Acne Relief

Posts Tagged ‘dermatologist’

Last night a dear friend of mine called to thank me for helping her 15 year old get rid of her bacne. She had called about 3 weeks ago because her poor child was getting teased pretty well by the other kids and mom was at her wits end. For you guys that may not know, bacne is just a slang name for back acne or back zits, pimples or whatever you may want to call them. While it is really no different than any other type of body acne, it’s probably more severe and cystic in nature. This can make them especially difficult to get rid of. I know because I have firsthand experience with it.

You see, a great deal of my teen acne issues revolved around bacne. While I got a good dose of face acne I also had a good face treatment in my arsenals that actually keep my face blemishes to a minimum. But those back zits, well that was a different story.

None of the pills or potions that my dermatologist prescribed (today it’s most likely tetracycline or minocycline) and suggested offered any relief. And it was the same negative response with the topical ointments and washes (Retin-A, benzoyl peroxide etal.). So there I was left to fend for myself. It took me awhile, but sure enough after some trial and error with various acne fighting solutions I stumbled upon a bacne natural treatment that worked for me many years ago which I was more than happy to impart to my friends 15 year old and now I guess I’ll relay to you.

Because the back is difficult for most people to reach by themselves you should invest in a long handled very soft bristled brush. This brush is used to exfoliate your back once or twice a week with a sugar scrub. If you want or feel you need to get a tad more aggressive, you can do a salt scrub, but don’t go nuts. When you are not exfoliating to remove dead skin wrapping your face clothing around the brush and using castile soap or your favorite acne cleanser makes an excellent every day cleansing instrument for your back or your whole body for that matter.

Wear loose fitting cotton garments whenever possible. If you don’t believe that tight fitting clothing and sweating are a cause of bacne, talk to some football players and ask them about forehead acne from tight fitting helmets and chest and bacne from shoulder pads. I saw it first hand with my son when he played football. So lay off the spandex and other tight fitting clothing that don’t allow your skin to breath.

You guys know how I feel about pimple popping. Don’t do it. I almost didn’t bother to even bring this up because the back is that one place that’s just about impossible for someone to do any self zit popping. But with all the You Tube acne video’s that I’ve seen on the net there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of accomplices willing to have at those nasty pimples wherever they may be. Besides bacne has a nasty habit of leaving scars and while they may not be as noticeable to you like face acne scars would be. A pitted and scared back is not a pleasant sight.

Now, here’s the secret to my bacne remedy. In a spray bottle mix 2 ounces of vinegar to 6 ounces of water and approx 1/32 of an ounce of tea tree oil. And after every shower spray a light mist over your back. While I have no scientific explanation why this acne home remedy works, I can say. It worked wonders for me, my friend’s 15 year old and my own son. Everyone reported their bacne was gone in 2 weeks.

Ever since I’ve been contemplating about acne laser skin treatment, I’ve been noticing more about other people’s skin.  I’ve always looked at other people’s faces with envy without any acne scarring but now I’m beginning to think I can be scar free too with Fraxel laser treatment.  I’m holding out for the hope at least.  All the Fraxel laser literature says great things about it.  However, this is my face we’re talking about here so I must do my research.

The way Fraxel laser is supposed to work is by sending thousands of microscopic beams of light in specific areas of treatment to destroy damaged skin cells while promoting the growth of new ones.  And because the Fraxel laser only targets 5 to 50 percent of the skin’s surface, it leaves the rest of the skin free to help with the healing.  I am not well versed in cosmetic dermatology so it all sounds good to me.  Also, they claim that Fraxel’s recovery time is much shorter than other acne laser scar removal procedures precisely because of this localized healing and the precise nature of the laser.

Okay, so maybe that’s all marketing hype but the Fraxel treatment has been FDA cleared to treat acne scars and skin resurfacing.  One can only hope that they are not in the pockets of the cosmetic companies and they have our best interests at heart.

In any case, maybe I’m cynical but I really, really want to believe in Fraxel for my acne scarring and so I’ve been doing lots of research.  Reading Fraxel reviews, only slightly more than 50% said they would recommend it.  Why so low if the cosmetic industry says it’s the greatest acne scar removal treatment there is?  Are the only reviewers on these forums just negative people?  We all know that people are more likely to give negative comments than give positive comments.  That’s just the way life is.   People just don’t give compliments or say thank you in their daily lives so you can’t expect them to log into a forum.  At least that’s the way I’m justifying it.

However, other things that concern me are the down times advertised.  The Fraxel laser treatment brochures I’ve been given say that the downtime is short (actually, they don’t say specific numbers at all).  The Fraxel side effects I’d expect are redness and swelling much like a sunburn.  And then I can expect some itching and flaking and then a bronzed skin appearance.  Okay, that doesn’t sound bad at all and frankly, I’ve had worse from acne medication that caused the flakiness and drying.  I can live with this.  However, from the reviews I’ve read, the side effects are much more severe and longer lasting.  We’re talking about a week of down time here.  For some people, they might be able to get away with make up but I would probably want to take a week off.  First of all, I don’t want my coworkers to know that I’m getting a cosmetic procedure done and next, I would want to stay away from the sun for as long as possible so I don’t get burned.  I think the treatment makes you more light sensitive.  Finally, I don’t want to wear make up as that might aggravate the acne into coming back.  I’ve already read from people that after Fraxel treatments, it made their acne come back so you better be prepared for that as well and have some medication either oral or topical to combat it.

Maybe the people who are reviewing the Fraxel laser treatment haven’t had the full course yet.  You’re supposed to get a series of four treatments spaced 1 to 3 months apart.  Perhaps they stopped at only one when they didn’t see any results or the results weren’t to their expectations.   Apparently with the Fraxel laser, you see immediate results and then the progressive results that happen later on.  With the immediate results, your face gets fuller I guess because of the swelling so it elevates the pitted acne scars.  But then later on, when the collagen starts to produce you see the more permanent results.  Again, this is what has been advertised by the cosmetics industry.  Is it just because they want you to come back for return visits so it pays them more?  I don’t know.  I think the best scenario is to have realistic expectations before having the laser treatment.  That is what I’m going to ask my dermatologist.  How much can I expect my acne scars to improve after Fraxel?   If it doesn’t work then either she is a bad doctor or she lied.  In either case, I’m not going to go for a second, third and fourth treatment after that.  It would be a waste of money and I’m putting my face in danger by a doctor I cannot trust.

There are many Fraxel acne resources so I suggest that you read up when having this procedure done.  I know I am.

Hello, and welcome to my blog.  If you are here then obviously you have heard about Fraxel laser treatment for acne scarring and you’re contemplating having it done on yourself.  I am too.

I have suffered from acne for almost half my life and I’m still suffering from it now.  I’m a woman in my early thirties and I just want it to stop.  It was embarrassing to go through it in my teens and it’s embarrassing now.  At least when you were a kid, everyone knows it is because of hormonal changes.  As an adult suffering from acne, you’d think the acne flare ups would have stopped by now.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t and women are more susceptible to adult acne than men.  It’s due to our periods, pregnancy, and all sorts of stresses that can put our hormones out of whack.

I’ve always had mild to moderate acne and my family doctor never thought much of it and always gave me topical acne treatment.  I always told her that I wanted a referral to a dermatologist but she just said they would just prescribe me the same thing.  Now years later, and acne scarring to go with it, I wish I’d been more forceful as this could have saved my face from scarring.

