Acne scars

ILoveFroggies

Hey guys!

Any tips on how to get clear skin?

Is there anything that can be done to make scars fade more quickly?

Cheers!

xxthoroughbred

Have you tried doing nothing?

Obviously the scars will remain unless you get Mederma or another treatment, but as far as keeping your skin clear of more blemishes, doing nothing is the way to go. Drink lots of water, eat healthy and don't put all that acne crap on your face. Mine was never bad but I rarely get blemishes now that I don't put anything on it (other than a vitamin cream).

ILoveFroggies

"Have you tried doing nothing?"
...Um, yes.

I drink more than enough water, I can assure you.

I'm eating well.

I don't touch it. It still happens.

peachyxoxoxo

I've been using Acne.org's Benzoyl Peroxide since 2009 and I love it. I still have little breakouts from time to time, but my skin is amazing compared to how it used to be. To help fade scars I'd recommend either a lotion with alpha-hydroxy acid, or Bio-Oil.

anels449

Other than using some sort of regular facial wash (I think I have the Mary Kay "Velocity" wash right now), I actually really like the scrubs. It makes my skin feel super soft afterwards and it clears it up. Absolutely love the Burt's Bees citrus scrub (and it smells awesome too!) but it might be a bit pricey. I also really love the lemon juice and sugar scrub. I try to do it on a weekly basis and apparently it's supposed to clear up age spots, freckles, darks spots, etc. I just like how my face feels afterwards and it tastes like lemonade! If you face doesn't get too irritated from something like that, a scrub might be a good way to go.

KuroNyankoSensei

For acne scars, I washed my face with instant, plain oatmeal every night, drank lots of water with a few cups of green tea everyday, and of course eating clean and healthy ;3. I had a breakout a few months back and left me some scars, so now I'm starting the same regime again @.@.

feliz1

I had really bad scars and I started using Noxema facial scrub for blemishes and the cleansing pads and my skin has cleared up a great deal in addition to drinking more water and less sugar in my diet. Hope this helps.

BeautyFromPain

For scars, laser is the only option.

For acne, if it is truly awful see a dr. I did, was referred to a dermatologist, put on roaccutane, and the pill.
Now I'm just learning to love the scars

julesboots

If they're superficial (just dark colored spots that need to fade) Retin A works really well, but it's a prescription. It's really used as an acne preventative, but creates an environment for quick cell turnover, so dark spots fade more quickly.

glovepuppet

scar reduction creams & oils might help.
bio oil springs to mind.
and derma rollers are proven to help, though it takes time.

ILoveFroggies

Guys, you're all awesome.

Thank you ever so much for the tips.

ChcolateLady11

Sometimes using different products an make your face worse, with all the chemicals in them

I have been using organic coffee grinds on my face (for two years now, 3X a week, in the shower. I add water to make it pasty like...not watery. And then I gently apply it to my face, let it sit or a min or two and then wash off) yep the coffee grinds left over from my morning coffee. Caffeen is good for yor skin in most cases.

Maybe you should consult a dermatologist...

chocolatebug

There is said to be a beneficial relationship between zinc and acne, so I guess a zinc based product may help. Many people look to bio oil as well, but does bio oil work? Guess both these things are trial and error as everyone is different, but personally I have found that bio oil will even out skin tone. As scaring also presents as an uneven skin tone it stands to reason it may reduce the appearance of them. I very much doubt anything will actually get rid of the scars, so the best you can hope for is to reduce their appearance.

I have found two web sites directly related to zinc, scars and bio oil which may give you more information. Try http://www.doesbiooilwork.com and http://www.zincacne.org and good luck!

ILoveFroggies

Many thanks, you two!

Oh, I've never heard of using coffee grinds before... How fascinating! Will definitely give that a go.

Cheers for the information on zinc also!

janessafantasma

I used to have really bad cystic acne and scarring. I had a Jessner peel done, which is a chemical peel using a 20% solution of salicylic acid, then a hydro facial a few weeks later and followed it with some specialized skin care products. My acne is totally gone, and really it was the Jessner peel that truly helped with the acne and the scarring. Now I use, and have been for a few years, a Clarisonic hand held to wash my face and I use Philosophy micro delivery peel pads on my face up to once a day. I wear no makeup other than a wee bit of blush and I get compliments on my skin all the time.

