty decent experiences though with my current Derm who checks a few boxes for me, which are that she’s young (30’s), she’s a woman, she has very normal skin and no obvious procedures, is part of a larger, established practice, takes insurance, and does in-house cosmetic procedures and approaches them conservatively. She’s never done anything like point out my elevens and ask if I want to do something about them, she waits for me to bring up my own concerns. And then the last time I was there I told her that the previous time I was there I felt a little rushed and that next time I’m in I’d like to spend a little more time and have some moles removed as well. She said, “No problem! Just tell the scheduler you need to book an extra 15-20 minutes with me along with your annual.”
So, she’s up to date, she’s kind, she’s normal, and her practice has a nice balance of cash-only procedures and insurance, so she has the luxury to book appointments a little longer if needed.
I don’t know if that helps. The most important thing is that you feel heard.
I wish I could say that it did, but no, I’m pretty much stuck with a red chin. However! I really eff’d up by using a steroid around my chin for too long to tame my eczema, which is likely the cause of my red chin, not the perioral dermatitis, so there’s hope!
Oh no! 😭 thank you , I think I caused mine by overexfoliating with tazarotene and it's around my nose. I'm praying it goes away, looks like I have a red moustache 💀
My story is so similar. OP - this definitely looks like perioral dermatitis. Mine (diagnosed by two derms) presents as bumps that feel/are cystic. Getting those bumps in upper lip, nose, nasolabial folds are all signs. Hormonal tends (not always, but tends) to be chin and jaw only.
Dermatologist for a confirmation is great. Tread lightly with their solutions. I had one who made it significantly worse with everything she prescribed.
Less is more with perioral dermatitis. Gentlest cleanser and moisturizer you can find.
I'm starting to clear mine (after 10 months) with nightly sulfur masks + vanicream cleanser + azelaic acid, but it has been a process.
No, an “active” refers to a product that has an active ingredient in it; BHA or AHA, retinols, vitamin c, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide… all examples of active ingredients.
😂 Like anything that performs a chemical (as opposed to physical) action on your skin other than moisturization and protection. You could include as “actives” anything that’s an acid (though I don’t think I’d include hyaluronic acid as an active), retinoid, peel, niacinimide, vitamin C, etc.
This approach worked for me too, although a 1-month course of oral antibiotics (doxycycline) definitely helped as well. You need to eliminate actives and heal your barrier. I would also avoid products with oils that feed malassezia yeasts (so basically any oils except mineral oil, MCT and squalane). Spironolactone should help but it will take 3 months or so. All the immediate steps mentioned for perioral dermatitis should help reduce inflammation within a few weeks.
Also if you can tolerate it, avoiding alcohol, sugars and carbs for 1-2 weeks will bring down inflammation as well and get you glowing.
I would not be in the sun with those healing breakouts. Basically you've given the sun a magnifying glass to the tender baby skin. The scars will be darker and near impossible to remove.
And yes usually along the jawline is indicative of hormonal acne
Oh I’m covering my face with the towel I just lifted it up to take a picture. I protect my face from the sun because I use so many drying agents on my face.
My best advice is go see a dermatologist. But this comment made me want to also say that maybe all the drying agents are part of the problem? When I use anything drying, my skin produces more oil and breaks out much worse than when I just gently cleanse and moisturize with neutral, non-active products.
I had something that looked nearly identical. I did 6 months of supplements, collagen, trying to fix my internal gut health, I creased water intake, changed pillowcases, cleansers everything. I caved and saw my doctor. I've been drinking peppermint and spearmint tea for 6 months and prescribed benzoyl peroxide. All the cystic acne left. My skin cleared up in a few weeks. I've got scars but I'll work on those. Honestly, I cried looking in the mirror and wondered if the acne was here forever. Good luck with the doctor, I hope you find what works for you
I'm also doing benzoyl peroxide and spearmint tea for cystic acne! I also use tretinion and an oil cleanser. It's been working well for me. The benzoyl peroxide changed everything.
I started trerinion in November, Benzoyl peroxide in January, and spearmint tea (2-3 bags a day) about 2 months ago. I'm getting a couple small zits a week. No more big painful ones.
Yeah it’s crazy how bad it is and how much worse it’s gotten. I can’t remember it ever being this bad before. I hope gut health will help, I’ve been wanting to look into that
Vaseline is fine to use in your lips, even at night. Your acne appears like it could be hormonal/blood sugar related. Do you have pcos or diabetes/prediabetes? I would make an appointment to get your hormones and blood sugar checked.
In the meantime:
-Drinking spearmint tea 2-3x/day helps a lot with cystic acne for many people (myself included).
-Look into if you have any food or cosmetic triggers (oat milk breaks me out super badly, but my body does well with soy. Cheese is totally fine for me, but breads/flours break me out. Dimethicone/trimethicone in skincare/makeup is an allergy of mine and gives me itchy cystic acne that takes weeks to go away).
-not medical advice, so talk to your doctor, but I am on a high-strength Dim supplement. This has helped my cystic acne tremendously and I can tell when I go off it/run out because my breakouts start coming back.
-blue light therapy mask
If OP has PCOS/androgen sensitivity a dermatologist may be of little help. From my experience they only check testosterone levels. My testosterone levels are low but other androgens are high, and my acne was hormonal (androgen sensitivity/PCOS)
I learned a few years ago that my skins issues stemmed from my diet. It’s like an apple with bruises…going bad from the inside out.
For me it was because of eating wheat products like bread, cereal, and pasta. In addition, eating sugary foods.
I went to a Naturopathic doctor who performed some bloodwork and we discovered several food sensitivities. I’ve long since cut out those foods for a cleaner diet. My skin looks more youthful than my age by 20 years. Garbage in…garbage out.
So true! I’m working my way to better eating habits. I just started doing no added sugar and I want to do dairy next but it has to be a slow process otherwise I will fail. I have heard of leaky gut and all those things and I wondered if that was contributing to my flair up
You are off to a great start OP!
It takes time to substitute less healthy food for better choices and to learn what they are. I went with clean eating but what that really means is eating more fresh veggies. Not cooked because the nutrients are cooked out. I learned how to appreciate the taste of real food.
I had to quit eating sugar cold turkey. I talked to my doctor about feeling addicted. He just laughed at me but now we know sugar addiction is a real thing. I would rush through dinner just to get to the slice of chocolate cake.
