Cystic Acne.....???

[Doglover8180]

I have suffered from acne in my chin area only for about the last 5 years - never really had acne as a teen but do as an adult. I don't know that it is cystic acne but I believe it is. It starts out very deep under the skin, about the size of a dime, very large acne when it surfaces, once it finally breaks open - lots of blood comes out of it - but even after it breaks open, it is still a very large zit on the face - it isn't gone. I assume this is Cystic Acne.

I do notice that it seems to start forming deep about a week before my period and then of course during my period. Then I have about 1-2 weeks of nothing, and then a new one that will last about 2 weeks start to finish. Always in the chin area.

The scars being left behind this acne is very red, very bright. But I am not to worried about getting rid of the scars until I get rid of the acne.

Going to a dermatologist is not an option (Been to one years ago when it first started - put on Retin-A - ruined my skin even more - very harsh on the skin.

I do not wish to take birth control for the acne - coming off it - can make the acne much worse - and it comes with it's own side effects. I will also not taking anything Orally like Accutane for Acne.

Is there something, a vitamin or something that has proven successful with combating the type of acne I have described?

[mom2lucas]

My sister took a low dose antibiotic to treat her severe acne. I don't know if that is something you want to try, but it really worked well for her.

[JulieDB]

My sister took a low dose antibiotic to treat her severe acne. I don't know if that is something you want to try, but it really worked well for her.

Very bad idea, IMO. That's what I went through. It wasn't cystic acne and really IMO was rather mild acne. The problems with that are that they have to keep putting you on a different antibiotic because you become immune to it. And then when you become sick and need and antibiotic, you are immune to all of them so they don't help you. Plus they cause yeast infections.

I can't say that it works but if I were the OP, I would try Proactive. I bought it for my daughter but she never used it. Of course as soon as the box arrived, her face mostly cleared up. She does get a pimple now and then and she does have some blackheads.

[JulieDB]

I went through all sorts of things. The antibiotics. The Retin A. Horrible stuff, IMO. My mom bought me all sorts of things to use and once she burned the whole top layer of skin off of my face according to my Dr.

So now at age 52, I find the less I do to my face, the better. I quit wearing makeup except for nail polish and lipstick/gloss. I do not wash my face. I do not use any sort of moisturizer on it unless I have really dry skin. Which I don't seem to here. When I lived in NY or on Cape Cod or PA and had to go out in the winter, my face would sometimes get chapped. My skin is almost always clear.

I do have psoriasis. I take Turmeric for that. I did have a problem for a while with it on my face which is how I came to not using any products. Anything I did use made it worse. I did get a shower massage. The hand held kind. I don't use it to massage. I use it to run a lot of water over my face daily.

In the past when I did have acne, I tried a couple of things that seemed to help. First I used laundry soap on my face. Alas, I don't think you can get that kind any more. I was 12 at the time. So that was 40 years ago. I read to do that in a medical book that my mom had. It was just a white powder. Very gritty and very harsh. My skin did turn red and it got dry and there was a little peeling. I did this for a week and then my skin was clear.

As an adult, I got a few pimples now and then. I used three things. First I scrubbed it with baking soda and water. Then I put on hydrogen peroxide. Then I put on Milk of Magnesia. I would let it dry like a mask and then rinse it off. Made my skin very soft and smooth.

However I think cystic acne is a different beast. I did have one spot that might have been cystic once. Either that or it was a boil. It was on my forehead and was very painful. I just kept putting hot washcloths on it to bring it to a head. Only then did I get relief. I only had the one and I can still clearly remember it. Horrible thing.

I had a friend who had cystic acne as an adult. She found hers was affected by what she ate. Fried food, sugar and chocolate seemed to make hers worse. But she was never really without it. She always seemed to have one or two pimples.

[upinak]

I have the same problem Doglover. Sucks doesn't it?

What I do, and it does help a little is I use Witch Hazel. It is an astringent and will help minimize the pores AND it helps when the thing pops. Also, do you get them more during a certain season? I have notice I do... so I use Olay night cream (doesn't matter the kid) to help inthe winter when it gets really dry outside and I use something by Olay (usually the acne fighter for adults) for when it is warmer and humid. Even though my humid is probably a normal day for you all down there.

I have noticed that when it is drier out, I get them worse, and using a moisturizer like Olay, helps a lot. I also have a buff puff sponge (I got the generic at WAG) when I need to scour my face due to the dry skin... and that helps too.

I also take a daily vitamin, but when I notice the "ick" coming on, I started taking some of those centrum pro-biotics and it HELPS! Try it for a month and see... it couldn't hurt, right? But, if you are in your 30's like I am.. it doesn't start going away until you are in your 40's. Completely sucks.

[abond0017]

I am sorry you are dealing with this. I had cystic acne pretty bad right after coming off birth control and then for about a year steady afterward. Most things I have read explain that the usual cause for adult women who have never had it before is hormonal. Mine was on my chin and all over my back too. Yuck! And I still have some scars...they are faded, but some are still there.

