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Complexion Problems....


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do any of you have problems with acne or other skin blemishes?? i have tried EVERY product to help with skin breakouts and none have helped clear my skin. ...i am 25 and have problems with acne/skin blemishes since about 14 years old.........i thought i'd grow out of it by now, that it was an "adolescent" puberty type thing, but still having breakouts.......i tend to have problems with my chin, forehead, and my upper back/shoulders.......

if any of you have suffered with complexion problems, do you have any suggestions for treatments? i have heard so much about proactiv but have never actually tried it......i am wondering if it actually works the way they say it does.....??

p.s. by the way, the only thing that has somewhat helped was birth control............but, after being on birth control for years, i felt it was time to go off of it as i dont like some of the risks associated with being on birth control - plus it's expensive and my insurance doesnt pay the full cost for it!

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Here's an article from American Family Physician that puts the risks of combined oral contraceptives (COCs) in perspective:

http://www.aafp.org/afp/20061201/fpin.html

Observational studies found one to three additional cases of VTE among 10,000 women taking combination contraceptives for one year.1 The risk of ischemic stroke is also higher among combination contraceptive users with a history of migraines with aura.2,3 In absolute terms, measured as ischemic strokes per 10,000 women over 10 years, a woman 25 to 29 years of age has a baseline ischemic stroke risk of 2.7; this risk increases to 4.0 if she uses oral contraceptives, 11.0 if she has migraines with aura, and 23.0 if she both uses oral contraceptives and has migraines with aura.2

Of course, your personal risk might be different if you have very unstable blood pressure or a family history of clotting disorders or if you smoke.

COCs reduce your risk of ovarian cancer, which is a particularly deadly form of cancer, by about 40% and also reduce your risk of endometrial cancer.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.f...l=pubmed_docsum

The risk of cervical cancer is higher in women who use the pill for contraception, but that's almost certainly because they are not using condoms and therefore are exposed to the human papillomavirus (HPV). There is currently an HPV vaccine available for young women.

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i'm having skin trouble as well. since childhood a very dry skin and acne during teenage years until i started birthcontrol, which helped a lot. since about 4 or 5 years i'm having rosacea (especially in my face) which i don't like, but hey, i'm married so who cares :unsure::lol::lol::lol:

no, i'm just kidding as it can be a REAL problem for people, it's just that i don't think it is my worst problem.

corina :)

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O girl YES!! it is horrible, I see in your signature that you take florinef, as do I and my dr told me that florinef can cause acne :unsure: EVer since I got sick when I was 12, I have had problems with it. After trying everything under the sun, when I was 15 I went to the dr about it and she gave me Benzaclin and Difererin, the only things that have helped. WARNING- when I started the midorine it made my skin burn with the Differin, so I had to stop that.

Anyways, these days Benzaclin does a great. Its avaible by prescription

A couple of months ago a good friend became a certified skin analyt and used a machine that saw 8 layers into my skin, she said that there wasn't a whole lot of acne, but oil congestion that was the problem... so if you have oily skin, maybe you should do what she told me too, steam my face for 3 mintues once or twice a week and then use a clay based mask to get all the congestion out, then use topical treatments. This has really helped to clear up the cysts I get on my jaw

I recently came across a brand called Paula's choice, only avaible online at cosmeticscop.com it has such great reviews that I am giving it a try with the steam/mask instead of the benzacln due to the fact that it is SO much cheaper then benzaclin (medicaid doesn't cover it :X) but it has only been a week so I am not sure yet, we will see

one last note the best thing for spot treating is a mix of tea tree oil and water, will dry the zit right up!! I have horrible breakouts on my back and shoulders, I can't use benzaclin b/c it stains my shirts,so that one I am still trying to figure out how to treat!

if you have any questions PM me, best of luck

Madeline

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Proactive success story here! I have struggled with acne since I was in 5th grade and am now in my 40's. My skin is very sensitive. For me, I use many of their Gentle formula line, but I would start out on their regular line, if you choose to try it, and play with it. If you get dry, back down its per day uses. They have a deep cleansing wash for the body that would be great for you and I actually prefer to use this on my face a couple of times a week. QVC's web site has a number of five piece kits that include this deep wash cleanser for half the price if you were to buy them individually. Go to www.qvc.com and write in Proactive under search.

