Ok, I started to think about the mess on my forehead, a.k.a. my not hellacious acne, but a veritable forest of pimples. I go buy Clearasil foaming cleanser. Take it back b/c the pump doesn’t work. What’s this? This “Clean & Clear” is over a dollar cheaper! (gasp!) I just finished using it, and my forehead is now the same shade of vanilla, except for bright red pimples staring back at me, whereas before, the pimples were mostly flesh-colored. Are the radioactive red zits going to consume my face, or does that just mean it’s working, or something?
I Am Not A Dermatologist, So Don’t Say That I Am And Sue Me.
Most OTC pimple stuff doesn’t work, as I recall from my teen years.
Go to a real doctor, & he can prescribe something that will.
Bosda makes a good point. They got pills for that shit now.
I had the same thing happen with Oxy wash many years ago. Felt like I had scrubbed my face with acid. Believe it’s a reaction to too high concentration of benzoyle peroxide…or whatever the active ingredient is.
Is there a wrning about discontinuing use if the junk, like, hurts?
The benzoyl peroxide is supposed to turn the zits red. After a few more applications, they’ll look a bit worse. The idea is to get the skin to peel, and all that sebaceous crud will erupt. Then the zits will heal. That’s the idea, anyway. For many folks, it works.
There are prescription medicines that do more vigorous work than that. They have their own side effects, and you should discuss that with your own doctor.
If it’s not hellacious, try putting an egg yolk on your face for 20 minutes at night. Apparently there’s a lot of vitamin A in egg yolk, which is a main ingredient in the prescription lotions they give you. It works for me. And tea tree oil- they make a lot of face washes with that in there. I think St. Ives makes one. It’s really good too.
Go to the doctor and ask for some Emycin face pads. They look just like Oxy, only they have (surprise!) Emycin on them. Yes, the same stuff you take for bacterial infections.
I call BS on this.
The human skin does not and cannot absorb nutrients at any time, as seaworthy would know, if he/she/it had stayed awake in High School Biology class, & wasn’t brainwashed by advertising.
You claim that Vitamin A is in prescription skin medicine? Cite, please?
As for tea-tree oil, it sounds like the “weed-of-the-month” club’s latest fad. :rolleyes:
This is the SDMB, seaworthy. We expect better.
Two of my friends had awful acne and they both went to a doctor, got pills called… somthing starting with Z IIRC and it cleared them right up! Mind you, they were not allowed to consume alcohol for a few months, a mammoth task for an Icelander at least.
Well, I don’t know about the usefulness of straight Vitamin A, but a Vitamin A derivative called retinol is considered useful for skin care:
As for tea tree oil, I was able to find this summary overview on previous studies through BioMed Central:
Ernst, E. and Huntley, A., 2000, Tea tree oil: A systematic review of randomized clinical trials: Forschende Komplementärmedizin und Klassische Naturheilkunde, 7:17-20.
So Bosda, you are being a bit harsh, although to be fair if the OP has a serious problem neither egg yolks nor tea tree oil is likely to help him much.
IF all the OP has is regular (if abundant) pimples and not cystic acne (a determination best made by his doc), OTC medication may help as long as his skin is not too sensitive or he is not allergic. In my own experience… benzoyl peroxide worked like a charm in getting rid of the zits, but I developed an allergic reaction and wound up popping Benadryl to get rid of the redness, puffiness and itching. sigh
Whatever you do, don’t take oral antibiotics! I did for a years as a teen; cleared up the acne all right, but boy am I sorry now.
Now at 38, I still have acne, but I’ve found the best thing for me was cleaning up my diet (no sugars, no refined carbs, staying away from processed foods, etc.) I know, I know, all the research sez that diet has no effect, I’m just stating what has worked for me; we all know YMMV.