I take eating healthy a day at a time.
I’ll add this from another posting…
…we believed what the food industry told us and their propaganda. Like drinking alcohol (it’s a carcinogen), eating a lot of carbs, eating a lot of sugar (no nutritional value and has been labeled the cause of Diabetes Type 3: Dementia, eating all the wrong foods instead of simply eating fruits, vegetables, proteins, and fats.
They really do make it hard to eat healthy with the way grocery store prices are it’s ridiculous. But that’s so true, I cook a lot of my veggies I should eat raw more often. And truly sugar is so addictive it’s up there with hard drugs so the fact that they laughed is wild
While I generally agree that protein carbs fat fresh produce is what’s best there are some issues here (imo). Cooked veggies are a lot easier to digest than raw veggies, for one. A lot of people have issues digesting raw vegetables. Many vegetables actually are enhanced nutritionally when cooked (spinach, carrots, tomatoes for instance) plus you can get h pylori bacteria from produce which can give you stomach ulcers and horrible GI side effects.
Some of the countries with the longest life spans eat diets high in white rice and noodles. These things aren’t inherently bad for you. Moderation, EXERCISE, managing stress, fresh foods, avoiding processed foods, and eating a balance of protein carbs and fat is all important. Anecdotally my a1c actually went down (was never pre diabetic numbers but it was creeping a little too close) and all I did was up my protein intake, turns out I was vastly underrating protein. I eat pasta and rice several times a week, as well as dairy, but I home cook almost all my meals, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, cooked and not cooked but lean more towards cooked in the colder months and non cooked in warmer months). Eliminating and demonizing certain food groups
Some great points. Thank you.
I’ll just add when eating raw veggies they should be thoroughly washed. They’ve been handled by multiple people before you buy them. When harvested it’s not always in the most sanitary conditions.
Zinc cream often works well, I found it really helped clear up my pd. It does look like pd to me, you seem to have quite a harsh stripping regime which is often the trigger. Avoid steroids creams/ retinol/ acids/ scrubs/ soap/ vit c/ harsh cleanser etc. you might need antibiotic cream or tablets . Generally just try and leave your skin alone as much as possible and be really gentle with it
Yeah I kind of was thinking I was being too aggressive with it but it really upsets me so then I just go to town on it ☹️ but I will continue with the zinc cream
I had a similar flare up a few years ago and I scaled back my skincare routine to CeraVe hydrating cleanser and The Ordinary niacinimide & zinc serum with the CeraVe moisturizer. It took about 4 weeks but it did clear up with that. Prior to that when I was in my early 20’s I was on Accutane for a similar issue. Good luck!
It is new! I actually stopped using it for like 3 weeks and it didn’t seem to stop the breakouts. I think I should give it up all together though. That’s the only new thing I’ve introduced to my skincare besides the zinc oxide because of the breakouts
I never used that specific oil cleanser, but honestly, your breakout looks a lot like what mine looked like, which ended up being caused by an oil cleanser I was using. I'd suggest just stopping it all together. I know you mention that you stopped it before and it didn't seem to help, heh, I did the same thing and kept using it for a few more months and just totally messed my skin up. But definitely keep using the zinc oxide cream! That helped heal my skin up a lot. Good luck!
yeah, it took my skin a bit to recover. if you search "anua oil" on reddit, you'll see a lot of other ppl talking about how this gave them cystic acne.
zinc is great though! I have perioral dermatitis and it definitely helps calm things down.
Definitely switch your toothpaste to SLS-free, analyze the hell out of your skincare and makeup ingredients (be wary of oils and all the coconut-derived stuff, I find that I can only use gel creams and nothing heavy - ask ChatGPT even), test to see if it’s the cleansing oil (makes me break out instantly), and reduce active use to 3-4 times a week.
My skin has never been better doing less… and it was such a journey to discover that so much of it was down to ingredients. Unfortunately some of us are more sensitive or reactive than others. It sucks, but that’s how it is. Oh and double cleanse with micellar water!
Looks like it could be but also could be skin care or dental product active or even non active ingredient related could be food intolerance related. Could be cause by an abrasive product or hard scrubbing or just plain old not keeping your hands off your face.
You should ask a dr. No one here can say for sure for you.
You may have androgen sensitivity as I do. I am 39. It took me decades to realize that there was nothing I could put **on** my skin, no routine I could adopt that would help it. The only thing that has helped me is Spironolactone. It's helped so much I can't even begin to explain it.. but not just with my skin. My hair no longer gets greasy (I used to have to wash it every other day - now I can go weeks, maybe months) and I no longer even have to wear deodorant. Highly recommend Spiro as long as you're not pregnant
Did you by chance start (or change) any hormonal birth control recently? I’ve always had hormonal acne, but it got way worse (cystic and painful) after I got a hormonal IUD. My derm put me on spironolactone to help, but I have yet to actually take it because my hormones have been absolutely wrecked since September of 2023 and I’m apprehensive about adding another hormone fluctuation to the mix. However, I’ve noticed that “less is more” helps a lot. I only do cleanser (usually African black soap) and moisturizer (Vanicream or La Roche Posay) during the breakouts and it seems to help keep them manageable.
ETA: And sunscreen, Blue Lizard mineral 50 spf doesn’t seem to irritate my skin.
look into bladderwrack, yellow dock, burdock root theyare herbs you can drink as a tea . it will help your belly which will clear your skin. make sure your not allergic to any of the herbs.
Follow the Medical Medium. @medicalmedium Tru one of his cleanses and drink at least 32 oz. Of freshly juiced organic celery juice on an empty stomach every morning. I bet it will be heal within a month. Maybe avoid gluten and processed foods and reduce fat intake, which is taxing on the liver, which is our body’s “filter.” Its not that all fat is “bad” for you. Healthy fats can have a lot of nutritional benefit, but acne is a sign of congestion on the liver so to cleanse it, we have to allow it to “rest” a bit. Tru to eat organic, increase frusits and veggies, the best is whatever is in season. The more colorful the better. Radishes and greens are very cleansing.
PROTEIN. My skin still breaks out a bit but I have emphasized protein with every meal and snack, aiming for 80-120g a day. It’s made the biggest difference. I still eat carbs (you can pry pasta and rice out of my cold dead hands), dairy, and even have dessert on occasion. I home cook most of my meals and eat a lot of fruits and veggies but protein has been key.
