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Acne (and this time it's actually about the acne =P)

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
My mum says I have mild acne, and I am inclined to believe her.

At first it wasn't so bad, I had the odd spot on my face, and unnoticable ones on my back and on my chest.

But now it's getting worse. I'm getting about 2/3 new spots a day on my face, usually small, unnoticable kinda thing, but the odd huuge one (like the one I got on my chin a couple of weeks ago, and have stupidly been picking, which made it turn into just a huge scab, very unpleasant - actually - I think it's a combination of 3 that kinda joined together after I picked em :p), and I'm one of those people that can't stand having yellow-head spots, which is always what they are, so I squeeze them. Unfortunately for me, I'm also one of those people that LOVES picking scabs (yeh, I'm odd), so they always turn really bad.

And then yesterday, on my day off school, I discovered I had 4 massive spots on my back. 2 on the left side, 2 on the right, just above my shoulderblades. And they are horrible. It's getting worse, and I don't like it.

I know that sounds really selfish, because people (including my older sister) have it so much worse, but it just makes me feel dirty. Because I always have associated spots with dirt (damn those Clearasil wipe adverts :mad: ), so it makes me feel all dirty. Bah.

I can handle the ones on my face, even though they're the most noticable, because I have stuff that can try and get rid of those (tea tree stuff from The Body Shop, my sister's Neutrogena face wash, Clearasil face wash, and this stuff my mum gave me), all I gotta do is get into the habit. But I haven't got anything for my back.

Can you suggest anything that I can use to help them? Something that works, as I've heard that all the proper commercial stuff (e.g. Clearasil) doesn't always work.

If it still doesn't work, I guess I'm gonna have to go to the doctors, normally I wouldn't, but I hate how my back feels when I run my hand over it. It's *shudders* not nice!

Thanks all :)

Franki
x

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Re: Acne (and this time it's actually about the acne =P)
    Originally posted by *x*l'il miss socks*x*
    I'm one of those people that can't stand having yellow-head spots, which is always what they are, so I squeeze them.

    Me too! I think they look horrible all yellow and pussy. Yuk.

    Anyway, my skin sounds about the same as yours. I haven't actually found anything that works on my back yet, though tea tree shower gel is supposed to be good for clearing skin up (stings like hell if you get it in your eyes though.)

    For my face, I've been using this clearasil skin perfecting treatment stuff, seems to be working pretty well.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i always swore by tea tree oil, although my skin was never that bad, so i don't know if it'd work on acne.

    but you can get tea tree body washes, which can't hurt, and they're usually shop own-brands, so they're pretty cheap too.

    also try and drink more water. it really does do wonders for your skin, and helps to flush out infection.

    and i know it's hard to resist the urge to pick, i do it myself, but if you repeatedly pick at spots they will leave scars. if you're gonna squeeze the mingy white/yellow ones (and i don't blame you, i do it too) make sure you wash your hands first, and when you've squeezed, get some TCP or tea tree oil on it to try and stop it getting manky.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by kaffrin
    i always swore by tea tree oil, although my skin was never that bad, so i don't know if it'd work on acne.

    but you can get tea tree body washes, which can't hurt, and they're usually shop own-brands, so they're pretty cheap too.

    also try and drink more water. it really does do wonders for your skin, and helps to flush out infection.

    and i know it's hard to resist the urge to pick, i do it myself, but if you repeatedly pick at spots they will leave scars. if you're gonna squeeze the mingy white/yellow ones (and i don't blame you, i do it too) make sure you wash your hands first, and when you've squeezed, get some TCP or tea tree oil on it to try and stop it getting manky.

    I think a trip to The Body Shop is in order then . . . 'sthe only place I feel I can trust with things like that. You never know about those poor little bunny rabbits :(

    And I have loads of scars from picking spots, I've tried not to but like . . . temptation is so great :( I really am gonna try really hard not to now though, everyone's noticed the big thing on my chin, even on Graeme's webcam someone noticed, which was quite embarrassing. We used to have this little bottle of tea tree but I haven't got a clue where it is now, I guess I'm gonna have to buy the whole of the Tea Tree collection =S

    And the water thing - I'll give it a go, instead of filling my glass with orange squash, I'll just stick with the water :)

    Oh, and does the water thing make your skin softer as well? 'Cause I have really dry skin on my face anyway, and the facewashes make it really badly worse, so I put moisturiser on, which kinda defeats the object of the facewash really! So yeh =S

    Thanks for your help all :)

    Franki
    x
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    USE CLEAN AND CLEAR oil free moisturiser. or "simple" products. exfoliate once a week, and steam as well.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i'd stay away from products like clean and clear and clearisil etc.
    we did a test on them in biology and clean and clear came out the worst!

