Asking for lived experience NOT medical advice
My just turned 16 son has had acne for several months. Dr diagnosed it as moderate to severe and he was put on antibiotic. Didn’t see much of an improvement yet and we are booked into dermatologist next month, with the view to go on R tane.
My concern is I think my son doesn’t eat well at for about the last year or so. When he’s out of the house for school or work he’s buying junk food and sugary drinks. I don’t think he’s drinking enough water either. It’s very hard to get him to take anything that benefit gut health
My question is, I believe his skin is telling him that his insides are not healthy, so if his diet is bad and also he doesn’t exercise regularly anymore, is taking R tane going to fix it but allow him to continue his unhealthy lifestyle without visual consequences? Or am I wrong that he should fix insides before taking such a strong treatment. The other thing is also it’s gotten so severe that he has refused to go back to school or work soo really want to help get his confidence back asap so he can resume his life.

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I am a skin picker (unfortunately), especially when I m focusing

Hi guys, I'm 25M, so it's not teenage hormonal acne. I use only a CeraVe cleanser for oily skin in the morning and before sleep. Have breakouts like these once or twice a week. Usually not so many pimples. 2-3 on average. Always around my mouth. Did anyone encounter something like that?

After 6 months I’m having less breakouts, which I’m very happy about, but how do I get rid of hyperpigmentation?

\*\***sorry for the terrifying photos lol**\*\*

I've been on and off tret for 2+ years, consistently using 0.5 for about 6 months. I have previously tried accutane as well, which was incredibly effective (for a while) but SO taxing on my mental and physical health.

I'm finding that my skin is TERRIBLE. like, at best, I'll have only a 💫few💫 breakouts, and a lot of PIH/PIE that never seems to go away, and honestly, I'm at my wits end. My confidence is at an all-time low. At 26, I feel like I shouldn't have to look like this, and I'm so tired of it. If anyone has any routine advice, product recommendations, etc. I would love to here them.

Here is my routine:

AM:

\-Round Lab Dokdo Cleanser

Taro Clindamycin 10%

\-Haru Haru Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Toner

\-Aestura Atobarrier 365 OR Haru Haru Wonder Hyaluronic Cream

PM:

\-Purrito From Green Oil Cleanser

\-Round Lab Dokdo Cleanser

\- tret

\-Aestura Atobarrier 365 OR Cerave Ceramide Lotion (the kind in the tub)

I’ve been using tret 0.1% 2–3 nights a week for about 7 weeks. In the morning I use The Ordinary Azelaic Acid 10% with moisturizer. I also use a sulfur cleanser twice a day. Does this routine seem okay, or am I doing too much?

Looking for a similar experience.. started taking oral contraceptive Yasmin for straight 7 boxes (no period pauses to balance my hormones quicker as advised by gyno). Now, after a clear skin for about 1.5 months, I'm getting the hormonal acne back :( on my cheeks and neck. Anyone have any advice? Or went through the same thing? 🫠

I struggle with hormonal acne and have no knowledge about skincare. I was on spiro for a while but got off it bc I’m trying to get pregnant. I do not want to take any oral medications. Does anybody have any tips, product or skincare routine recommendations?

I’m just curious if anyone knows what might even cause this. I’ve been on Tretinoin for 3 months (.025 gel nightly) but this was happening before and has continued even as my skin has gotten a bit better. constant breakouts in this spot. all the dark marks are pimples from the last 4 months or so. I dint usually get that type of dark pie on other parts of face. it’s always the same ones, they start out light pink (like thebottom left one I just got) and then get bigger and darker for weeks then flatten but redness stays. I know it’s not my hair products and I’m not someone who touches my face so I’m completely at a loss. Other parts of my skin have improved a bit but this spot oeeps getting the same bad pimples over and over.

It’s hard to see but i’ve been experiencing a flare up on my forehead in particular and around my jaw. Some of these are really painful — they start off red and really raw and turn into a pimple and some are just blackheads? i use the cerve acne foaming cream cleanser but i don’t think it’s helping. i don’t know what else to use, this feels somewhat new to me. i got prescribed the clindamycin phosphate topical solution but i can’t tell if that’s working either. i would love any recommendation from you all!! i definitely want a new cleanser because this one doesn’t feel like it does enough and if there’s toners or other products i should use im willing to try it!!

i started getting these bumps about a week ago. I’ve always had forehead texture but this is worse than what’s normal for me. I’ve been using panoxyl 10% and sulfur spot treatment (for angrier spots). Hydrating with vanicream. any suggestions?

