Acne

[MJ.23]

I know this site has a lot of acne related threads but this isnt the usual "do protein powders cause me to breakout" thread. This is a little rant/life story so if you want to click off go ahead as its gonna be boring!

Ive suffered with horrific acne since the age of 12 and ive learnt a LOT over the years.

I guess this thread is a way of saying how the medical community treat acne so poorly, ranging from dermatologists to doctors. Ive had a run in with well over 10 of them now and they are all so clueless as to the cause of acne its mind blowing!

From the doctors ive had things like: "Its just your age" "You are eating too much oily food" "wash your face" (Needless to say that one pissed me off!) I lol at how someone can think an acne sufferer just sits there and does nothing about their face. The reality is the complete opposite.

From the ages of 12-15 i followed all the derms said, used all the crap they prescribed me, followed the routines to the dot and watched my acne get worse everyday. The reality moment kicked in when i was admitted to hospital through blood poisoning. The doctors were intially stumped as to the cause as i was in great physical shape with no health problems and had a perfect diet.

The test results came back and it was my acne that was poisoning my blood stream! (That just shows how bad it was) After i was released i decided i had to conquer this by myself. I spent months doing research and talking to alternative medical professionals about what the heck actually causes it. I also read a lot of scientific studies about it (Which puzzled me as to how the derms were seemingly clueless about it)

To basically conclude my findings every cause/trigger of acne comes back to hormones. Be it food intolerance, hormone imbalance, faulty liver gene, IBS etc.. it will all come down to hormones.

So i asked myself... why the heck have i been prescribed external creams that do jack all for the root cause?

When i was 14 i went on a course of antibiotics. My advice is to never take antibiotics unless it is necessary! Treating acne with antibiotics is like wacking a bear with a stick. He might initially be scared but then bite your head off... Acne becomes resistant to it and then its 20 times harder to get rid of. Also the fact that derms wont even mention the use of a probiotic after antibiotic treatment. To me it seemed as though the derms couldnt give a monkeys about acne sufferers.

No facial wash on this planet will help get rid of acne. They will help get rid of active acne by drying it up etc... but you will just get more acne in its place.

I started research into how to somehow bring hormones into balance. For females this is easier through the use of birth control... for men however... its much more difficult.

Ive heard all the treatments in the past: vitamin B5 mega dose, zinc supplementation, urine therapy, caveman diet, paleo diet, drinking a lot of water, toothpaste, lemon juice etc... you name it ive heard of it!

I got it under control at age 18 ( well by normal peoples' standards they would be suicidal, but to me it was a great improvement.) All i did was splash my face with water twice a day and mix a ****tail of turmeric powder, vitamin B5, Burdock and black pepper. This has great effect on my skin until now...

Another reason for this boring post. In the last few weeks my acne has been skyrocketing again and its getting past the rediculous stage now. Im trying to work out what ive done to cause this hormonal surge.

For people who never deal with acne its a HUGE self confidence annihilator. Tbh i dont really care how i look, im usually wearing some scruffy MP shirt and some gym shorts but its the fact that YOU CANNOT BEAT IT. Every day no matter how hard you try its back and back worse than ever. That just crushes your spirit little by little.

Im a strong guy mentally and have never let it get to me until now. Im 19 for gods sake i should be done with this crap! I remember back in my early gym days all the bigger guys making fun of me for my acne and the people at school doing the same.

That stopped as i overtook them in size and strength... lol.

I never cared as i thought it was pretty funny at the time as well. Im just at that point now where i want to be done with it. You will be very surprised as to how judgemental people are over you because of something thats out of your control completely. You really find out about people when you get acne (Its good for the future in a way)

This breakout has extended down my arm (which is very odd for me) and it hurts when im lifting.

I know a few of you might mention accutane... My advice is to really steer clear of that. Its not down to the side effects but that fact its a temporary cure in most cases. It supresses the cause for maybe a few years but it will come right on back. Lots of patients have to have 4-5 courses of treatments before the acne finally gives up.

Ill finish with the age ol saying, "You are what you eat" Nothing has ever been more true... Food wont directly cause acne but if you have an intolerance to something (Which a lot of people do) it will directly affect your hormones and over run the liver which then leads to acne.

Just my thoughts on a pretty pointless, although be it a condition that plagues a lot of us. I didnt go into the science behind all of it, as thats just a yawn fest.

I dont know if theres any acne gurus' on here but im pretty wise in the whole field now.

My opinion of doctors seems to drop day by day it seems...

Rant pretty much over... 3+ man points if you stuck with it till now.

[beN123]

First of all il take my +3 man points!

My acne isnt what you would call severe, but its still a far far shot from a clear face. I share pretty much exactly the same views are you, but most of the time ive just managed to get on with things. until lately where it just got too annoying. Until you've suffered it yourself, you will never understand the true effects of it, and it really annoys me when people say just get on with it - because they usualy have had a few spots here and there and nothing more.

One thing I will say is dont wash often, I cant tell you how important that is. Since washing my face twice a day maxium with only a damp flannel ive seen improvement. When I used to wash 3 times a day with water it was a noticeable amount worse. Loads of water has helped too.

Lately though ive been diagnosed with possible inflmmatory bowel disease, where one of the symtoms is that your body doesnt absorb all the nutrients you eat, and is a very possible cause of acne. It would also explain the fact I have to eat so much to get bigger, and im not just talking about eating more than my body expends. Ive never understood why im not putting on weight as I should, because my diet was nailed, but now I know and it should be easier to progress.

Im starting to think I just need to get on with things, the only time I will get my face cleared is when I grow out of acne.

[MoonBoots89]

Thanks for the read. I suffer slightly with dry skin (I know thats absolutely nothing in comparison!) but I can at least identify with what you are feeling.

I know it sounds patronising, but just try to be as positive as you can - you're 19 so you've hopefully only got a few years more of it before it starts to fade. Best of luck.

[comanight2]

Excuse me. Ill dish out the man card points. I am the only elected member of the man card council of the UK.

I am the man card authority.

I used to get bad acne on my forehead...it beggered off off when i got older, now i just get it when my diet starts to stink. My friend gets it something awful and I have heard a few unsavoury comments made about him (one point, a girl returned a drink to him stating she "would'nt take that faw him cause he looks like a drug addict an-aw that").

[Indiscreet]

Thanks for the man card (even though I am female. Although to be honest, I'm more deserving of the man card than most men I know).
I suffered from acne all the way from 12 right until I was in my thirties. I am (almost) 43 now and still get a few spots from time to time. Fortunately I never got it badly enough to leave pits, but I still wouldn't go out without thick foundation and concealer for many years.
One thing that helped me was cutting out grains. That's basically anything made with flour (bread, biscuits, cakes, pasta...even things like sausages and burgers that contain breadcrumbs), cereals etc. I can eat rice on occassion with few ill effects but generally stick to a Paleo-style diet most of the time.
If you Google "grains and acne" you'll find a host of links on the subject. Most of these will try and sell you something - but basically they're just saying, cut out grains and your acne will clear up. I can't guarantee it'll work for you but I'd definitely suggest giving it a try. You have nothing to lose but your spots.

[robbo90]

Thanks for the post mate, it's good to know i'm not the only one who suffers with this.

I have had acne since i was about 12/13 and although it isn't as bad as you'res sounds, i now have visible scarring and marks on my face and still suffer from acne daily even at the age of 20.

Like you i tried almost everything and went to the docs etc with no avail. Now i have basically give up trying new things and stick to washing my face with nothing but water twice a day and trying to put nothing on my face which will result in a greasy outcome.

Also, something you haven't mentioned which i find hard to do becuase of my acne is shaving. I'm not sure about you but shaving simply causes my acne to flair up and having to shave 3/4 times a week becomes a nightmare and i often just end up with a face full of cuts as its impossible not to shave 'around' my spots and as soon as the blade goes over a spot it cuts open.

Anyway, i try to look at it as positively as possible and i keep my head up and stay confident. I have a girlfriend who has put up with me and my spots for 4 years now so that helps as she simply sees past them.

The fact i have acne is one of the main reasons i started training in the first place, i felt that by training i could take the empahsis away from my face and make people take notice of my body instead lol. Sounds really stupid but that's the effect it has on you.

[MJ.23]

Quote

Thanks for the post mate, it's good to know i'm not the only one who suffers with this.

I have had acne since i was about 12/13 and although it isn't as bad as you'res sounds, i now have visible scarring and marks on my face and still suffer from acne daily even at the age of 20.

Like you i tried almost everything and went to the docs etc with no avail. Now i have basically give up trying new things and stick to washing my face with nothing but water twice a day and trying to put nothing on my face which will result in a greasy outcome.

Also, something you haven't mentioned which i find hard to do becuase of my acne is shaving. I'm not sure about you but shaving simply causes my acne to flair up and having to shave 3/4 times a week becomes a nightmare and i often just end up with a face full of cuts as its impossible not to shave 'around' my spots and as soon as the blade goes over a spot it cuts open.

Anyway, i try to look at it as positively as possible and i keep my head up and stay confident. I have a girlfriend who has put up with me and my spots for 4 years now so that helps as she simply sees past them.

The fact i have acne is one of the main reasons i started training in the first place, i felt that by training i could take the empahsis away from my face and make people take notice of my body instead lol. Sounds really stupid but that's the effect it has on you.

