Naturopathy isn't for me (adventures in adult acne)

[pale_princess]

So I saw a naturopath out of desperation re: my acne a few months back. It wasn't a good experience. Basically she got me to tell her my life story for an hour and a half, and afterward told me that my acne "isn't hormonal, it's TOXINS!" and was pretty much like stop eating everything and keep paying money to see me. She sent me an email recently asking about a "follow-up" to "our plan."
I kinda wanna respond like, "Hey! I'm seeing a dermatologist. She took one look at me and said my acne WAS hormonal. She prescribed an androgen blocker and it's working. Take your mythical "toxins" and shove it!"

[ohnoitsbonnie]

One of my best friends has recently switched to an all-vegan diet per that banana girl person. She's tough to be around ��. She's either always hungry or asking if something is vegan or talking about the food she eats and how great she feels. I feel guilty for eating something with meat in front of her and then not being hungry an hour later.

[pale_princess]

Ya she talked about "elimination diet" and also talked about "meal replacements" and I flat out said I'm not gonna do a fad diet. Nathuropathy - or this woman, at least - seems to perpetuate/encourage disordered eating habits.

[Mo]

May I ask why you didn't go to a dermatologist in the first place?

[MyOneAndOnly]

naturopaths, homeopaths, etc. is all a scam. Some people doing it, though, do actually believe their own BS. Not unlike psychics

i can understand why even people who don't buy into it could give it a try. When i first started having issues with my spine i was in crazy pain for months and I went to a chiropracter. That despite knowing it's complete nonsense and also a scam. I would have done anything or tried anything at that point.

of course it didn't help and the asshole told me i need to come back weekly for "treatments"

[pale_princess]

Originally Posted by Mo

May I ask why you didn't go to a dermatologist in the first place?

I went to one a few years ago and it wasn't a good experience. She basically said "You have adult acne, deal with it" and was more concerned with her botox and juvederm patients, aka the ones paying (Canadian health care here). I tried a few things and naturopathy was suggested. Tried it, didn't like it, got a new derm, tried a few things with her, hormones are doing the trick.

[yo soy el mejor]

i got the worst cystic acne from using mirena. i brought it up to my doctor and was told the same thing as you - get over it and it should clear up. i had them take it out anyway.

and my pores are so tight whenever i get a pimple it's just a bump with nowhere to go. i use lirio now whenever i get a pimple and it works wonders. it's a laundry soap bar, but clears up acne like nobody's business.

http://www.vernonsales.com/images/items/002422.JPG

try it, y0. i don't even use it for laundry.

[yo soy el mejor]

and when looking up that photo i realized some bars are marketed as soap, too.

Lirio Neutro is highly recommended by doctors and dermatologists for juvenile acne, eczema, and post-surgical delicate cleansing.


http://www.dollaritem.com/modules/st.../89690_lrg.jpg

it's seriously effective shit and costs less than 2 dollars.

[pale_princess]

Awesome tip, yo soy! I'm gonna have to look out for that stuff.
I haven't had any cycstic, just a few spots here and there since starting my hormone therapy. God cystic would just have me crying when looking in the mirror every morning.

I get it on my back too, mostly upper back by shoulders. It's clearing but I have a lot of scarring

I bought this stuff at Ulta when I was in Buffalo last year and it was GREAT for the acne on my back:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31KnHQC1P3L.jpg
Unfortunately Philosophy doesn't sell it in Canada even though they sell pretty much all their other stuff here.

This stuff worked okay:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...jL._SY355_.jpg
but a bit too pricey for just okay.

This stuff is decent for the price point:
http://www.allure.com/images/beauty-...dote-scrub.jpg
but yet another product not available in Canada that I bought in Buffalo.

These two are absolute crap:
http://media.dermstore.com/catalog/1...0x300/2768.jpg http://guideimg.alibaba.com/images/s...4g_4442891.jpg
and super expensive and make me happy about Sephora's amazing return policy. Funny enough, I love Ole Henriksen products for my face (use a face wash, toner, peel, serum and oil all from them) despite the bad experience with the body scrub.

This stuff is working for me pretty well these days:
http://www.thebodyshop.ca/en/images/...y-wash_m_l.jpg
Works really well, good price point, and Body Shop always has sales even though tea tree oil is like sooooo 2001

Any product suggestions for scar diminishing?