I’ve been struggling with my PIE marks for almost a year now. I’m looking for effective treatment recommendations such as lasers/facials etc that would help.

I’ve tried both over the counter and prescribed products with ingredients that work for pie one way or the other but none helped during this period. That includes first and foremost azelaic acid (anua AND prescribed finacea 20%), retinol, glycolic acid, niacinamide, hyaluronic acid etc. I have a stable routine that works for me and doesn’t break me out. Outside of my PIE I am pretty satisfied with my skin. It’s not perfect but it’s stable.

I’m 21 F

Edit: I also have body acne which bothers me a little less but is still frustrating. Also, my derm also recommended doing a glycolic acid exfoliation once or twice a week but she recommended Dr. Dennis peel pads and they’re literally 94 dollars so that’s off the table for me though I did get a glycolic acid cleanser to wash with in addition to my other face washing that I leave sit so it can work more

I can’t be on spironolactone because of a hormonal issue which is frustratingly causing the acne to begin with, and I am bipolar and I really don’t think it’s safe for me to risk the psychiatric side effects of accutane. I’m very sensitive to medication side effects and very prone to depression and to me it’s just not worth the risk.

I tried a round of doxycycline, then was using topical clindamycin, and tretinoin, which basically did absolutely nothing. My daily face wash morning and night is benyzol per my dermatologist instructions and it does help because if I dont use it it it’s 10x worse, but it’s not good. I use a basic cetaphil moisturizer after all that morning and night, and in the morning I also use a mineral sunscreen cause I read mineral was better for acne and I definitely cannot be walking around with all these chemicals and not use sunscreen.

I’ve got a lot of clogged pores that just make my skin bumpy on my cheeks and a healthy amount of puss filled spots all over and some lovely cystic acne to top it off on my cheeks and jawline and especially on my neck.

I was just prescribed Winlevi since I can’t use an androgen blocker systemically, and I got my tretinoin dose increased, and I stopped the clindamycin (all changes are what my derm said to do).

I’m just really frustrated though, because my derm keeps insinuating that spironolactone would be best or accutane, she isn’t pushing accutane and said herself that spironolactone isn’t the move for me/wouldn’t be safe but she keeps kind of saying stuff that makes me think topical treatments aren’t going to help me. She’s really nice and she’s trying but I’m assuming that she’s decided we’re sort of stuck with my treatment where we are since I can’t use the gold standard meds.

Has anyone had luck with hormonal acne without taking any medications? I’m really feeling at my wits end, obviously most people here can understand how horrible and self conscious it makes you feel. My brothers wedding is coming up and I’m feeling terrible about going because I don’t want my face in all the photos to be covered in acne.

Ironically my brother also had horrible acne but he was able to take accutane so that kind of makes me feel worse. It’s definitely genetics cause my mom suffered it for years until she was like well into her 30s.

For context - im 26, have been using benzoyl peroxide for 7 years (acnecide gel) i had lots of whiteheads and texture when i was younger. It changed the game for me back then, skin went completely clear aside from the odd spot on my period. As ive gotten older i started getting the odd cystic pimple or two on my period, wasnt ideal but manageable. In the last couple of months my skin has started breaking out worse, constant acne on my chin / jawline. Reoccurring spots that arent deep deep, start under the skin and then come to surface within the week.

I can think of a few lifestyle factors that may have caused this. Im terrified of trying any medication or a new prescription because although i hate this, i’d hate a bad purge a lot worse. Has anyone ever dealt with things like this and managed to rectify it with non prescription products or lifestyle changes?

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Are there any brands that produce teeth health products that won’t harm a skin with acne? Any recommendations please🙏🏻

Ive had these for years but only on the same spot. How do I get rid of these. They're on both sides.

I have been on tretinoin for 5 months now. First 3 months 0,025%+ clindamycin, then switched to 0,05% pure tretinoin almost every night. Acne has improved significantly but I still get some cystic pimples around my face all the time. Sometimes days go by with no pimples at all and then overnight i’ll have 3-5 cystic pimples in different places. Previously I had much more though and also smaller pimples that cane in clusters.