    not only that those products contain alcohol which completley dry your face out which causes spots and acne.

    the best thing you can go do is take a trip to the doctors and they can prescribe you special lotions to apply onto the spots and also other ways to stop the acne(e.g the pill, antibotics).
    just wash with warm water or look around for a product whihc doesn't contain alcohol and use a good moisturiser.

    with acne no amount of washing will get rid of it because it's not cause by dirt, thats why you need antibiotics to help get rid of it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Go see a doctor, let them decide wether they are bad or not. You will get scaring if you pick the scabs and the ones on your back sound infected so i suggest you get you arse down the GP asap. They gave me some nice little tablets to take, and although they didnt work ( i later had to take some hard core drugs from the hospital) they did help a bit.

    Bopz
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by *x*l'il miss socks*x*
    I think a trip to The Body Shop is in order then . . . 'sthe only place I feel I can trust with things like that. You never know about those poor little bunny rabbits :(

    yeah, i hate to break it to you, but you know how on body shop products they say 'against animal testing' and not 'not tested on animals'? you know why that is?

    you are not allowed to state 'not tested on animals' unless none of the ingredients of your product has ever been tested on animals at any point, and, well, a lot of the body shop stuff has. they don't test themselves, but they do accept products from companies who do test on animals.
    As far back as September 6, 1989, the Regional Court of Dusseldorf, Germany, barred The Body Shop from using statements such as, "We test neither our raw materials nor our end products on animals," on grounds this would be misleading advertising. Upon appeal, the verdict was upheld by the Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf, which found no substantial difference between the animal testing policy of The Body Shop and that of other cosmetics manufacturers.

    so yeah... if i were you, i'd have a look round boots, superdrug, or even a supermarket, cause i buy a lot of sainsburys own brand stuff, and it's really good.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So The Body Shop isn't safe?! :( damn it!

    My older sister went to the doctor, as her acne was really quite bad, and I think it was the antibiotics that helped her most. I *think* she's still taking them, but I'm not sure.

    Bopperz - the one's on my back aren't infected, although I imagine if I keep picking them they will get to be :(, but they were just like big nasty face spots, except on my back. They aren't nice *sigh*.

    My mum said tea-tree, tea-tree and more tea-tree. Which means I'm gonna have to take a trip to Chelmsford at some point (they have a Boots, a Superdrug and a Body Shop (the factory reject kind :p). And the Boots in Braintree is tiny, as is the Superdrug. The one's in Chelmsford are bigger. So yeh - Chelmsford.

    If it doesn't clear up, then I guess I will have to go doctor. I don't particularly want a load of scabby spots on my back when I go Florida in July, I don't want to feel all paranoid in my iddy biddy purple or blue bikini :p.

    BTW PussyKatty - probably a stupid question - what's steaming and how do you do it?

    Thanks everyone else :p and kaffrin - thankyou for shattering my illusions about The Body Shop. I shall never buy from there again :mad: stupid misleading company, and stupid girl on the vivisection website telling me it's the only one you can trust *goes off grumbling*

    Franki
    x

    Edited to say: I have this Sudocreme stuff, antiseptic cream, that my mum gave me, which I have been told to put on the scabs to help them heal, I used it on my tummy and it worked really well so I'm gonna use that :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you want to steam your face, it gets rid of a lot of impurities. Put some boiling water in the sink or a bowl. Add a few drops of tea tree oil if you like. Stick your head over it, cover with a towel and try to stay for 10-15 minutes. Do it about once a week.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by PussyKatty
    If you want to steam your face, it gets rid of a lot of impurities. Put some boiling water in the sink or a bowl. Add a few drops of tea tree oil if you like. Stick your head over it, cover with a towel and try to stay for 10-15 minutes. Do it about once a week.

    I knew it

    *pokes lil miss socks* I told u it was that :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    The sun also helps spots - i know it's gross, but my back (which i used to get lots of big spots on - hurray for growing out of it!) always got better if i sat out in the garden when it was sunny, in a bikini, and then had a shower afterwards - it's like being in a steam room, sweating opens up your pores and then if you rinse the sweat off the spots do clear up. Like steaming, but for your back :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by Sa-ra-ra-ra
    The sun also helps spots - i know it's gross, but my back (which i used to get lots of big spots on - hurray for growing out of it!) always got better if i sat out in the garden when it was sunny, in a bikini, and then had a shower afterwards - it's like being in a steam room, sweating opens up your pores and then if you rinse the sweat off the spots do clear up. Like steaming, but for your back :)

    So, like, Florida'll be good for it? WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! That's good to know :)

    And shut up Graeme, I don't trust you with things like that so, like, ner :P

    Thankya PK :)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    In my opinion if it is worrying you like you are feeling self concious go to the doctors. They won't think your silly just going for spots. Common problem. I got a few things and found gel really helped an they went away an if i get the odd one i will still use it. Drys your skin but that cant easily be solved with some cream.
    Plus drinking lots of water purify the skin I think
    Steam your face gets all the pores clearned out with the tree tea oil inside the water makes you feel really clean too!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by angel1886
    Steam your face gets all the pores clearned out with the tree tea oil inside the water makes you feel really clean too!