[pale_princess]

Oh and I'll put this here; before we did hormone therapy we did Accutane. I went to her basically to get Accutane in the first place. I had to get a note from a psychiatrist and extensive blood work before I could start it. I was on it for about a month and it seemed to be starting to work but - not sure if it was triggered by the Accutane or not - I went into such a horrible depression that I had to take some time off work
My new psych says once I'm stabilized on the right meds for my mental illness I may be able to revisit Accutane again. I'm still hoping I can do it again but if the hormones are doing the job, I may not have to.

[ohnoitsbonnie]

When I use anything other than plain soap I get acne.

[yo soy el mejor]

what is plain soap?

[Dogfighter28]

The day I stopped using soap on my face, blemishes stopped appearing.

Laugh all you want, but the less I touch it, the better it looks.

[buzzard]

I have had it thrust upon me that you should wash your face only with cold to warm water, stopping short of hot. It has something to do with soaps or overly hot water stripping natural oils from the skin, which can then lead to some sort of imbalance that results in pimples.

Exfoliating once or twice a week is also spoken highly of.

[teh b0lly!!1]

this thread is somewhat encouraging for me because lately i've been really having a hard time with endless catastrophic breakouts. now it's pretty much one long breakout that's been going on for two months now. i always feel like i'm the only adult in the fucking universe to have to still deal with this bullshit, and it only makes socializing even more difficult even though i've been trying hard lately to get the fuck out of it and meet new people.

anyway i wish i was brave enough to do what byron said and just come off soap completely. it sounds right to me. but it will probably take ages of horrendous detoxing and i just want to be free

[vixnix]

Acne sucks and mine is always hormonal. I have a pretty good routine but when those hormones flare up, forgeddaboudit

[pale_princess]

Originally Posted by teh b0lly!!1

this thread is somewhat encouraging for me because lately i've been really having a hard time with endless catastrophic breakouts. now it's pretty much one long breakout that's been going on for two months now. i always feel like i'm the only adult in the fucking universe to have to still deal with this bullshit, and it only makes socializing even more difficult even though i've been trying hard lately to get the fuck out of it and meet new people.

anyway i wish i was brave enough to do what byron said and just come off soap completely. it sounds right to me. but it will probably take ages of horrendous detoxing and i just want to be free

It is SUCH an isolating thing to go through and a hard thing to talk about, too. It's so embarrassing and defeating and tough to accept it's something you can't really control. No matter how well you wash your face if cystic acne keeps coming, it's something you can't really control without medication. It's not a matter of, as this classic Canadian commercial puts it, "eating too many chocolate barrrss" and not washing your face.



The thing I had to keep telling myself is that everyone else around me is an adult with their own life and they are NOT wondering why my skin is terrible and why I have so many zits. They're busy with their own lives and worries.

[pale_princess]

Oh yeah another thing I tried was not wearing any makeup whatsoever for the first two weeks I was off work. Nope, didn't help!

It's SO NICE to put on makeup now and not have to spackle and spackle overtop of these ridiculous bumps! I'm having fun with it again and feeling pretty good.

[mxzombie]

i took accutane when i was in high school. my acne wasn't really that bad, but i was too lazy to do anything else. it was mostly awful and for six months my lips were just a peely mess and i get bloody noses all the time from my skin drying out. now, instead of dealing with blemishes, i deal with flaky dry skin on my face. not sure if that's because of the accutane or because i grew up in a really humid place and now live somewhere drier. also my sister has been convinced that it made me depressed. who knows about that one.

[pale_princess]

Yeah the peeling lips side affect of Accutane hit me quickly, but it was fine. I couldn't use regular lipsticks, lipliner etc which kind of annoyed me used a lip tint and bought some fancy lip balms to treat myself.

Yves Saint ******t Tint in Oil in Pink About Me for just-ate-a-popsicle tinted lips
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5HSLqhW_ip...in-Oil%2B1.jpg

Jack Black Natural Mint Lip Balm
http://www.getjackblack.com/Images/P...lm_g_hrweb.jpg

Smith's Strawberry Lip Balm
http://www.beautyhabit.com/media/20939-300.jpg

My lips are pretty much back to normal though.

[Eulogy]

My skin is bad.

When I was younger I took antibiotics and tried topical prescription stuff. None of it worked perfectly.

It's not awful now but I still deal with it and it's super annoying.

[pavementtune]

Originally Posted by teh b0lly!!1

anyway i wish i was brave enough to do what byron said and just come off soap completely.

not sure what you mean?