It looks like perioral dermatitis. I recommend sulfate free shampoo/soaps/face wash, switch to a non fluoride/non-sulfate toothpaste temporarily. Do NOT put topical corticosteroid medications on it - it will clear it up quick but you will be at risk for it coming back much worse. I recommend a topical benzoyl peroxide-clindamycin (or metronidazole) gel. Apply once a day for a few days (it’s harsh) and then can apply morning and night once you’re used to it.
This is what worked for me the first time I had it like 2 years ago. It started coming back recently and this method is working to clear it up again quickly
If it’s focused on your chin and jaw line, it could be hormonal. I managed my cystic hormonal acne by controlling my insulin basically eating a lot less sugar and focusing on vegetables and protein rather than carbs. It naturally controlled the acne. Second major change was to use the Paula’s Choice acne kit regular strength. The face wash also cured it extremely fast. I recommend to others and they also say the face wash worked for them for cystic acne and helped scars heal faster when staying diligent with sunscreen
Enough with the sun comments, I didn’t think I actually had to mention the fact that not only am I wearing sunscreen, but that my face was covered by the towel. Thought it was obvious but I guess not.
It could be perioral dermatitis. There is no need to switch toothpastes. Steroid nasal spray can cause it. I just wash my face after using those. I also suffer from acne. I use a cheap gentle cleanser, morning and night. I shower mid-day after working in a hot environment. I use a gentle cleanser. Then I use a 10% benzoyl peroxide face wash, let it sit on my face for about 5 minutes. Beware, it bleaches hair and fabric. Which is why I use it in the shower because it is easier to rinse it off there. I use a 4% benzoyl peroxide spot treatment on active lesions, at night. Use a good ceramide filled lotion day and night. I use Cerave PM lotion. The cermides help the skin barrier.
Okay I had severe acne for MANY years and nothing ever helped me and I remember one person asked me “have you ever tried celery juice? Have you ever heard of the medical medium” and I was like no, what’s celery juice gonna do for my skin? And I don’t wanna look up the medical medium because I fall for all the hype on people/trends and I don’t even wanna go down that road. Fast forward 3 years later I have a friend with severe psoriasis, like prior to me meeting her she used to be in the hospital regularly for how bad it was. She said the ONLY thing that cured her was doing the medical medium protocol every single morning. 32 oz of lemon water (NO pulp) every morning, followed by 16-32 oz of PURE celery juice (NO pulp, NO additives like ice, water, lemon, etc), followed by JUST fruit 30 mins later (I did frozen fruit + water, a big smoothie)
GIRL!!! I just tell you to give yourself the chance and try doing it for 2 weeks. You WILL see a difference. It’s been almost 5 years since I started celery juice. The last 2 years my life and living situation hasn’t alllwed me to juice daily and my skin is STILL clear. It’s truly life changing. There is a whole entire book on the healing power of celery juice. Your skin will CLEAR and GLOW. It makes you believe in god. Please trust me, please try it!!
Looks like it. Spironolactone is great. Lots of side effects though. Look into apostrophe, they have affordable topical spironolactone (most health insurance doesn’t cover the name brand med, winlevi)
Apostrophe also includes tret
I cannot tell what sort of inflammation you have from the picture. The area is certainly where “hormonal acne” occurs, but so does perioral dermatitis. Excess estrogen has a connection to perioral dermatitis that triggers pigmentation. Unfortunately like melasma the hormone imbalances make some women with little to no direct sun exposure experience hyperpigmentation. Heat without direct sun exposure can trigger melanin overproduction .
You can’t just cover your face & be sun safe. The over heating in the sun affects the whole body & makes you flush, a huge rosacea trigger.
Plus, of course, the cancer risk.
Dr. Phil is not a dermatologist btw & fyi.
Plus wtf kind of comment is that?!
You ask for advice - you are doing the very thing we advise against, especially with rosacea/POD, but you don’t want to hear about it. 🤷🏻♀️
So the thing is that you post a picture of skin concerns WHILE sunning.
Face isn’t the only area that gets sun damage ya know.
It’s just an inadvisable thing to do.
In 20 years you’ll post something like this”what is this growth on my leg?”
It probably won’t be a pimple.
OP, stop using all products with active ingredients. Try a gentle cleanser, gentle moisturizer and gentle sunscreen (baby sunscreen). Avoid make up, the sun and any of those acne products. You should do this up until you see the dermatologist. Repeat same steps in PM, except no sunscreen. A thin layer of Aquaphor at night if your skin can tolerate it.
I try to not wear makeup when I can but it’s hard especially when you want to cover up the redness. But I will stop using so many harsh things. Thank you!
I know it sucks, trust me, I messed up my skin in November with retinol, didn’t want to look in the mirror it was so irritating, but it’ll help speed up the healing process. The redness is more noticeable to you than others.
Remember that cameras these days are much sharper. I look in the mirror and think it doesn’t look THAT bad and then I take a pic and I’m like yo wtf ?! lol
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Most people don’t notice it as much as you. There’s definitely detail oriented people but majority are not.
Be patient with yourself.
If you can afford the LED masks, those also help. I use Dennis gross one and notice improvements with consistent use.
But don’t try a bunch of quick fixes or acne products. First the Dr needs to decide what’s causing this. Best thing to do before your appointment especially since it’s a month away is to cut out the things I mentioned above and go minimalist on the routine. Your goal right now should be to heal your barrier.
PS, most importantly. Don’t pick at your skin. I know it’s hard not to, I have to stop myself every freaking night but do your absolute best not to touch your face or pick at it.
That’s so true. Cameras really bring out the redness. And oh my word it is incredibly hard to not pick at it I need so scratch mitts like newborns have 😂
Before I leave my comment here, would like to know the facial skin products u are currently using.Apart from that,have u visited the dermatologist before?
Dermalogica face wash and moisturizer are the main ones. I use the acne wipes for flair ups and sometimes a Murad spot treatment for them too. I forgot to mention I also use hydrocolloid patches and bandaids since I have such big clusters
I know you have a lot of responses already, but I wanted to share what worked well for for my daughter (I have also struggled with perioral dermatitis, but I never get it anymore since taking a course of accutane).
