Acne?

ugh, acne. my nemisis! my evil! i too suffer from acne. not so much on my neck and shoulders but i do have an idea.

you could be sensitive/allergic to the shampoo, conditioner, or body wash you use. stay away from sodium lauryl sulfate. its in almost everything really, but in high school my dermatologist reccomended to steer clear.

i use dove bar soap. seems to work well.

another thing to remember is not to scrub too hard. its a hard lesson to learn when you feel as if scrubbing might help make it go away only to realise its only aggrivating it. be easy, use a soft wash cloth, and be patient. it should clear up.

i have what i was once told is lazy skin (face). it is the one thing i am truly self conscious of - regardless of how much i weigh. i basically have a million zits (what seems like a million) because my skin doesnt work like normal skin. i have been lazier about it, but i am contimplating trying proactive. i just dont want to be dissapointed once again

good luck!

I used to have really bad acne. I went to a dermatologist and got benzoyl peroxide 10% wash and Retin A for the blemishes. My face sort of peeled off for several weeks. :noway: Now I only break out around my TOM. I pretty much just wash my face once a day with Noxema and use a strong moisturizer for sensitive skin. My derm told me that I was overwashing my face. This would dry out the top couple layers of skin, which would then get caught in the pores where my sebaceous glands were over-producing oil to make up for the dryness. Then tons of bacteria would be trapped in there and I'd end up with breakouts. It's important to use a gentle scrubber to exfoliate a couple times a week and keep the skin well moisturized so you aren't producing tons of oil.

Acne occurs when hair follicles become plugged with oil and dead skin cells. Each hair follicle is connected to sebaceous glands, which secrete an oily substance known as sebum that lubricates your hair and skin. It also helps to fight off bacterial growth. Sebum normally travels up along the hair shaft and then out onto your skin. When your body produces too much sebum and dead skin cells, the they can build up in the hair follicle and form a soft plug. The plug may cause the follicle wall to bulge and produce a whitehead. Or, the plug may be open to the surface and may darken, causing a blackhead.

The exact cause of increased sebum production that leads to acne is not known. But a number of factors (i.e. hormones, bacteria, certain medications and heredity ) all play a role.

Contrary to what some people think, foods have little effect on acne. Acne also isn't caused by dirt. In fact, scrubbing the skin too hard or cleansing with harsh soaps or chemicals,as others here have already said, irritates the skin and can make acne worse

The big risk factors for acne include hormonal changes in your body (which is why acne is much more prevalent in our teenage years and for women around their menstrual periods), direct skin exposure to greasy or oily substances (such as certain cosmetics), a family history of acne, and friction or pressure on your skin caused by items such as telephones/cell phones, or tight fitting work out clothes


For mild acne the best treatments are lotions that may dry up the oil, kill bacteria and promote sloughing of dead skin cells. Over-the-counter lotions that contain benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid or lactic acid as their active ingredient can work well.

If your acne doesn't respond to these treatments, you may want to see a doctor/dermatologist to get a stronger prescription lotion, that contain either Tretinoin (Avita, Retin-A, Renova) or adapalene (Differin). Both are derived from vitamin A. They work by promoting cell turnover and preventing plugging of the hair follicles. Antibiotics can also be benificial be decreasing the amount of inflamation around the follicles.


I hope that helps!

I use proactive and absolutly love it. I had bad acne in high school so my mom bought it for me and I have pretty much been using it ever since. I used to get it on my back too but I started using just regular dial soap in the shower and I dont have it anymore.

My oldest used Accutaine and luckily only had really dry lips and m outh. It worked amazing! He had to go for blood test every couple weeks can it can damage your liver. Never a problem though. Hasn't had a zit since!

Ohhh acne! hahaha..I had it really bad growing up and my dr put me on ac****ane after all the other things didnt work. Well, that worked for sure, but left me with chronic dry lips!! They are soo bad I can never be without lip balm! Then it dissapeared for a while and reappeared right before my wedding...I can guarentee stress is a factor...didnt have acne for 10 years until I planned my wedding...then BAM, covered...face,arms,everything!! So my Dr put me on Tetracyclene and that cleared me up like a charm in no time at all!!!!!! Definitely not as harsh either....cleared up my arms, face and neck in like 2 weeks!! awesome stuff...I totally agree acne has nothing to do with diet or dirt. Nothing changed in me other than wedding stress and acne was uncontrollable!!!

**edit to say....omg...i spelled acutane wrong and clearly put in a bad word! LMAO...oooppsss** hahaha

I started breaking out really bad 2 years ago I was getting these really big sore cyst like things on my face they were very painful and itched. So finally last april I started using proactive it took about 2 months for it to fully work but dang I tell you I dont get those anymore thank god:drinker: