nothing I can do right? cystic acne, jawline

[nsl]

Kate Somerville's Eradikate is pretty good for cystic zits. It won't eliminate them, but it brings them to a head within 24 hours so they're not painful anymore.

[bimbi284]

Boo! I was gonna rec the MB stuff. I just got it and really like it! I get hormonal cystic (painful as fuck) acne too and that seems to tame it a bit.

Have you tried anything like the NoNo! or other thermal spot zappers? I find they help sometimes too.

[Kim&Dan]

I wish I had a suggestion, I've been getting a lot more cysts lately too. I'm planning on asking my gyno at my next appt since I'm fairly certain it's hormonal.

[yellowumbrella]

I'm no help - I'm on 4 prescription meds for my hormonal, cystic acne.

[ESquared423]

T.N. Dickinson's witch hazel. It's life changing. Seriously.

I was having the worst bout of cystic acne over the past several months, it would come and go and it was so painful. And I had other random pimples that would show up around my TOM. About 2 months ago I started using the witch hazel as a toner before bed. I wash my face with Cetaphil daily facial cleanser, pat dry, then put some witch hazel on a cotton ball and rub it on my face and neck. Nothing else. I have not had one cyst or pimple since I started using it. It has also evened out my skin tone and lightened up previous acne scars.

It has saved my face, I never had severe acne..but it was enough to be a nuisance when it did show up. I highly, highly recommend it. It's like $2 at any drugstore, I got mine at Target near the rubbing alcohol and whatnot.

[mrspost08]

I'm going to try witch hazel. I've been dealing with hormonal issues and my face is breaking out.

[Deleted]

I love the face wash I got from my dermatologist's office. It's called Glytone. My skin has never felt as awesome as it does with this stuff.

[hz80408]

I'm totally going to try the witch hazel too!

Ditzydi- I'm assuming your face wash is a glycol base then? My derm has me using a glycol based facewash and even that, compared to sacyclic acid washes, has made a huge difference.

Also carrots- I have hormonal acne and have been leery to go on any medication for it; My derm also rec'd I minimize my dairy intake, especially milk and it's made a world of a difference for me! Maybe something to consider trying, especially leading up to AF time

[summerkutie]

My acne recently got out of control the past few months and over the past year or so I've tried everything.. Proactiv (which worked and then stopped working) a clarisonic, different washes/scrubs, etc..

I finally went to the dermatologist and got put on some creams and a pill and it's been just 2 weeks and for the first time in over a year my face is almost 100% clear!

If you're having cystic issues and nothing seems to be working, I highly suggest visiting the derm.

[bimbi284]

May 14, 2012 8:29:55 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

I'm totally going to try the witch hazel too!

Ditzydi- I'm assuming your face wash is a glycol base then? My derm has me using a glycol based facewash and even that, compared to sacyclic acid washes, has made a huge difference.

Also carrots- I have hormonal acne and have been leery to go on any medication for it; My derm also rec'd I minimize my dairy intake, especially milk and it's made a world of a difference for me! Maybe something to consider trying, especially leading up to AF time

Ditto about the dairy! I did an elimination diet in Feb, and right away I noticed my skin was Soooo much better! I didn't have ANY cysts for like 2 months as a result. I started eating dairy again recently (cheese is a weakness) and I got 2 bad cysts this month :-(.

[veruca5839]

May 14, 2012 9:08:43 GMT -5 bimbi284 said:

May 14, 2012 8:29:55 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

I'm totally going to try the witch hazel too!

Ditzydi- I'm assuming your face wash is a glycol base then? My derm has me using a glycol based facewash and even that, compared to sacyclic acid washes, has made a huge difference.

Also carrots- I have hormonal acne and have been leery to go on any medication for it; My derm also rec'd I minimize my dairy intake, especially milk and it's made a world of a difference for me! Maybe something to consider trying, especially leading up to AF time

Ditto about the dairy! I did an elimination diet in Feb, and right away I noticed my skin was Soooo much better! I didn't have ANY cysts for like 2 months as a result. I started eating dairy again recently (cheese is a weakness) and I got 2 bad cysts this month :-(.

(former poster on F&B and more recently a lurker here)
I agree with trying out a diet elimination or at least a few changes. Since hitting my 20s I have gotten bad cystic acne that just didn't respond to much. I did the med route, but when I was TTC and got pregnant I stopped...and I'm not really interested to go back to long-term meds. My cystic acne is definitely hormonal. Three months ago I started eating a low-glycemic diet and have cut back on dairy, and I get maybe only one or two small cysts a month around my cycle rather than my chin covered in them. It's a huge difference for me. I haven't changed anything with my skin care, so I'm pretty certain it's due to dietary changes. A month ago I started using MB products, and they do help my skin and are keeping any breakouts much smaller (sorry they don't work for you). I read or heard somewhere that a low-glycemic diet helps hormonal acne because you're not getting hormone spikes from food (or something like that).

[hz80408]

May 14, 2012 9:08:43 GMT -5 bimbi284 said:

May 14, 2012 8:29:55 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

I'm totally going to try the witch hazel too!

Ditzydi- I'm assuming your face wash is a glycol base then? My derm has me using a glycol based facewash and even that, compared to sacyclic acid washes, has made a huge difference.

Also carrots- I have hormonal acne and have been leery to go on any medication for it; My derm also rec'd I minimize my dairy intake, especially milk and it's made a world of a difference for me! Maybe something to consider trying, especially leading up to AF time

Ditto about the dairy! I did an elimination diet in Feb, and right away I noticed my skin was Soooo much better! I didn't have ANY cysts for like 2 months as a result. I started eating dairy again recently (cheese is a weakness) and I got 2 bad cysts this month :-(.

I know!! Cheese and occassionally ice cream and greey yogurt are my weaknesses and I can tell when I eat too much of them!

[Deleted]

May 14, 2012 8:29:55 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

Ditzydi- I'm assuming your face wash is a glycol base then? My derm has me using a glycol based facewash and even that, compared to sacyclic acid washes, has made a huge difference.

Yep. Even though I don't have cystic acne it has done wonders for my face. DH loves the results I've been having with it so he started to use it last week. He said he felt like he was going to get a huge one on his zit and used my wash and it prevented it from turning into a zit.

[Canella]

For me, diet definitely helped. I'm no longer breaking out there.

I know some mentioned giving up dairy, but I buy organic and that seems to work!

I also eat all the other "good for your skin" foods daily: spinach/kale, berries, tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes/squash, nuts, etc.

The clairisonic also did wonders for me.

[Deleted]

Avoiding dairy helps a lot. And also avoid sugar if you can help it. In terms of products, Peter Thomas Roch spot treatment (5% sulfur) works the best for me.

[redredwine]

I've started taking about 24,000 mg of Vitamin A which totally has helped make a HUGE difference (along with a regular multivitamin with E and Zinc which are supposed to help). This got it under control and I try to only take about 16k mg/day since it isn't good to take really high doses for months at a time (like, closer to 60k.
I also have started using a toner after I wash my face, so this could have helped, too.

[peachykate]

I get these, or used to get these. I have so many scars on my jawline from cystic acne.

Anyway, I went to the derm and was put on Clindamycin in the AM and Differin in the PM. I rarely ever get pimples on my jawline and if I do they are much smaller and go away quickly.