Additionally I use a propolis moisturizer every night after tretinoin which is amazing and has helped my fix my skin barrier frim tretinoin. I use a gentle cleansing milk at night and also spf during the day and sometimes a toner in the morning. That’s it.

Hey everyone, I'm completely desperate and could really use some advice.

I've been struggling with hormonal acne for years. It started as severe cystic acne, but now it's more on the mild side. Even though it's not severe anymore, I can barely look at myself in the mirror. My skin affects me so much mentally that I constantly feel ugly and worthless.

I've already tried so many treatments. My basic skincare routine is pretty simple: a gentle cleanser morning and night, sunscreen in the morning, and a moisturizer at night.

My dermatologist has prescribed the following, and I used each one consistently for several months:

Skinoren (20% azelaic acid)

Epiduo Forte

Tretinoin

Benzoyl peroxide + topical antibiotic

Oral antibiotics

BPO wash/leave on

None of them made a significant difference. I don't have particularly sensitive skin, so I tolerated daily use of all of them without much irritation - they just didn't really work.

The next logical step would probably be Accutane (isotretinoin), but my dermatologist doesn't want to prescribe it because I have severe depression and have had periods of s*icidal thoughts.

The frustrating part is that my dermatologist basically says that this is "good enough." He told me my acne will probably never go away completely and that I should just keep using Epiduo Forte as maintenance treatment. But honestly, I'm not okay with that. I just want clear skin, and it feels like I've run out of options.

Does anyone have any ideas for what I could still try? For example, could using Epiduo Forte twice a day help? Or combining two strong prescription treatments (one in the morning and one at night)? Or anything else?

I'm honestly open to any suggestions at this point.

Thanks so much in advance.

Hey everyone!

I've been on the Yasmin contraceptive pill since I was about 19 and I'm 30 now. I came off it once around the age of 23 and it was the most horrific 2 years of painful cystic acne all across both cheeks that absolutely destroyed my self-esteem and quality of life. I then went back on it and it's been great at managing all my PCOS/PMOS systems for the last five years.

Fast forward and I'm now happily married and I'm finally thinking about having a baby. The small issue being - I have to come off the one thing that's kept me together my whole adult life! The thing I'm most worried about honestly is the return of the acne. I set myself a deadline to come off the pill in January 2026 and the fear of the acne returning has meant that it's now July and I still haven't done it.

I have a trip planned in August and no matter what, I'll come off it after because I just cannot let the pill rule my life like this anymore because I'm scared. My question is - how can I give my skin the best fighting chance when I do come off Yasmin? In my pill-free week every month I tend to get a painful hormonal spot on my cheek always - which makes me think (maybe wrongfully) that what I have to look forward to is basically that x100.

I use a retinoid already, but I've just got Tretinoin and I'm thinking of upgrading to that after my trip which I'm hoping will help? I can't take spiro because of kidney issues so that's off the table. Any other suggestions of things I can start now to help me manage the hormone drop better? Or any success stories from people who have been in a similar position to this and their skin DIDN'T actually go nuts after coming off Yasmin? The anxiety about coming off it seriously plagues me every day, it's ridiculous.

Any reassurance at all would be wonderful, thank you

Does anyone else get acne like this? I feel like I’m the only one.

I tried using retinol, but the next day my eyes started burning, so I stopped using it. I then switched to The Ordinary Azelaic Acid. It wasn’t as irritating as retinol, but it still made my eyes sting.

Can anyone recommend a serum that’s effective for acne but suitable for someone with very sensitive eyes? Also, would it be worth trying azelaic acid from a different brand, or am I likely to have the same issue?

I was prescribed tretinoin but whenever I try to use it on my back and chest I find it absorbs too quickly into both my back and hands so I have to use a lot to cover. Is there any efficient way of spreading the cream so I’m not using as much? My dermatologist said to try combining it with scent less lotion and I tried doing that but it only helps a little bit.

I'm 23F, I had a lot of acne after corona and right now I'm getting few compared to that but my old acne leave scars and I don't know what to do.

My skin is little oily in monsoon, dry in winter and oily in summer. Currently I'm using moisturizer and txa serum along with sunscreen.