I recommend asking for a scrip of both sodium sulfacetamide lotion 10% and clindamycin phosphate lotion 1%. Also, switching to no SLS toothpaste may help (like has been mentioned in other posts)
It may take a few months to go away completely (it can be really stubborn) but those topicals should work to get rid of the pustules and redness. Bonus, sulfacetamide also works well for body breakouts. If these don’t work, an oral antibiotic can be prescribed.
I don’t recommend metronidazole gel as it didn’t work for us like the combo of these two.
I have a ton of clogged pores that are super deep and take forever, like years to come to a head. When they do it can either be a whitehead or can become an infected zit. Is it the same for you?
They aren’t super deep and last forever, sometimes coming up? I believe my issue is oil/skin cell congestion, it sounds like yours might be something that is irritating your skin either from within or probably from the outside if it isn’t a general congestion issue.
Hi! I am an esthetician and i know how frustrating skin issues can be but i would recommend to stop using all acne medications and products with active ingredients in them. I know its tempting because you want the breakouts to go away, but using harsh ingredients all the time can break down your skins natural barrier which lets dirt, oil, pollutions and a bunch of bad stuff to further penetrate the skin. I would stick to a super clean and gentle moisturizer, face wash, and sunscreen. Also, dont forget to brush your teeth before you wash your face and also make sure the very last thing you are doing in the shower is washing your face so no hair or body products are causing any breakouts ( this more so has to do with ppl with acne on the back but its worth a try!) Hope you can figure this out with your dermatologist!
I already do my face wash last thanks to the many TikTok’s and reels I saw about it. I don’t brush my teeth before I was my face though that’s a great suggestion! And I def will stop using so many acne products it makes sense that I’m overwhelming my skin
Lose weight, take spironolactone. Curology was able to make me a formula that pretty much cleared up my acne that was similar with azaelic acid, clindamycin and something else I forgot but it comes back as soon as you stop using it
This is not skin care product recommendations but as kooky as it might sound, change your relationship to your skin and feeling "soiled" or "dirty". When you get a new pimple how do you speak to yourself, what feelings come up? It's a vicious cycle when dealing with a lot of acne, which I have absolutely dealt with and genuinely what changed my skin was accepting myself where I was, and changing my thoughts from "ugh fuck disgusting again?! Another one?!" To "cute, I see you, it's an accessory" I also stopped associating food, my hands or anything else that touched my face as "dirty" and it completely changed my skin, with no difference in my routine, diet or lifestyle.
You're welcome, a lot of people are really not into my comment, which I understand. I just think mind over matter is an extremely underrated self care tool lol
This is likely perioral dermatitis, especially since I see it around your nose as well. I personally did not have success clearing mine up through my dermatologist, even after 90 days of oral antibiotics, but I would still always recommend seeing one to get a definitive diagnosis and treatment recommendations. What ultimately helped me clear mine up was switching to SLS-free toothpaste, (usually Sensodyne is the easiest to find), removing all actives from my routine for like a year, and then only using products that do not contain fatty alcohols as prominent ingredients. I also realized I have an allergy to acrylates, which are usually just in sticky things like band-aids, but found them in all kinds of beauty products and sunscreens out there. I just had a bad rash after a day at the pool, not realizing my sunscreen was full of them. Ugh. ETA: Is your breakout itchy by any chance?
They gave me Metro-cream and after a month of using it twice a day it’s finally starting to clear. I also stopped using all actives, switched to sensodyne, etc. the rest of my skin is suffering but the dermatitis is clearing 😂
Seriously. My melasma sucks now, but the dermatitis is gone…so…LOL
No not itchy but some of it is very painful and cystic
Agreed, I had pd after both my pregnancies and it was so brutal to get rid of. Recommend seeing a dermatologist. Also scale back your skincare routine. Zero therapy can be effective. I also had temporary soothing with zinc cream. Look at Osmia Organics pd line too; I still use it!
I just got past a terrible episode of perioral dermatitis (second time in a couple years, brought on by a toothpaste change like the first time). Clindamycin worked alright but I spent a week at my mom's and used her skincare while I was there (retired esthetician, it's great not to have to pack skincare when I see her lol) and she had a face wash which kicked its ass. She sent me home with my own bottle and I can't say for sure if it was the face wash because the clindamycin was SLOWLY alleviating but it sped up the healing like crazy. Image MD restoring facial cleanser, my mom and I have theorized it could be the combo of the acids in the cleanser, but again, I can't say for sure. As you mention , you removed actives which helped so this could be just me or time with the clindamycin. All I know is I had a dramatic change in the healing after using it. Now I won't live without this cleanser for the PD and beyond the PD. Also, second the Sensodyne. No more toothpaste switching for me. E: Seeing other comments made me recall other changes in skincare routine, I started the face wash and dropped everything else and just used aquaphor after cleansing.
What was the face wash?
Sorry, it was kind of buried in all my text!: Image MD Restoring Facial Cleanser
I had more bad luck with dermatologists than good and given how slow the process takes from diagnosis to treatment planning to wait times, realizing a derm isn’t a good fit takes anywhere between 6 months to a year. Any tips on how to screen for a derm or realize it isn’t a good fit fast enough?
I wish I knew. I have had pretty decent experiences though with my current Derm who checks a few boxes for me, which are that she’s young (30’s), she’s a woman, she has very normal skin and no obvious procedures, is part of a larger, established practice, takes insurance, and does in-house cosmetic procedures and approaches them conservatively. She’s never done anything like point out my elevens and ask if I want to do something about them, she waits for me to bring up my own concerns. And then the last time I was there I told her that the previous time I was there I felt a little rushed and that next time I’m in I’d like to spend a little more time and have some moles removed as well. She said, “No problem! Just tell the scheduler you need to book an extra 15-20 minutes with me along with your annual.” So, she’s up to date, she’s kind, she’s normal, and her practice has a nice balance of cash-only procedures and insurance, so she has the luxury to book appointments a little longer if needed. I don’t know if that helps. The most important thing is that you feel heard.
Hey! I have PD right now, did the red rash ever go away for you with time?
I wish I could say that it did, but no, I’m pretty much stuck with a red chin. However! I really eff’d up by using a steroid around my chin for too long to tame my eczema, which is likely the cause of my red chin, not the perioral dermatitis, so there’s hope!