Good Luck!

Patricia

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I have suffered from the age of 8 (yes you read that right!) until approx 9mths ago, almost 22yrs later. They suddenly cleared up. I don't have oily skin so can't/couldn't use the usual stuff for spots. I found a good retinol cream along with exfoliation done the trick.

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Yes acne here as well. I'm 36 and had more acne than my 15 year old. I went to an Endocrinologist and she got me all figured out. I had elevated testertone levels and could not take birth control or estergon therapy due to a clotting disorder that I have, so she treated the elevated levels with diet. A high carb diet can cause severe acne as it raises your blood insulin levels which in turn raise your testertone levels. You might want to get it check out with an Endo just in case. PCOS (which I also have) can also cause acne for the same reasons above. She put me on The south beach diet. Its ok, but I can't follow it exactly due to the pots as well as personal preference in foods. But I try hard and it has helped. I lost 6 pounds the first month and have just maintained since then.

Good luck and hope you find something that works for you.

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I've had acne for years too. It must have started when I was about 12 years old with slightly oily skin and spots.

I first got treated when I went to university at 18 years - I had several courses of oral antibiotics for 6 months at a time with various creams and lotions in between the tablets. Whilst on antibiotic tablets my skin was reasonable but as soon as I stopped them the spots came back.

My breakthrough was when I mentioned to my GP that my spots were cyclical and that I also had heavy irregular periods. She put me on Dianette which is a type of birth control pill that also contains cyproterone which lowers your testosterone levels. As mentioned above contraceptive pills aren't suitable for everyone but they have helped me. I had a couple of years off Dianette and am now back on it again, still have lots of blackheads but hardly any actual spots and my skin is much less oily.

Other people have mentioned Florinef as a cause of acne. All steroids can have the side-effect of causing acne but personally I didn't see any worsening of my acne whan I started on Florinef.

Neutrogena make a really good range of face washes etc called "Visably Clear", unfortunately thay have stopped selling the shower / body wash which is especially good for my skin.

Flop

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Flop,

Another Proactive fan here! Chrissy started using it last July and we took b/f and after pictures, a big difference after about 2-3 weeks. Only problem is when she's not feeling her greatest and doesn't do it every day, then the acne reappears like majic! It's pretty expensive (I think), but it's better than being on antibiotics, (which is what they put my girlfriend's daughter on--and for about 9 months straight).

Patti

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I've struggled with acne on and off over the years. It was definitely worse when I was taking florinef. I've different prescription meds over the years, until I finally found a great dermatologist who put me on a routine of cleansing with Glyderm cleaner, using Ovace gel every day and Differin every other day. Then there was another med she gave me for spot treatments, which I can't remember. This routine worked great for me, but I stopped it when I went on birth control.

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I've heard that honey helps. You can apply it like a face mask, leave it for 10 minutes, wash it off. A Jordanian friend of mine said she had acne until she used a traditional soap from Jordan, made from the Dead Sea salt. She said it's known in their culture to cure acne. Maybe it could be obtained online?

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Yeah, I'd hoped that going on BC would help that, but it didn't.

Someone recommended to me to use glycolic acid. I've tried Proactiv, all various salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide, tea tree oil, witch hazel, and pretty much every brand at the store.

Then I saw "Aqua Glycolic" at the pharmacy. It's about $25 for a month's supply- there's a cleanser and toner, too, but I just use the face cream at night. It's brilliant! My face looks better than it has since I was 16! I still get a couple, usually around that time of the month, but they don't last very long, and in general the only complaints i have about my complexion now are its pallor and my undereye circles! LOL.

Believe, me, I was ready to try anything- my skin is a strange combination- it's definitely oily t-zone and dry cheeks, but my oily t-zone also gets dry, and anything drying is too harsh and makes my skin peel. I use cetaphil moisurizer in the morning, and this stuff at night. (It's dermatologist recommeneded, and I use the "noncomedogenic, pH balanced for gentleness" formula.

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