Avoiding scarring from acne.

[spencerjrus]

Alright I'm not trying to give my life story here so Il keep this short and simple. Weight lifting has aggravated my acne to a level where I am now concerned about it. Now this isnt the real issue for me, I can deal with having some zits on my face for a couple years. What Im worried about is scarring once the acne goes away. I make a real concious effort to not pop pimples or pick at my face, but I'm still concerned because I can see very small pock marks on some parts of my face. Again, not a big deal now, but I'm worried its going to get worse. Is anyone aware of anything I should be doing to avoid this from happening?

[muscleup]

How old are you?

[spencerjrus]

How old are you?


18. My older brother had bad acne around the same time and at late 19/20 his skin was perfect, so I'm not concerned about it going away soon, I just want to make sure I dont get permanent scars that leave me looking like some kind of freak.

On a side note I'm really pissed my skin is so bad. I eat properly, I get tons of rest with an extremely regular sleep schedule. I take my EFA's, vitamins etc. I drink amazing amounts of water. I dont eat processed food, sugar or bad carbs in any real amount. I wash my skin regularly and its never oily, I still get pimples (cysts even sometimes) anyways.

[muscleup]

I had it really bad when I was 16-17. I took the the strongest stuff they had out at that time. It was called Accutane (http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/accutane/medicationguide.htm)
It really dries your face out bad, but it got rid of the problem.
Acne doesn't have anything to do with the foods you eat, or how much you wash your face.

"The exact cause of acne is unknown, but doctors believe it results from several related factors. One important factor is rising hormone levels. These hormones, called androgens (male sex hormones), increase in both boys and girls during puberty and can cause the sebaceous glands to enlarge and make more sebum. Another factor is heredity or genetics. Researchers believe that the tendency to develop acne can be inherited from parents. For example, studies have shown that many school-age boys with acne have a family history of the disorder"
http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/acne/a/acnecauses.htm

Edit: Oh, and as far as scars go, I have none and my acne was pretty bad.
I wouldn't worry about it. As long as you don't pick at it (like you said you don't) it shouldn't scar.

[Jorge Sanchez]

If you want to avoid scarring you should go to a doctor and get it treated. Accutane probably isn't necessary for you though. I would suggest trying everything else before that.

[ShockBoxer]

I had terrible acne (every square inch of my face, back, and chest it seemed). I tore at them, doused them in peroxide, and all sorts of other stupid things. When it died down (still get a few from time to time) I was scar free.

My brother got it almost as bad and did everything he could to treat it properly and ended up with a lot of scarring.

I think it's mostly a matter of skin type (I had soft, pudgy, doughy, pliable skin and my brother had tight 'born to not be fat' skin) and dumb genetic luck.

[muscleup]

I also agree with Jorge about getting it treated. The doctors usually try a couple different treatments before resulting to Accutane. I went through about 4 different pills before I told them to give me the strong stuff. It's usually a last resort, as it should be.

[razorcut]

Just a regular whitehead or blackhead rarely causes much in the way of scarring. However, if you're getting the kind that seem to be much deeper below the skin surface and are extremely tender to the touch, those tend to scar. Those are more like boils and I'd recommend some treatment. Accutane really isn't a first line prescription treatment. Something much less potent, like Doxycycline, usually will do the trick.

[spencerjrus]

Just a regular whitehead or blackhead rarely causes much in the way of scarring. However, if you're getting the kind that seem to be much deeper below the skin surface and are extremely tender to the touch, those tend to scar. Those are more like boils and I'd recommend some treatment. Accutane really isn't a first line prescription treatment. Something much less potent, like Doxycycline, usually will do the trick.



I do get some of the deeper more tender kind which is part of what worries me. I'm thinking I might just schedule something with a dermatologist, better safe than sorry.

[d'Anconia]

Wooot Spencerjrus is going through puberty!

No but seriously I've felt that as long as you only pick at the ones that are ugly and easy to pop, then you won't have a problem. If you're not sure whether you can pop it or not, then don't go for it. And if you have a habit of picking at them while you're doing other things (like reading a book, playing on the computer, or watching TV, etc.) then I recommend you kick that habit. If I were you I'd also take it easy on how often you wash your skin, washing it too much can cause problems (you're supposed to have some oil on your skin). Also if you really feel like doing some picking, maybe get some tweasers so you can do it precisely without screwing up the whole area.

I have a friend who was always good looking but he has a habit of picking at his face and now the scars are really starting to show. Definitely not a good thing. On the other hand I have an older brother who STILL gets acne on his face, chest, and back at the age of 22 and has hardly any scarring.

Yeah you might want to try the dermatologist too.

[Mr. Brown]

Instead of making a new thread I'll just ask it here. I've had these little red bumps on my bicep area. It's not a new thing, I've had them since I can remember. They're like small pimples without the white heads all over my arm. I think it might be like some sort of acne, though it's no where near my face it just sticks around on my arms. They're pretty densly located on my biced area, and recently they've been spreading to my forearms as well. Anyone know what I'm talking about? Anyone got any suggestions?

[d'Anconia]

A pic would help, but otherwise I'd go see a doctor. They'll have a better idea of what it is and how to treat it.

[blackjack]

Put a dab of neosporin after popping a zit you may think will leave it scar, not only will it heal faster, but also with little or no scar.

[thetopdog]

Try taking vitamin B5, a lot of us juicers take it to combat steroid-acne and it works

[sCaRz*Of*PaiN]

I have scars on my face from previous acne battles. It was usually the HUGE ones that caused them. Freaking sucks. It's not too bad though because the scars are only minor. Just don't pick at your face and that will prevent some scarring.



Try taking vitamin B5, a lot of us juicers take it to combat steroid-acne and it worksI didn't know extra pantothenic acid could help fight ance. I may try that.

[bschatz88]

No but seriously I've felt that as long as you only pick at the ones that are ugly and easy to pop, then you won't have a problem.

Instead of popping them with your fingers, use two Q-Tips instead. Supposed to reduce chances of scarring. Little trick my dermatologist taught me :)

[Canadian Crippler]

Or you can always not pop them.... :)

[malkore]

I'd stop going to any dermatologist that advised me to pop my zits. That's a no-no.

It sounds like you have cystic acne...the deep, hard, painful zits that often never form any head to pop, and can persist for over a month before finally fading.

If this sounds liek you, you're already on the road to scarring. I had cystic acne, and tried EVERY anti-biotic prescribed for it plus 3 topical gels including the well known Retin-A. The only thing that even phased them was taking Accutane. My liver couldn't handle accutane so I didn't even get a full 4 month treatment, but the 2.5 months I took was enough to make it go away, and to this day I only get an occasional zit (rather than a cyst) that will form a head, or just go away after a few days, and its mainly on my scalp.

Do yourself a huge favor, and go see a dermatologist. If he wants to put you on Accutane, get on health insurance that covers some of the costs. A typical 4 month run of Accutane will cost about $2,000 between the pills (About $5 each), monthly blood tests and monthly doctor's visits.

[spencerjrus]

I'd stop going to any dermatologist that advised me to pop my zits. That's a no-no.

It sounds like you have cystic acne...the deep, hard, painful zits that often never form any head to pop, and can persist for over a month before finally fading.

If this sounds liek you, you're already on the road to scarring. I had cystic acne, and tried EVERY anti-biotic prescribed for it plus 3 topical gels including the well known Retin-A. The only thing that even phased them was taking Accutane. My liver couldn't handle accutane so I didn't even get a full 4 month treatment, but the 2.5 months I took was enough to make it go away, and to this day I only get an occasional zit (rather than a cyst) that will form a head, or just go away after a few days, and its mainly on my scalp.

Do yourself a huge favor, and go see a dermatologist. If he wants to put you on Accutane, get on health insurance that covers some of the costs. A typical 4 month run of Accutane will cost about $2,000 between the pills (About $5 each), monthly blood tests and monthly doctor's visits.



Would you mind describing your experience with Accutane a little more? I'm interested in what you thought of the side effects and such.

[HelpMeLift]

try asking your doctor for a prescription for benzyclene (something like that). it's in a white cylinder case. you use it twice a day once right after you wake up and wash your face, and once at night before you sleep. this thing works wonders in getting rid of pimples if you use it without skipping any days. my pimples were completely gone in 1-2 weeks but it is a pain in the ass to put on because it feels so damn weird and sticky, just like vaseline. if you don't mind that i strongly recommend this product... the key to it though is consistency, skipping like 3 days can bring back almost all of the pimples. i'd say use it until almost all of your pimples are gone and then stop usage for a while.

it's kinda pricey at first (i think it was around $40-50) but after that the next 4 refills are $10. hope this helped.