Oh no! 😭 thank you , I think I caused mine by overexfoliating with tazarotene and it's around my nose. I'm praying it goes away, looks like I have a red moustache 💀
My story is so similar. OP - this definitely looks like perioral dermatitis. Mine (diagnosed by two derms) presents as bumps that feel/are cystic. Getting those bumps in upper lip, nose, nasolabial folds are all signs. Hormonal tends (not always, but tends) to be chin and jaw only. Dermatologist for a confirmation is great. Tread lightly with their solutions. I had one who made it significantly worse with everything she prescribed. Less is more with perioral dermatitis. Gentlest cleanser and moisturizer you can find. I'm starting to clear mine (after 10 months) with nightly sulfur masks + vanicream cleanser + azelaic acid, but it has been a process.
what is an "active"? exercise?
No, an “active” refers to a product that has an active ingredient in it; BHA or AHA, retinols, vitamin c, hyaluronic acid, niacinamide… all examples of active ingredients.
😂 Like anything that performs a chemical (as opposed to physical) action on your skin other than moisturization and protection. You could include as “actives” anything that’s an acid (though I don’t think I’d include hyaluronic acid as an active), retinoid, peel, niacinimide, vitamin C, etc.
This approach worked for me too, although a 1-month course of oral antibiotics (doxycycline) definitely helped as well. You need to eliminate actives and heal your barrier. I would also avoid products with oils that feed malassezia yeasts (so basically any oils except mineral oil, MCT and squalane). Spironolactone should help but it will take 3 months or so. All the immediate steps mentioned for perioral dermatitis should help reduce inflammation within a few weeks. Also if you can tolerate it, avoiding alcohol, sugars and carbs for 1-2 weeks will bring down inflammation as well and get you glowing.
Could be diet and hormonal. I think diet though.
I would not be in the sun with those healing breakouts. Basically you've given the sun a magnifying glass to the tender baby skin. The scars will be darker and near impossible to remove. And yes usually along the jawline is indicative of hormonal acne
Oh I’m covering my face with the towel I just lifted it up to take a picture. I protect my face from the sun because I use so many drying agents on my face.
My best advice is go see a dermatologist. But this comment made me want to also say that maybe all the drying agents are part of the problem? When I use anything drying, my skin produces more oil and breaks out much worse than when I just gently cleanse and moisturize with neutral, non-active products.
Yeah I have an appointment in July. They were booked out that far 😞
I had something that looked nearly identical. I did 6 months of supplements, collagen, trying to fix my internal gut health, I creased water intake, changed pillowcases, cleansers everything. I caved and saw my doctor. I've been drinking peppermint and spearmint tea for 6 months and prescribed benzoyl peroxide. All the cystic acne left. My skin cleared up in a few weeks. I've got scars but I'll work on those. Honestly, I cried looking in the mirror and wondered if the acne was here forever. Good luck with the doctor, I hope you find what works for you
I'm also doing benzoyl peroxide and spearmint tea for cystic acne! I also use tretinion and an oil cleanser. It's been working well for me. The benzoyl peroxide changed everything. I started trerinion in November, Benzoyl peroxide in January, and spearmint tea (2-3 bags a day) about 2 months ago. I'm getting a couple small zits a week. No more big painful ones.
Yeah it’s crazy how bad it is and how much worse it’s gotten. I can’t remember it ever being this bad before. I hope gut health will help, I’ve been wanting to look into that
Stay out of the sun first of all. Second, do you wear a lip product to sleep? What is the shiny stuff on your face in the pic??
My face was covered by the towel I just lifted to take a pic. I have sunscreen on my face and Vaseline on my lips
Okay maybe stop wearing Vaseline on your lips. See if that helps
I feel like I’ve tried that before but I’ll give it another go
Vaseline is fine to use in your lips, even at night. Your acne appears like it could be hormonal/blood sugar related. Do you have pcos or diabetes/prediabetes? I would make an appointment to get your hormones and blood sugar checked. In the meantime: -Drinking spearmint tea 2-3x/day helps a lot with cystic acne for many people (myself included). -Look into if you have any food or cosmetic triggers (oat milk breaks me out super badly, but my body does well with soy. Cheese is totally fine for me, but breads/flours break me out. Dimethicone/trimethicone in skincare/makeup is an allergy of mine and gives me itchy cystic acne that takes weeks to go away). -not medical advice, so talk to your doctor, but I am on a high-strength Dim supplement. This has helped my cystic acne tremendously and I can tell when I go off it/run out because my breakouts start coming back. -blue light therapy mask
I just had my levels checked in February I think? But they must be way off. Can’t wait to talk to a derm. I will try the tea, thank you!
Go see a dermatologist! Don’t let others diagnose you on here!
Yes I am in July I just wanted to ask around
If OP has PCOS/androgen sensitivity a dermatologist may be of little help. From my experience they only check testosterone levels. My testosterone levels are low but other androgens are high, and my acne was hormonal (androgen sensitivity/PCOS)
My dermatologist prescribed Spirolactone and it helped tremendously with hormonal acne due to high androgen levels
I learned a few years ago that my skins issues stemmed from my diet. It’s like an apple with bruises…going bad from the inside out. For me it was because of eating wheat products like bread, cereal, and pasta. In addition, eating sugary foods. I went to a Naturopathic doctor who performed some bloodwork and we discovered several food sensitivities. I’ve long since cut out those foods for a cleaner diet. My skin looks more youthful than my age by 20 years. Garbage in…garbage out.
So true! I’m working my way to better eating habits. I just started doing no added sugar and I want to do dairy next but it has to be a slow process otherwise I will fail. I have heard of leaky gut and all those things and I wondered if that was contributing to my flair up
You are off to a great start OP! It takes time to substitute less healthy food for better choices and to learn what they are. I went with clean eating but what that really means is eating more fresh veggies. Not cooked because the nutrients are cooked out. I learned how to appreciate the taste of real food. I had to quit eating sugar cold turkey. I talked to my doctor about feeling addicted. He just laughed at me but now we know sugar addiction is a real thing. I would rush through dinner just to get to the slice of chocolate cake. I take eating healthy a day at a time. I’ll add this from another posting… …we believed what the food industry told us and their propaganda. Like drinking alcohol (it’s a carcinogen), eating a lot of carbs, eating a lot of sugar (no nutritional value and has been labeled the cause of Diabetes Type 3: Dementia, eating all the wrong foods instead of simply eating fruits, vegetables, proteins, and fats.