Try not to mess with them unless you are absolutely sure they will pop easily (which is hard I know cause they never want to pop)...the more squeezing you do the worse you will scar. One thing I didn't try was the hot compress thing to bring it out...but that might help minimize your scarring if it works.

I really don't have any suggestions as far as a cure goes, but I did use the Murad spot treatment with sulfur which helped keep it less aggravated looking...but only if I got in on the cyst right when it first started to form. And I really ended up having to use that cause regular benzoyl peroxide treatments was bad for my sensitive skin. I hope you find something that works for you.

Good luck!

[mmb1996]

Do you touch your face a lot, I use to get the painful pimples on my chin like you describe and my dr asked if I rest my hand on my chin/face? I guess its very common and I didnt think I did but after her asking I noticed I did. It was hard habit to get out of but I have stopped touching my face/ chin and they have went away. If I do find myself touching my face I will do a quick wipe with the witch hazel.


Hope you find a cure, they were painful and always had one or two that would be healing or starting and the scars took forever to fad.

[Doglover8180]

Do you touch your face a lot, I use to get the painful pimples on my chin like you describe and my dr asked if I rest my hand on my chin/face? I guess its very common and I didnt think I did but after her asking I noticed I did. It was hard habit to get out of but I have stopped touching my face/ chin and they have went away. If I do find myself touching my face I will do a quick wipe with the witch hazel.


Hope you find a cure, they were painful and always had one or two that would be healing or starting and the scars took forever to fad.

I actually don't touch my face at all - I am very aware of that and make a point not to. I wouldnt describe what I get as even "pimples" - those are little and unnoticable - these are like rocks the size of a dime....huge!

I have the same problem Doglover. Sucks doesn't it?

What I do, and it does help a little is I use Witch Hazel. It is an astringent and will help minimize the pores AND it helps when the thing pops. Also, do you get them more during a certain season? I have notice I do... so I use Olay night cream (doesn't matter the kid) to help inthe winter when it gets really dry outside and I use something by Olay (usually the acne fighter for adults) for when it is warmer and humid. Even though my humid is probably a normal day for you all down there.

I have noticed that when it is drier out, I get them worse, and using a moisturizer like Olay, helps a lot. I also have a buff puff sponge (I got the generic at WAG) when I need to scour my face due to the dry skin... and that helps too.

I also take a daily vitamin, but when I notice the "ick" coming on, I started taking some of those centrum pro-biotics and it HELPS! Try it for a month and see... it couldn't hurt, right? But, if you are in your 30's like I am.. it doesn't start going away until you are in your 40's. Completely sucks.

I actually do take a Probioitic (different brand) and for a different reason and have been on it for months- it hasn't made it any better or any worse that I have noticed.

I really think my acne is related to hormones - I don't think topical stuff will help - heck for the first week when one is forming - I can feel the entire huge knot under the skin before it even begins to surface - and it's like that for a week before you even see anything on the outer part of the skin.

I read an article that talked about Vitamin B helping with Cystic acne - has anyone had any experience with this?

[mom2lucas]

Very bad idea, IMO. That's what I went through. It wasn't cystic acne and really IMO was rather mild acne. The problems with that are that they have to keep putting you on a different antibiotic because you become immune to it. And then when you become sick and need and antibiotic, you are immune to all of them so they don't help you. Plus they cause yeast infections.

I can't say that it works but if I were the OP, I would try Proactive. I bought it for my daughter but she never used it. Of course as soon as the box arrived, her face mostly cleared up. She does get a pimple now and then and she does have some blackheads.

She took an antibiotic two weeks a month for three months and has not had a problem with severe acne since. I guess different things work for different people.

[MizMoneyPenny]

As an adult, I got a few pimples now and then. I used three things. First I scrubbed it with baking soda and water. Then I put on hydrogen peroxide. Then I put on Milk of Magnesia. I would let it dry like a mask and then rinse it off. Made my skin very soft and smooth.

I had this in the 60's when I was first at college. It was on my chin and jaw line, sort of like a purple beard. I did the baking soda (now you can use apricot scrub) and use peroxide like an astringent, but it is also an antiseptic, so it will clean your skin. And the MofM facial has magnesium, which is good for your skin. There was nothing for me in the back then all the wives' tales were still rampant, but a free clinic doctor told me to: shower twice a day with WARM water, and use shampoo (now a body wash) because it is made to remove body oil. Wash your hair daily, and take zinc/magnesium/calcium supplements, AND put natural vitamin E on your face. The idea of puttting oil on a skin condition that was reportedly aggravated by oil seemed absurd, but it worked. And wash your hands. It took about 4 weeks, but I was desperate, and religious about my routine. I still have two pits, but that's all. Try it! It works!