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Moonkitty , 20 Oct 2009

Adult Acne

Who here has adult acne? How old are you? I am 31 and suffer with MORE acne than I EVER did as a teenager. But sometimes I think I may suffer from all this acne because I pick so much! Is this just a vicious cycle???
23 Answers
scratchy
January 30, 2011
I am a 25 year old female and have struggled with acne since I was 15. It took me five years of unsuccessful topical treatments and antibiotics until I finally tried acutane and it is like- a cure- you just need a doctors recomendation to a dermatologist and ask the dermatologist for acutane. Acuntane treatment was hard for me as a female because it can cause horrific birth defects and thus I was subjected to intense pregnancy testing and blood work which led to me not completing the treatment. Even with completing only four months of the treatment, my acne has been reduced from huge zits to mere blackheads, but if you complete the treatment, it really works. My advice as a very experienced acne fighter is acutane- exfoliation, daily facial washing and if you MUST pop a big zit or pimple use a sterile needle and this prevents scarring.
scratchy
January 30, 2011

In reply to by scratchy

I found that if I'm in too much of a hurry to spend a whole lot of time washing my face, than a simple cotton pad doused in Witchhazel is a good alternative- Also be thoughtful that if you are considering a cosmetic facial peel (chemical peel) than you may want to arrange the procedure at least three-five days before you show up for school, work, etc. I have had to face the utter humiliation of showing up to school with a face burnt as red as a cherry tomato! And it's obvious that it wasn't just a sun burn. I think the facial peels helped somewhat while I was struggling with acne, but now that I am overcoming it, I believe they will be more beneicial with scar treatment than they were with acne treatment. My Recomendation is to treat the acne and get that over with and then-spent the money on the peels.
valentine
March 28, 2012
Chiming in on reducing adult pimples: I was on Accutane--a very low dose--about 6 or 7 years ago, in an effort to eliminate even the last remaining few pimples I got each month to help keep the picking at bay. Then I started breaking out again last year, so I was going to start it again until I learned that the federal law now requires that women get tested for pregnancy *every* month while taking it...basically because they don't trust women to use sufficient birth control to prevent preganancy (as the drug causes birth defects). (The makers of Accutane didn't draw up this rule, mind you, but rather the congress who proposed & passed the bill...) Anyway, I am totally squeamish about blood tests so my dermatologist suggested I go on Spironolactone, a very light testosterone suppressant with (for me, anyway) zero effects except for reducing oil production in skin. I started in the fall and she wants me on it for a year and it's basically totally eliminated the breakout spell I was in.

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