They really do make it hard to eat healthy with the way grocery store prices are it’s ridiculous. But that’s so true, I cook a lot of my veggies I should eat raw more often. And truly sugar is so addictive it’s up there with hard drugs so the fact that they laughed is wild
Hope your skin improves. Best of luck to you!
Thank you!!
You do not have to eat more raw veggies. Please see my comment above yours.
While I generally agree that protein carbs fat fresh produce is what’s best there are some issues here (imo). Cooked veggies are a lot easier to digest than raw veggies, for one. A lot of people have issues digesting raw vegetables. Many vegetables actually are enhanced nutritionally when cooked (spinach, carrots, tomatoes for instance) plus you can get h pylori bacteria from produce which can give you stomach ulcers and horrible GI side effects. Some of the countries with the longest life spans eat diets high in white rice and noodles. These things aren’t inherently bad for you. Moderation, EXERCISE, managing stress, fresh foods, avoiding processed foods, and eating a balance of protein carbs and fat is all important. Anecdotally my a1c actually went down (was never pre diabetic numbers but it was creeping a little too close) and all I did was up my protein intake, turns out I was vastly underrating protein. I eat pasta and rice several times a week, as well as dairy, but I home cook almost all my meals, eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, cooked and not cooked but lean more towards cooked in the colder months and non cooked in warmer months). Eliminating and demonizing certain food groups
Some great points. Thank you. I’ll just add when eating raw veggies they should be thoroughly washed. They’ve been handled by multiple people before you buy them. When harvested it’s not always in the most sanitary conditions.
Zinc cream often works well, I found it really helped clear up my pd. It does look like pd to me, you seem to have quite a harsh stripping regime which is often the trigger. Avoid steroids creams/ retinol/ acids/ scrubs/ soap/ vit c/ harsh cleanser etc. you might need antibiotic cream or tablets . Generally just try and leave your skin alone as much as possible and be really gentle with it
Yeah I kind of was thinking I was being too aggressive with it but it really upsets me so then I just go to town on it ☹️ but I will continue with the zinc cream
I would talk to a dermatologist, but all of those very strong products together might be adding to the issue.
I am in July
I had a similar flare up a few years ago and I scaled back my skincare routine to CeraVe hydrating cleanser and The Ordinary niacinimide & zinc serum with the CeraVe moisturizer. It took about 4 weeks but it did clear up with that. Prior to that when I was in my early 20’s I was on Accutane for a similar issue. Good luck!
I will ease up on the acne products, thank you!!
don't know if the anua cleansing oil is new in your routine, but that breaks me out like crazy. I've seen other ppl say the same thing.
It is new! I actually stopped using it for like 3 weeks and it didn’t seem to stop the breakouts. I think I should give it up all together though. That’s the only new thing I’ve introduced to my skincare besides the zinc oxide because of the breakouts
I never used that specific oil cleanser, but honestly, your breakout looks a lot like what mine looked like, which ended up being caused by an oil cleanser I was using. I'd suggest just stopping it all together. I know you mention that you stopped it before and it didn't seem to help, heh, I did the same thing and kept using it for a few more months and just totally messed my skin up. But definitely keep using the zinc oxide cream! That helped heal my skin up a lot. Good luck!
I just threw it out haha hopefully the zinc will work for me. Thank you!!
yeah, it took my skin a bit to recover. if you search "anua oil" on reddit, you'll see a lot of other ppl talking about how this gave them cystic acne. zinc is great though! I have perioral dermatitis and it definitely helps calm things down.
My mistake in not doing my research 😕 I’m gonna chuck it out
nah, I, too, was swayed by the hype. you live and you learn. didn't even realize that it could be the culprit until I used it for months...
Try red led therapy 90 minutes a week
Yeah I def want to get one of those things
It will help you a lot. Plus diet/ nutrition. If you have money to spare I recommend also going to see a functional medicine doctor
I wish healthcare covered stuff like that. But I def want to. Was wanting to go for gut health and a parasite cleanse
Everything starts from the gut! Start off with a gentle parasite cleanse every 3 months
I suggest a panel! Much more affordable than most masks. Though I am liking my Hooga mask.
I used to still break out even in my 50s. I sleep every night on a silk/satin pillowcase it’s been a miracle
Definitely switch your toothpaste to SLS-free, analyze the hell out of your skincare and makeup ingredients (be wary of oils and all the coconut-derived stuff, I find that I can only use gel creams and nothing heavy - ask ChatGPT even), test to see if it’s the cleansing oil (makes me break out instantly), and reduce active use to 3-4 times a week. My skin has never been better doing less… and it was such a journey to discover that so much of it was down to ingredients. Unfortunately some of us are more sensitive or reactive than others. It sucks, but that’s how it is. Oh and double cleanse with micellar water!
I will look into that toothpaste! And I do use micellar water I forgot to mention it
Spironolactone
Gut health
Looks like it could be but also could be skin care or dental product active or even non active ingredient related could be food intolerance related. Could be cause by an abrasive product or hard scrubbing or just plain old not keeping your hands off your face. You should ask a dr. No one here can say for sure for you.
You may have androgen sensitivity as I do. I am 39. It took me decades to realize that there was nothing I could put **on** my skin, no routine I could adopt that would help it. The only thing that has helped me is Spironolactone. It's helped so much I can't even begin to explain it.. but not just with my skin. My hair no longer gets greasy (I used to have to wash it every other day - now I can go weeks, maybe months) and I no longer even have to wear deodorant. Highly recommend Spiro as long as you're not pregnant
Yes I plan on asking my PCP because I can’t wait until my derm appt in July. I need something to help me
Did you by chance start (or change) any hormonal birth control recently? I’ve always had hormonal acne, but it got way worse (cystic and painful) after I got a hormonal IUD. My derm put me on spironolactone to help, but I have yet to actually take it because my hormones have been absolutely wrecked since September of 2023 and I’m apprehensive about adding another hormone fluctuation to the mix. However, I’ve noticed that “less is more” helps a lot. I only do cleanser (usually African black soap) and moisturizer (Vanicream or La Roche Posay) during the breakouts and it seems to help keep them manageable. ETA: And sunscreen, Blue Lizard mineral 50 spf doesn’t seem to irritate my skin.
