Acne

jean1272

CrazyCat wrote: »

Hi - I had acne from the age of approx 23 til late thirties. Like you I found the sunbed helped but felt guilty about the damage it was probably doing as well.

I bought one of the "beautyskin" lamps and found that it had the same effect as sunbeds but without the tan (and presumably without the damage too). In other words it definitely helped! It didn't entirely cure it but it made enough of a difference to make me glad I bought it. You may be able to get a used on from ebay to save a few pennies.

I'd also recommend drinking loads and loads of water as this makes a HUGE difference to my skin condition, along with not using any cleaners or washes that are too strong as they seem to cause my skin to get "stressed" and cause more breakouts.

Hope this helps!

great thanks for the reply, i found one on amazon and im going to give it a try,as for the water i have tried drinking a litre and a half a day and it definately affected my bladder more than my skin

student87

How was it Jean1272?

Ted_Hutchinson

CrazyCat wrote: »

Hi - I had acne from the age of approx 23 til late thirties. Like you I found the sunbed helped but felt guilty about the damage it was probably doing as well.

It is possible to improve the photoprotective properties of the skin to limit the photoaging effects of sunlight.
Photochemistry and Photobiology lists EGCG, the major and the most active polyphenolic constituent found in green tea first in the list. We see from this it helps prevent wrinkles and DNA damage but a search of pubmed will find plenty more.
I find Green Tea half the price if bought from Chinese Cash & Carry or even Asian grocers. It's best made with water off the boil and not left to brew to long. Fine drunk cold or as a base for fruit cordial. I also ring the changes with a slice of ginger or lemon or cinnamon stick. (The cinnamon stick can live in the pot for a few days or as long as you can taste it.)

Genistein Resveratrol Silymarin Apigenin Curcumin [6]-Gingerol Delphinidin Lycopene are the other Phytochemicals listed in that paper for the Prevention of Solar Ultraviolet Radiation-induced Damages

Regular readers to this forum will be aware I included many of these items in my post last May 2007 that you can read here 131

You may also find this interesting.
Implications for the Role of Diet in Acne

nibs

My son has been on roaccutaine for 7 weeks now and his skin is improving by the week. No more spots but he is left with some scarring which is fading. So many people advised us against this treatment but the advantages far outweighed the disadvantages for him. I realise its not for everyone but its certainly worth enquiring about. Your GP will need to refer you to the dermatologist at your local hospital. People who are lucky enough not to have suffered with acne have no understanding on the phsycological impact it has on some sufferers.

frivolous_fay

Hiya,

I saw a zeno in Boots the other day (clearance price - worth checking if you decide to try it)

I was sceptical so I looked up some reviews. Here's what people seemed to think:

- It's expensive because you have to keep replacing the tips. You can't get away with not changing them, because it stops working
- It only works on deep cysts - it will make whiteheads worse.
- One of the reviews I read attracted some comments from a dermatologist - he suggested using a hot face cloth on developing cysts to achieve the same effect.

I could have done with one 15 years ago! Currently I'm winging it on a combo of Freederm, Garnier pure gel and a clinique anti-bac soap bar.

fifth_ave

Hi ya Jean1272 - I recently purchased a Zeno pro & have been happy with the results. At time of purchase I did also buy a spare replacement tip, but have since found on ebay someone selling instructions on how to use the device without the need to buy replacement tips, so it could possibly save the need to buy replacements. Did a search on here to see if anyone had posted any tips about the Zeno on here & came across your thread. Like the last post said don't use it on whiteheads or blackheads it's not suitable.
I use to use a sunbed years ago, but have vowed never to use one again. It's worth a try.

Vik

Another fan of roaccutane here. You need a referral and you need to insist on this from your doctor as he really should have sent you to a dermatologist by now.
I had really really bad skin up to the age of 19 and had tried absolutely everything from the age of 13 upwards. I was on the pill, antibiotics, benzozyl peroxide everything... With roaccutane it is a pretty serious drug and chock full of vitamin e so you can't drink while on it as it can seriously screw your liver up and you have to go for blood tests regularly but it really really works.
Its pretty unpleasent initially as in the first couple of weeks your skin gets even worse and then becomes very dry and my lips also became incredibly painful and chapped. However this all improves and I was left with near perfect skin after a years treatment and have maintained this for the last 4 years with only very rare spots occuring.
I would really reconmend getting referred to a specialist and asking for this drug.

elm11

Vik wrote: »

Another fan of roaccutane here. You need a referral and you need to insist on this from your doctor as he really should have sent you to a dermatologist by now.
I had really really bad skin up to the age of 19 and had tried absolutely everything from the age of 13 upwards. I was on the pill, antibiotics, benzozyl peroxide everything... With roaccutane it is a pretty serious drug and chock full of vitamin e so you can't drink while on it as it can seriously screw your liver up and you have to go for blood tests regularly but it really really works.
Its pretty unpleasent initially as in the first couple of weeks your skin gets even worse and then becomes very dry and my lips also became incredibly painful and chapped. However this all improves and I was left with near perfect skin after a years treatment and have maintained this for the last 4 years with only very rare spots occuring.
I would really reconmend getting referred to a specialist and asking for this drug.

I have had acne since I was 9 years old. It took until I was 15 for the doctors to take the problem seriously and by the time I was 16 I was prescribed Roaccutane by my dermatologist. It was a very harsh treatment and does have many nasty side effects.
I am glad I took the drug as it improved my skin by 50% which was fantastic as my back and chest were covered by this age and I had no self esteem.
I was very upset and still am though that 95% of peole who take Roaccutane never suffer from acne again, yet I still have lots of it!

I have given up will All skin treatments as NONE of them have worked for me (thats not to say they have not helped a little)
No-one can ever understand the damage acne can cause emotionally to a person.
I am now 24 yrs old and to top things off I am having fertility problems (which doctors believe is due to the Roacutane). Acne has robbed me of my childhood, my confidence and possibly the chance to have children.

Ted_Hutchinson

[FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Acne Vulgaris [/FONT] [FONT=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]A Disease of Western Civilization [/FONT]

treliac

elm11 wrote: »

I am glad I took the drug as it improved my skin by 50% which was fantastic as my back and chest were covered by this age and I had no self esteem.
I was very upset and still am though that 95% of peole who take Roaccutane never suffer from acne again, yet I still have lots of it!

No-one can ever understand the damage acne can cause emotionally to a person.

I am now 24 yrs old and to top things off I am having fertility problems (which doctors believe is due to the Roacutane). Acne has robbed me of my childhood, my confidence and possibly the chance to have children.

My daughter took a course of Roaccutane, suffered terribly from the side effects, but her acne cleared. However, after a year the acne returned. She was desperate to get rid of it and put herself through another course of Roaccutane (the only option, said her consultant). Again, she had all the side effects and depression that went with it. Yet her skin cleared again and now, 3 or 4 years later she still has beautiful skin.

She had the most horrible form of cystic acne and says that despite the effects of Roaccutane she would still take it again as the acne destroyed all her self confidence and the worst of the side effects are short term.

I think she still gets tired more easily and has less energy than she ever did before the treatment although other factors can't be discounted.

It's a difficult decision to make and one that has to be personal. I have not heard of any long-term effect on fertility. This is frightening if it is so. My daughter is not yet putting that to the test.

I empathise with you elm11. I don't know whether a second course of Roaccutane was ever advised for you or whether you would have chosen to go through it again anyway. This is a 'between the devil and the deep blue sea' of a decision to make.

I wish you the very best possible outcome with your fertility difficulty.