Crayon

Why would you want to get rid of them? They add decor to your skin. They are armor to the supremely shallow! They can be called blemishes. Blemishes sounds like a lovely word doesn't it? Plus, you get to watch them 'grow up' when they become irate, similar to how a Mother fosters her child and watches it grow up. I've fostered many children in this sense.

Like clothing, they can be worn in many ways and sizes, from the sprouting pimple to the enraged bleeding volcano: it just depends on your taste, size of oil glands, some hygiene issues, food, and your genes. Personally, my decorations are in the nude shade: they're tiny and occur in small amounts and are not very noticeable unless you personally wanted to check my style. I've tried to selectively control the amounts and stubborness of my beauty 'enhancements' but once I stopped playing sports, my skin cleared up magically.

In the end, it's all about style. HOW DO YOU WEAR YOUR BLEMISHES?

Some commonly used treatments for acne:

Available OTC:
1) Benzoyl Peroxide (5-10%)
-BP bleaches things. Be careful. If you're applying it to your 'backne', wear a white t-shirt and tie your hair up.
2) Salicylic Acid (~2%)
3) B5/Pantothenic Acid supplements

Prescribed Medications:
1) BP-Retin-A-Doxycycline combo
-Retin-A is also effective against stretch marks.
2) Erythromycin-Doxycycline combo

Other:
1) Chinese herbal medicine
2) Wai's Diet

NOT GOOD FOR THE SKIN:
1) Apricot Scrub
-Or any other harsh scrubby face treatments. I've heard the 'round' beads are OK though.

General Rules:
1) Wash face twice a day with medicated (OTC-SA or BP) face wash. Apply moistrizer and-or OTC medication.
2) Drink several glasses of water a day, ideally until urine is clear.
3) Sleep for ~8-10 hours.
4) DO NOT POP YOUR ZIT(s) until it has come to a head (when the pus is at the top).
5) Keep your hair pulled away from your face: -> Breeding grounds for acne

There are severe side effects for Accutane. It's also very expensive. You have to be monitored while taking Accutane. http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopag...ationguide.htm

To get to Accutane, you usually have to go through a hierarchy of acne medications or not: If your acne is THAT bad...

Mint Julep and the egg yolk masks by Queen Helene are good face products. Consider them.

I think I summed things up. Please add or correct any of the information I provided.

Note: http://www.absoluteacneinfo.com has a wealth of information about your skin, (especially in the forums).

myway

Crayon, the first part of that post was absolutely hilarious!

poison.ivy

I just did that baking soda mask on that acne info site... wow.. it tingles and burns. You can feel it work.

thesiren72102

Proactiv works best for me..

Rum

If its really severe and nothing works, go for Acupuncture treatments. That really works.

anovice

Proactive does not work... I don't have much acne, but I have scars that I use RetinA for(but I think it is also a acne med, right?). I totally agree about the water and sleep... not only will it help your face, but it will help EVERY OTHER aspect of your physical and mental health!

Crayon

Yes, Retin-A is an acne med. It's also effective against stretch marks. ^___^

silent_angel

try the acne bar from clinique, it works rather nicely.. I still get breakouts but more so around my period. I also use a topical.

cncm

Proactive didn't work for me AT ALL. In fact, it aggravated the acnes even more. Don't EVER trust TV commercials.

teal

today i saw a commercial for this acne product; it was a spray and it was free (except for shipping and handling) ; anybody try it yet?

fluhctisotope

let me help reiterate
forget proactiv unless you want to try everything
there are little lifestyle habits you can work on as mentioned and whatever you try could have a minor temporary effect depending on how you implement its use
the only even remotely effective option is acutane but only for severe cases
everybody worries and complains about acne but a very small percentage of moderate sufferers actually find out they have a severe case of the disease
if theres a chance you have such a case you gotta look into it immediately
and youll find out that acutane has serious side effects some of which are not all that uncommon
there have even been various reports of chronic undiagnosable circumstances characterized by developmental attacks on the nervous system
like inexplicable localized permanent nerve damage of a debilitating nature
if you were to get a prescription from a qualified doctor not many have the time and interest to properly warn you
the general estimation is that you can survive a rigorous course of acutane completely unscathed without the slightest merely unpleasant of side effects 70-80 percent of the time
of course the absolute most serious side effects are very rare but theres a rather large gray area were dealing with concerning this drug
even after a lengthy course recurrent breakouts have been known to occur for as much as 35 percent of patients in some studies
some people will try anything to get rid of their acne but if you’ve got a hookup or something this is probably the last drug you wanna mess around with

gidget

if you have a few pimples and you need them gone pronto, put a dot of toothpastes on the pimple and go to sleep. Which you sleep the toothpaste will dry and suck the oil out of the pimple.

justinmeche

I took a drug called Accutane. Very powerful and even three years after I have stopped using it my acne is very minimal, although I do have acne scars and razor bumps. My mom's side of the family has lots of acne and overall bad facial complexions, so I needed something pretty strong. But Accutane does have some bad side-effects, such as depression and it may cause suidcidal thoughts. I experienced some depression but never anything about suicide. But the depression was worth it for me. The only time my acne ever cleared up on its own was when I spent a few days at basketball camp. It disappeared completely but came back in full force a week afterwards.

KyleW

I too had to take the Accutane route. I'm cursed, as far as acne goes, on my mom's side of the family. Even after two rounds of taking Accutane (well, I took Amnesteem, the generic)I still get a few places pop up here and there, mostly when I've had a rough week or something.

Accutane is a really high-maintenance drug. I was at the drug store buying Blistex about once a week for my chapped lips and my nose sometimes bled like a faucet (swabbing it with vasoline in the morning would cut down on that, though). Also, I had to have my blood drawn once a month to check my lipid levels. For females, they have to take birth control and take a preg. test once a month due to the severe birth defects that can result from getting pregnant while on Accutane.

As far as depression goes...yeah. I never admitted it to the derm (in fear she'd take me off the Acc.), but I did experience some (but girl trouble around the time didn't really help things...heh...).

aim78

Don't use toothpaste, that stuff scars.

Just keep the face clean with Clearasil and warm water. Soap would work too, but it makes the face dry.