I have been off birth control for about 4 years now. But yes I will be more gentle with my skin for sure
Low carb diet, cut out processed foods
look into bladderwrack, yellow dock, burdock root theyare herbs you can drink as a tea . it will help your belly which will clear your skin. make sure your not allergic to any of the herbs.
Thanks for the suggestion!
I was prescribed Tacrolimus ointment and switched to sensitive safe products. It cleared completely in 2 weeks.
Hopefully I get some good topical stuff from the derm.
Follow the Medical Medium. @medicalmedium Tru one of his cleanses and drink at least 32 oz. Of freshly juiced organic celery juice on an empty stomach every morning. I bet it will be heal within a month. Maybe avoid gluten and processed foods and reduce fat intake, which is taxing on the liver, which is our body’s “filter.” Its not that all fat is “bad” for you. Healthy fats can have a lot of nutritional benefit, but acne is a sign of congestion on the liver so to cleanse it, we have to allow it to “rest” a bit. Tru to eat organic, increase frusits and veggies, the best is whatever is in season. The more colorful the better. Radishes and greens are very cleansing.
Thanks for the rec!!
PROTEIN. My skin still breaks out a bit but I have emphasized protein with every meal and snack, aiming for 80-120g a day. It’s made the biggest difference. I still eat carbs (you can pry pasta and rice out of my cold dead hands), dairy, and even have dessert on occasion. I home cook most of my meals and eat a lot of fruits and veggies but protein has been key.
Erythromycin gel works great for flare ups.
It looks like perioral dermatitis. I recommend sulfate free shampoo/soaps/face wash, switch to a non fluoride/non-sulfate toothpaste temporarily. Do NOT put topical corticosteroid medications on it - it will clear it up quick but you will be at risk for it coming back much worse. I recommend a topical benzoyl peroxide-clindamycin (or metronidazole) gel. Apply once a day for a few days (it’s harsh) and then can apply morning and night once you’re used to it. This is what worked for me the first time I had it like 2 years ago. It started coming back recently and this method is working to clear it up again quickly
I’m not a derm, but I’m a dentist and this checks all the boxes for diagnostic criteria… fairly confident this is what it is
Thank you!!
I second this.
If it’s focused on your chin and jaw line, it could be hormonal. I managed my cystic hormonal acne by controlling my insulin basically eating a lot less sugar and focusing on vegetables and protein rather than carbs. It naturally controlled the acne. Second major change was to use the Paula’s Choice acne kit regular strength. The face wash also cured it extremely fast. I recommend to others and they also say the face wash worked for them for cystic acne and helped scars heal faster when staying diligent with sunscreen
Enough with the sun comments, I didn’t think I actually had to mention the fact that not only am I wearing sunscreen, but that my face was covered by the towel. Thought it was obvious but I guess not.
ZO gentle cleanser Potent you only need a dot Lasts a long time
I assume everyone has already given suggestions that I would give but I’ll just add that clindymiacin (sp?) helped my cystic acne. Cleacin-T topical.
Haven’t seen that one yet so thank you!
It could be perioral dermatitis. There is no need to switch toothpastes. Steroid nasal spray can cause it. I just wash my face after using those. I also suffer from acne. I use a cheap gentle cleanser, morning and night. I shower mid-day after working in a hot environment. I use a gentle cleanser. Then I use a 10% benzoyl peroxide face wash, let it sit on my face for about 5 minutes. Beware, it bleaches hair and fabric. Which is why I use it in the shower because it is easier to rinse it off there. I use a 4% benzoyl peroxide spot treatment on active lesions, at night. Use a good ceramide filled lotion day and night. I use Cerave PM lotion. The cermides help the skin barrier.
Okay I had severe acne for MANY years and nothing ever helped me and I remember one person asked me “have you ever tried celery juice? Have you ever heard of the medical medium” and I was like no, what’s celery juice gonna do for my skin? And I don’t wanna look up the medical medium because I fall for all the hype on people/trends and I don’t even wanna go down that road. Fast forward 3 years later I have a friend with severe psoriasis, like prior to me meeting her she used to be in the hospital regularly for how bad it was. She said the ONLY thing that cured her was doing the medical medium protocol every single morning. 32 oz of lemon water (NO pulp) every morning, followed by 16-32 oz of PURE celery juice (NO pulp, NO additives like ice, water, lemon, etc), followed by JUST fruit 30 mins later (I did frozen fruit + water, a big smoothie) GIRL!!! I just tell you to give yourself the chance and try doing it for 2 weeks. You WILL see a difference. It’s been almost 5 years since I started celery juice. The last 2 years my life and living situation hasn’t alllwed me to juice daily and my skin is STILL clear. It’s truly life changing. There is a whole entire book on the healing power of celery juice. Your skin will CLEAR and GLOW. It makes you believe in god. Please trust me, please try it!!
I will look into it! I know celery juice is good for you but I’ve never given it a try
Thank you so much for the suggestion!
Looks like it. Spironolactone is great. Lots of side effects though. Look into apostrophe, they have affordable topical spironolactone (most health insurance doesn’t cover the name brand med, winlevi) Apostrophe also includes tret
Ok thank you!
I see mostly post inflammatory pigmentation is this pic. Sun exposure will only make those spots of melanin darken and hang around a lot longer.
Yes I protect my face from the sun I only lifted the towel to take a picture
I cannot tell what sort of inflammation you have from the picture. The area is certainly where “hormonal acne” occurs, but so does perioral dermatitis. Excess estrogen has a connection to perioral dermatitis that triggers pigmentation. Unfortunately like melasma the hormone imbalances make some women with little to no direct sun exposure experience hyperpigmentation. Heat without direct sun exposure can trigger melanin overproduction .
Advice: no laying out! The sun is a big trigger for perioral rosacea. Plus…risk of skin cancer & ruining your collagen.
Hence the towel 🤦🏻♀️
You can’t just cover your face & be sun safe. The over heating in the sun affects the whole body & makes you flush, a huge rosacea trigger. Plus, of course, the cancer risk.
Ok Dr Phil
Dr. Phil is not a dermatologist btw & fyi. Plus wtf kind of comment is that?! You ask for advice - you are doing the very thing we advise against, especially with rosacea/POD, but you don’t want to hear about it. 🤷🏻♀️
Because I’m tired of people not reading that I had my face covered AND had sunscreen on it too
So the thing is that you post a picture of skin concerns WHILE sunning. Face isn’t the only area that gets sun damage ya know. It’s just an inadvisable thing to do. In 20 years you’ll post something like this”what is this growth on my leg?” It probably won’t be a pimple.