Sometimes changing a diet or eating clean or using homeopathic remedies won't work. Sometimes acne is a product of genetics and your body no matter what you do and that's what mine was. I didn't even get acne until I was 21 and it was miserable.

ILoveFroggies

HAS ANYONE HEARD OF PAW PAW CREAM?????
DO YOU KNOW WHETHER THAT WORKS?????

GCLyds

I have have been using proactive for over a year now. Its not perfect but now I only get the occasion small pimple, instead of the huge painful deep cystic one I would get all around my chin and temples. Its the only thing that has ever worked. I found using it twice a day dried out my face so I only use it one a day, and then wash my face with plain warm water before bed.

ILoveFroggies

Naw, Proactive sounds so neat, cheers for the suggestion, shall get onto that!

Rozieq84

I've been a big fan of the Clinique Acne system. It's a lot more mild than a lot of the other Acne formulas. I've been using it for 3 years now and yes, I still get the occasional spot, but my T-Zone is SOO much clearer, and my skin isn't a dry flaky irriated mess!

Hope that helps...

SuperAmie

"Have you tried doing nothing?"
...Um, yes.

I drink more than enough water, I can assure you.

I'm eating well.

I don't touch it. It still happens.

Thats what was happenign to me too.. honestly what worked for me was a good toner every day/night. I found that the proactive was best for me BUT it made me face sooo dry!! I used it for a month then just the toner.. I love it. Theres lots of good toners out there...

enigmachik

Another tip for clearing up your skin is to make sure to sleep on a clean pillow case (or put a fresh towel over it) every single night. Oils rub off from your skin onto your bedding so even if you wash your face, if you lay on the same pillow case as the night before, the oil and dirt gets right back on your face. Use a different pillow case every night for a week and it will do wonders for your skin!

TrimAnew

Hormonal birth control really does help some people.

Mine cleared up a lot when I got on the pill. Lady doctor pointed out that possibly clearing up acne is a common side effect of the drug, along with lowering my risk of ovarian cancer, regulate my irregular periods, etc and I thought "GREAT! I'll take that one!" Prior to that I'd tried prescription creams, proactive and just about everything. Proactive helped, but was annoying because it was so many steps, and I always ran out of the exfoliating soap before the other parts of the kit. The creams were annoying because the RX ones made me sensitive to sunlight--problematic if your plans include going to the beach and so forth.

Went home from college, Dad asked what I'd been doing differently because my skin looked great for the 1st time ever, I thought "Oh crap," so I lied and told him I'd found a great new soap for sensitive skin that my roommate recommended. :P Haha.

Downside was that I had to pay cash at the college pharmacy because I didn't want my doc visit and RX to show up on any bank statements or insurance "explanation of benefits" reports to my parents (like what happened when I had a bad bee sting on my foot and mom called wondering what on earth had happened to me that caused me to get a steroid RX). But the college had a nice discount for BCPs for female students (thanks to those health fees we all paid), so it wasn't that bad, like $15 a pack for name brand (so 50 cents a day) or something like that. When I graduated, they even let me buy nearly a whole year's worth in cash at the college rate (any longer than that and the pills would be reaching their use-by date before I used them), so that I'd have time to get settled and find a doctor with whatever my job's coverage would be. Now that I'm in the real world and independent, I actually use my insurance and my co-pay is about $15 for a generic... Guess that college student discount was a pretty good deal after all.

Parents did eventually find out, thanks to Mom looking for a pen in a my purse without asking me first, but by then I was also out of the house, employed, and on my own insurance plan. I got the evil stink eye from Mom, but as I was also living with my SO already (which they knew about, and he's now my husband), I just pointed out that I was obviously being a responsible adult and that she should have just asked me for the darn pen.

Now, I barely even use soap on my face, just a washcloth and hot water. Scars have faded relatively quickly on their own and are hardly noticeable now.