So I called my Dr, and explained to her that I was poor and couldn't come see her, and she agreed to give an over the phone consult about it, with the caveat that if it gets worse I have to come in whether I want to or not. She asked a bunch of questions about the type of acne I'm experiencing, (white heads, no black heads, and the big red ones that don't have an "eye" that hurt like hell, those only come up occasionally) how oily my skin gets if I DON'T use anything (REALLY oily) and what I usually do to clean my face and if I touched my face a lot (guilty as charged).
She told me to switch from salicylic acid to benzoyl peroxide, and recommended an otc called Acne Free Severe 24 hour, and that she's had patients use it with really great success rates. She also told me to keep my filthy hands off my face, lol, which I already know, but it's rather difficult as I'm a picker at things like that.
It's a four step thing, and I've only used it for a day so far, and it could be a placebo effect I guess, but my breakouts ARE less red, though they're itchy, and the deeper ones don't hurt as much. She said that salicylic acid doesn't work for certain skin types, and mine seems to be one of them, because I've been using it regularly for almost three months without any major improvement.
She said dial soap is incredibly harsh on facial skin, and that even moisturizing afterwards doesn't help certain people (apparently, I'm one of them.)
If this doesn't work (she said give it four to six weeks) then she would refer me to a dermatologist, (since I'll be in CO at that point) and that I'd probably have to go on antibiotics, probably a topical as well as a by mouth, which I'd like to avoid. She asked if I was breaking out anywhere else, and while I do occasionally get one on my upper back, it's not breaking out, thank dog.
I did forget to ask her about the charcoal scrub, tea tree oil and coconut treatment, though I think that if this doesn't work, I'll try each of those for four to six weeks and see what's the most effective before going to a dermatologist.
I did ask about microdermal abrasion, but it's not covered under my insurance, and she said that as much as I'm outside, doing that puts me at a higher risk of getting sunburn on my face, which would only compound this issue.
I did forget to ask about spot treatment with this product as well. Has anyone used a regimen like this, plus used spot treatment for the ones that are actually red and breaking out, not just the ones that are threatening to come up?
She also told me to quit shaving for at least two weeks, even though I thought that shaving would help exfoliate my skin and allow pores to open up instead of clog up. She said it might be causing ingrown hairs, and that could be part of the issue.
Entirely too much information at the end of that phone call, though luckily I wrote down what she told me so I could remember lol.
Hopefully this works, though I'd like to find something that would stop it without having to do it every day, twice a day. If this DOES eliminate it, I may switch to a natural remedy and find one that I can just use every couple of days, or hopefully by then, my skin will be settled down and I can just go back to ignoring my face