Real soap doesn't belong on your face to wash it daily, it dries it out. just look for a facial cleansing product that is without alcohol and has a low pH.
or "soap-free" soap bars...

http://www2.sebamed.com/index.php?id=792

[teh b0lly!!1]

i use some french facial cleanser my (ex) gf left me that claims to be especially for acne prone skin, and is "Sans savon". which is, btw, also the same cleanser i've been using for many years now, and i've had clear skin most of the time.

re: what i meant, pfrbb said itt that his skin has been great since he just stopped washing it with soap altogether.

i've really been going through hell and back with my face since i've been here, which is especially a drag since i'm trying to, uh, reinvent myself. in my attempts to find something to at least help a bit, i stumbled across a bunch of people on the internet saying that applying apple cider vinegar to your face really helps stabilize your ph levels and sanitize your skin. so i've been trying that for a while and it's very slowly and frustratingly getting better. of course, it could all go to hell on any given day though

[teh b0lly!!1]

Originally Posted by pale_princess

It is SUCH an isolating thing to go through and a hard thing to talk about, too. It's so embarrassing and defeating and tough to accept it's something you can't really control.

i only recently consciously realized that i absolutely blame myself when i get awful zits. avoiding them has been one of my bad ocd manifestations over the years, and it only recently occured to me that i always think to myself, oh, this is because i touched my face yesterday, or because i ate that stupid candy, or didn't change towels soon enough, etc.. like it's such an automatic thought process that i barely realized i'm doing it.

trying to stop.

[mxzombie]

Originally Posted by pale_princess

Yeah the peeling lips side affect of Accutane hit me quickly, but it was fine. I couldn't use regular lipsticks, lipliner etc which kind of annoyed me used a lip tint and bought some fancy lip balms to treat myself.

My lips are pretty much back to normal though.

yeah, my lips went back to normal within a few weeks of stopping accutane. i just had to slather my mouth & nose with aquaphor every day when i was on it and it was passable, but my [already fat] lips were definitely swollen. my sophomore year class photo was pretty embarrassing.

[Cool As Ice Cream]

Originally Posted by Dogfighter28

The day I stopped using soap on my face, blemishes stopped appearing.

Laugh all you want, but the less I touch it, the better it looks.

it's still your face though, so that's not saying much.

[pavementtune]

Originally Posted by teh b0lly!!1

i've really been going through hell and back with my face since i've been here

yea, regional changes do my skin in, too. the product that saves my skin from reacting to a new climate and a new diet hasn't been invented yet.
plus stress and stuff.

A bit of the wrong food will do wonders for my face (tiny red dots starting at and in my ears, spreading to the neck and hairline) and I can't really just hide for a week when that happens. So I must have been a great customer the past 20 years...

Originally Posted by pale_princess

s even though tea tree oil is like sooooo 2001

ha, true, but it works! I use one tree oil product, and have been for a decade now.
it's a make-up concealer stick thingy. you can use it under, over, and without other make-up. they should brand it as anti-pimples stick, because it works 10 times better than ony of those.
http://www.artdeco.com/en/makeup-1/t...html#option-15

Originally Posted by pale_princess

Any product suggestions for scar diminishing?

never had scars in my face so didn't try it myself, but it's what people at work use. give it about 6 weeks
http://www.clinique.com/product/1693...Spot-Corrector

[Dogfighter28]

Yeah I don't wash any part of my body with any kind of soap, except for the underarms, the nether-regions, feet, places that smell and are prone to have smelly bacteria hang around if you dont take care of it.

No shampoo, no deodorant. I feel like those two have made a huge difference to my skin too. My body produces less oil now that I'm not drying it out artificially all over.

[pavementtune]

Originally Posted by Dogfighter28

Yeah I don't wash any part of my body with any kind of soap, except for the underarms, the nether-regions, feet, places that smell and are prone to have smelly bacteria hang around if you dont take care of it.

No shampoo, no deodorant. I feel like those two have made a huge difference to my skin too. My body produces less oil now that I'm not drying it out artificially all over.

this use of the word "soap" in confusing.
so what do you use instead? soap-free shower stuff? or just a sponge and water to get rid of dead skin cells?
and what do you use instead of shampoo?

[teh b0lly!!1]

Originally Posted by Dogfighter28

Yeah I don't wash any part of my body with any kind of soap, except for the underarms, the nether-regions, feet, places that smell and are prone to have smelly bacteria hang around if you dont take care of it.

No shampoo, no deodorant. I feel like those two have made a huge difference to my skin too. My body produces less oil now that I'm not drying it out artificially all over.

i'd be curious to know how long it took your skin to make this adjustment, and how bad your skin got in the process before getting better again?