Thanks for the advice and words guys/gals

Thats exactly why i started training seriously robbo. I started out as a 9 stone 9 lanky spotty person, and thought well i might as well get ripped. So here i am today Makes me feel a lot more confident in myself; really helped with the sports i do as well. Also you sound like youve got a nice lady there

Im blessed in a way with very slow growing facial hair. I only need to shave once a fortnight (Out of curiosity is there a reason for this?) When i do however its a slow painful process. I have found that oddly enough 2 blade razors are much less irritating than the 3+ blade shavers. Or you could just use a trimmer instead ( Depends on how clean cut you go!)

I also advise against using the shaving foams. This is mainly because you wont be able to see what you are doing! (First hand experience here, opened a cyst up and took 5 hours to stop bleeding) I just rub warm water on my face run the shaver under hot water for a minute and then shave.

Ive tried taking grains out of my diet before but there werent any effects unfortunately. Ive tried going dairy free, soy free, at one point even going very low protein and carbs ( Well mainly high glycemic carbs as they cause insulin spikes) Going low protein and low carb was a very low point for me as i just felt run down as my strength was going down so i may not have given that one much of a rigorous test.

To Moonboots, thats sound advice. I try my best to follow through with it but after a certain time it gets frustrating. I know how annoying dry skin is too!! When i use a moisturiser it makes my acne look 30 times worse!

To Indiscreet, Is there a history of acne in the family as yours could be down to genetic acne ( A very stubborn form) Thanks for the advice as well. Must be annoying having it for that length of time.

Ive come across a recent product called acnescript. Im going to give it a go as it actually contains a lot of ingredients that i already used to clear my acne as well as a few other ones. They offer a 15 day free trial so im up for it.

To comanight, ill keep that in mind in the future mate Funny how ive never heard of the council...

To BeN123 im still unsure as to whever you can grow out of acne. Ive done a lot of research behind it and it seems a very spontaneous condition. Some people grow out of it whereas others dont. Its all down to how your hormone levels change from that teenage period to adulthood. Also sound advice on the washing statement. Lots of people wash their faces more than twice aday with harsh chemicals and it causes extreme irritation which can lead to scarring.

Ill mention a little bit about scarring as well. Luckily i havent got any noticeable scars left yet (Just a lot of hyperpigmentation) but scarring is a stubborn bugger. To treat scars its mainly got to be through expensive treatments such as dermabrasion or laser therapy, or that micro needling ( forgotten its name) Ive never really come across a cream or other treatment to cure it. The main thing to do is prevent scarring at all costs. A scar is formed when a spot is picked and the sebum wall ruptures which will leave that collapsed pit. Your body responds by producing collagen to fill it back up but rarely gets it level (its usually raised or pitted)

My testosterone levels are through the roof and no one can figure out why. They are much higher than any level that would be expected of a growing teenager. This gets converted to dyhydrotestosterone which cause acne. Im guessing the weight lifting isnt helping the levels but im not giving up that!

Thanks again guys :^)

[beN123]

Yeah I used the trimmer on the end of the Wilkinsword razor, does the job reasonably well, you can get it quite short so that it looks like it does a couple days after shaving.

Upside is that you dont have to bother washing your face with loads of water and shaving creams/gels, drying it out and irritating it. I only shave about twice a week doing this because im not really bothered about what people think anymore, acne makes everything else seem like nothing!

You can also buy a Merkur, which is just one single blade, which should be less irritating. Theres quite a long discussion here; [Shaving Related] Fusion vs Disposables and more.. - Overclockers UK Forums
Not cheap but their supposed to be excellent quality and a really good shave.

[Indiscreet]

There's no history of acne in my family, no. But my parents grew up pre-war when food was a lot different to how it is now (dad was born in 1926 and mum in 1930). I'm pretty much convinced my skin problems were mostly down to diet, but also hormones (I never wanted to go on the Pill, btw...I have a huge distrust of artificial hormones. I'm not a milk cow).

[Sp3n]

+3 man points for me wooo!

Good post though mate. I used to suffer quite badly from acne on my face and also on my back. i used to visit a dermatologist about it and they gave me Roacatine i think it was which seemed to work quite well. I understand what your saying about it can affect your confidence but don’t let it get to you mate, a lot of people suffer from acne so don’t let it get to you! It’s a lot more noticeable in lads as well due to lasses caking their faces in makeup if they have acne so you can’t see um haha! I found that sunbathing helped a lot as it helped to dry them up, and the tan took a bit of the redness out of them. As well, it sounds stupid but always make sure you wash straight after training otherwise you can find it can get a little bit worse. As well, use warm water when using a face wash/product as it will help open your pores and help to get rid of dirt and then wash off with cold water as it will help to close your pores again so not as much dirt can get in!