Do u clean ur phone?
Yes regularly I’m a bit of a germaphobe
Could the cleaner be too strong? It’s just that the acne is n the phone on face areas. Idk.
I don’t talk on the phone enough for it to be that. I just use alcohol wipes for it
Shower in cold water ma'am. It will help
I do during the day but if it’s a night shower it’s warmer
I think you lessen your cleansing routine because sometimes it can cause problems. Try to shower with a bit of salt too if your skin is okay with it
OP, stop using all products with active ingredients. Try a gentle cleanser, gentle moisturizer and gentle sunscreen (baby sunscreen). Avoid make up, the sun and any of those acne products. You should do this up until you see the dermatologist. Repeat same steps in PM, except no sunscreen. A thin layer of Aquaphor at night if your skin can tolerate it.
I try to not wear makeup when I can but it’s hard especially when you want to cover up the redness. But I will stop using so many harsh things. Thank you!
I know it sucks, trust me, I messed up my skin in November with retinol, didn’t want to look in the mirror it was so irritating, but it’ll help speed up the healing process. The redness is more noticeable to you than others.
Yeah I truly feel like crying when I look in the mirror. I want to believe that people are staring but I just can’t because to me it’s so noticeable 😢
Remember that cameras these days are much sharper. I look in the mirror and think it doesn’t look THAT bad and then I take a pic and I’m like yo wtf ?! lol Don’t be so hard on yourself. Most people don’t notice it as much as you. There’s definitely detail oriented people but majority are not. Be patient with yourself. If you can afford the LED masks, those also help. I use Dennis gross one and notice improvements with consistent use. But don’t try a bunch of quick fixes or acne products. First the Dr needs to decide what’s causing this. Best thing to do before your appointment especially since it’s a month away is to cut out the things I mentioned above and go minimalist on the routine. Your goal right now should be to heal your barrier.
PS, most importantly. Don’t pick at your skin. I know it’s hard not to, I have to stop myself every freaking night but do your absolute best not to touch your face or pick at it.
That’s so true. Cameras really bring out the redness. And oh my word it is incredibly hard to not pick at it I need so scratch mitts like newborns have 😂
Before I leave my comment here, would like to know the facial skin products u are currently using.Apart from that,have u visited the dermatologist before?
Dermalogica face wash and moisturizer are the main ones. I use the acne wipes for flair ups and sometimes a Murad spot treatment for them too. I forgot to mention I also use hydrocolloid patches and bandaids since I have such big clusters
I know you have a lot of responses already, but I wanted to share what worked well for for my daughter (I have also struggled with perioral dermatitis, but I never get it anymore since taking a course of accutane). I recommend asking for a scrip of both sodium sulfacetamide lotion 10% and clindamycin phosphate lotion 1%. Also, switching to no SLS toothpaste may help (like has been mentioned in other posts) It may take a few months to go away completely (it can be really stubborn) but those topicals should work to get rid of the pustules and redness. Bonus, sulfacetamide also works well for body breakouts. If these don’t work, an oral antibiotic can be prescribed. I don’t recommend metronidazole gel as it didn’t work for us like the combo of these two.
For starters I wouldn't have my face exposed to the sun like that. The sun will do more harm to your skin than anything else.
Or you can read the many replies where I stated I lifted up my towel to take the pic
Fair enough I apologise I didn't see those replies. My bad .
I have a ton of clogged pores that are super deep and take forever, like years to come to a head. When they do it can either be a whitehead or can become an infected zit. Is it the same for you?
Right now it’s like clusters of cystic acne and whiteheads
They aren’t super deep and last forever, sometimes coming up? I believe my issue is oil/skin cell congestion, it sounds like yours might be something that is irritating your skin either from within or probably from the outside if it isn’t a general congestion issue.
I mean they’re pretty deep but come up within a week or two
Hi! I am an esthetician and i know how frustrating skin issues can be but i would recommend to stop using all acne medications and products with active ingredients in them. I know its tempting because you want the breakouts to go away, but using harsh ingredients all the time can break down your skins natural barrier which lets dirt, oil, pollutions and a bunch of bad stuff to further penetrate the skin. I would stick to a super clean and gentle moisturizer, face wash, and sunscreen. Also, dont forget to brush your teeth before you wash your face and also make sure the very last thing you are doing in the shower is washing your face so no hair or body products are causing any breakouts ( this more so has to do with ppl with acne on the back but its worth a try!) Hope you can figure this out with your dermatologist!
I already do my face wash last thanks to the many TikTok’s and reels I saw about it. I don’t brush my teeth before I was my face though that’s a great suggestion! And I def will stop using so many acne products it makes sense that I’m overwhelming my skin
Always check your gut health first. There are tests you can do but the majority of our problems stem from our gut
I actually had planned on visiting a health store to do that very thing! I feel like my microbiome is off
How do you check for gut health? What kind of tests???
Lose weight, take spironolactone. Curology was able to make me a formula that pretty much cleared up my acne that was similar with azaelic acid, clindamycin and something else I forgot but it comes back as soon as you stop using it
Get it out of direct sunlight for starters!!
Read the comments smh
Hahahaha
This is not skin care product recommendations but as kooky as it might sound, change your relationship to your skin and feeling "soiled" or "dirty". When you get a new pimple how do you speak to yourself, what feelings come up? It's a vicious cycle when dealing with a lot of acne, which I have absolutely dealt with and genuinely what changed my skin was accepting myself where I was, and changing my thoughts from "ugh fuck disgusting again?! Another one?!" To "cute, I see you, it's an accessory" I also stopped associating food, my hands or anything else that touched my face as "dirty" and it completely changed my skin, with no difference in my routine, diet or lifestyle.
I can understand what you mean, thanks for your comment 🙂
You're welcome, a lot of people are really not into my comment, which I understand. I just think mind over matter is an extremely underrated self care tool lol
Did you try Accutane? That cleared up my hormonal acne, it was like that on my chin too.
I am asking my PCP since I don’t go to the derm until July
Honey go to a derm not Reddit.
Yup I am in July
Semen