I have a new family doctor now and a cosmetic dermatologist and we’re going to see what we can do.  Like I said, I still suffer from acne so Fraxel laser treatment won’t be right for me right now.  I need to keep it under control first.  For the first time in my life, there is some sort of hope.  I’m on a new cleansing treatment and the relief alone of my face from not having to endure harsh washings helped it immensely.  I have oily skin and I’d wash it three times a day.  I don’t think it is excessive – once in the morning, once when I come home from work and once before I go to bed.  Before, my acne skin care regiment would be that I’d use Cetaphil which is pretty much recommended by everybody and natural acne remedies such as a natural gel with astringent and cooling herbs containing green tea extract.  Well, this just aggravated my face and my dermatologist told me to stop.  I’m on Spectrogel and the first time I used it on my face I felt instant relief.  It wasn’t harsh on my face at all.  My topical acne treatments now include Metrogel gel at night and Clindasol cream in the morning with SPF.    If you’re familiar with rosacea treatments you might be familiar with Metrogel as it is used to treat it.  Now, why would my dermatologist recommend it for my acne?  It seems that I have something called red acne that comes with flushing/stressed/easily embarrassed which is also common with rosacea.   Unfortunately, this hasn’t cleared up my acne totally to begin Fraxel laser treatment but it has helped.  I still have these tiny bumps on my right jaw line and it’s driving me insane.  It’s the only place I always flair up.  I might get some on my chin as well but I think this has to do maybe with clothes,  pillows, or blankets coming in contact with these areas so I always watch where I put my hands or how I sleep.  I’ve also changed from Pantene shampoo to Head and Shoulders because the zinc might help with the acne as well.  Although I don’t want to take any oral medication, I am at a point where I am going to try anything so my dermatologist has me on a six week course of minocycline as well.  I’m pretty small in size so for the first week, I took 100 mg of minocycline and now I’m on 50 mg a day which I take with supper.   I go back to see my dermatologist in six weeks to see if there is any progress in order to even contemplate having Fraxel done to improve my acne scarring.  If I don’t get my acne under control, there would really be no point in getting it done.  By the way, after what I read on the internet and also speaking to the dermatologist, she said that the Fraxel might even aggravate acne at first so you really want to get your acne under control with medication before any acne scar removal procedure can take place.

In any case, we’ll see if the minocycline helps me.  I don’t want to be on it forever because one of the side effects are teeth staining.  I mean, what next?  I don’t want to have acne and bad teeth.  It would just compound the problem.  Minocycline also makes you sensitive to the sun so make sure you wear sunscreen.  Again, you don’t want to compound your acne problem with sun damage either.

There are so many issues when trying to deal with acne that I just want it to go away.  Hopefully, one of these days it will be all over and I will wake up with a face clear of acne scars.  I’m hopeful that my journey in getting ready for my Fraxel laser treatment will be worth it.

The FDA has just approved a new acne treatment from a company called Therative. It is a hand-held acne treatment device that supposedly incorporates technology previously found only in the dermatologist’s office.

The product will be called ThermaClear, and it is reported to be a unique and groundbreaking approach to acne and blemish treatment. According to a press release from the company, this new product will work in a manner similar to laser treatment, a common out-patient procedure used to treat moderate to more severe acne breakouts.

As new information emerges, we will bring it to you…so be on the lookout for a special new hand-held pimple zapper…..

A microdermabrasion acne procedure is one to consider if your facial skin has suffered scarring due to nodules, cysts or other severe forms of acne. The treatment will remove the skin’s top layer of dead cells and smooth scarred tissue. This procedure works especially well for those who have suffered rare, disfiguring acne conditions. Microdermabrasion smooths the surface of the skin, removes very fine lines, stimulates collagen production, and reduces skin imperfections.

Microdermabrasion acne scars removal is an option for people whose severe breakouts result in scars on the face. However it will not work on acne scars that are very deeply imbedded in the skin; it is for scars that have not extremely deep, but are closer to the outer layer of skin. It’s important to note that acne microdermabrasion is not a good choice for those individuals with the following conditions: rosacea, herpes, warts, eczema, lupus, and diabetes. Other conditions may also influence the safety of the treatment and a dermatologist will help to determine what is best for each patient.

Acne microdermabrasion will further promote new skin cell production in the deepest layer of the skin as it clears dull and congested skin. The procedure takes about 30 minutes and maximum results are achieved between 4 to 12 visits, depending on the severity of the skin in the area. Skin in the acne dermabrasion area will be slightly pink for a couple of weeks afterward.

Patients find the skin from acne dermabrasion to be tight for the first 24-48 hours. One’s skin may feel like a mild sunburn or windburn, but any further pain is not common. Using a good moisturizer along with a high SPF will help soothe skin after the microdermabrasion acne scars treatment. Also, some peeling and light crusting may be expected in the area. No anesthesia is needed for the procedure, since it is non-invasive. Patients can drive home right after. Patients will see results for up to a year and as such maintenance will be required.

Microdermabrasion acne scar treatment is a good option for those who wish to unclog pores and reduce fine acne scarring. It may be the answer for some individuals, but a trip to the dermatologist is the first step to consider before this procedure. Acne microdermabrasion results will last if done properly and the healing of skin proves to heal acne scars, as well as the individual’s overall appearance.