    I did that last night, but as I don't have any tea tree oil as yet, I used my tea tree face wash. I felt all refreshed afterwards :) and my skin today actually wasn't all dry 'n' 'orrible! Woo!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Re: Acne (and this time it's actually about the acne =P)

    I had mild acne that got worse suddenly but not too bad and i found that witch hazel products work very well!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I've said it before but cos I'm nice I'll say it again.

    One of the most effective treatments for Acne is Zinc and 've found some really good sources for Zinc over the last two days cos I got burned and lost some skin and didn't want to have a scar.

    Baby Nappy Rash Lotion usually has lots of zinc in it.

    Also taking Zinc tablets often works as well for some peple as Antibitotics without the isde effects of giving you tummy and digestive problems.

    Although tablets can take several weeks to work but I've found you hardley scar with them.

    Also try Morhulin Ointment - it contain 38% Zinc and Cod Liver Oil

    This is a really good website type in Zinc or Acne and you get a list of products hard to find in most stores

    http://www.expresschemist.co.uk
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by DiamondGeezer
    I've said it before but cos I'm nice I'll say it again.

    One of the most effective treatments for Acne is Zinc and 've found some really good sources for Zinc over the last two days cos I got burned and lost some skin and didn't want to have a scar.

    Baby Nappy Rash Lotion usually has lots of zinc in it.

    Also taking Zinc tablets often works as well for some peple as Antibitotics without the isde effects of giving you tummy and digestive problems.

    Although tablets can take several weeks to work but I've found you hardley scar with them.

    Also try Morhulin Ointment - it contain 38% Zinc and Cod Liver Oil

    This is a really good website type in Zinc or Acne and you get a list of products hard to find in most stores

    http://www.expresschemist.co.uk

    I take zinc, came in a supplement with tablets for calcium and magnesium from Holland and Barrett
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by DiamondGeezer
    I've said it before but cos I'm nice I'll say it again.

    One of the most effective treatments for Acne is Zinc and 've found some really good sources for Zinc over the last two days cos I got burned and lost some skin and didn't want to have a scar.

    Baby Nappy Rash Lotion usually has lots of zinc in it.

    Also taking Zinc tablets often works as well for some peple as Antibitotics without the isde effects of giving you tummy and digestive problems.

    Although tablets can take several weeks to work but I've found you hardley scar with them.

    Also try Morhulin Ointment - it contain 38% Zinc and Cod Liver Oil

    This is a really good website type in Zinc or Acne and you get a list of products hard to find in most stores

    http://www.expresschemist.co.uk

    You know too much :p

    But I shall get some Zincy thingys. I actually will this time. 'Cause I don't like these spots not one iddy biddy bit :(
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by *x*l'il miss socks*x*
    You know too much :p

    But I shall get some Zincy thingys. I actually will this time. 'Cause I don't like these spots not one iddy biddy bit :(

    Zinc tablets may take anything from 8 to 12 weeks to show an effect so don't give up on them.

    Also zinc cream i.e. nappy rash creame will be good also to use, just check the ingredients label to make sure it does contain Zinc
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Originally posted by DiamondGeezer
    Zinc tablets may take anything from 8 to 12 weeks to show an effect so don't give up on them.

    Also zinc cream i.e. nappy rash creame will be good also to use, just check the ingredients label to make sure it does contain Zinc

    Like I said, you know too much :p

    But yeh, I'll get some. *Adds to list of things I need to buy in the next however-long it is before Prom*
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Since I was about 10 I had spots, acne til I was about 14. I have always used this benzyl peroxide cream I get off the doc (Tho now I have to pay so my bro gets it for me and for him!). It's 5 or 10%.

    I'm still using it now on the odd adult spots I get. Totally recommend it although it can dry your skin out if you use it alot.

    Stick to whats working tho!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I used to find washing twice with normal soap and water and then dabbing on some TCP with a cotton wool ball worked wonders, although be warned it can really feel like you're skin is burning.

    But TCP used last thing can often get rid of spots overnight.
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