Any and all solutions you had work for facial acne
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Hi all, I'm struggling (and have been) for a long time with recurring breakouts on my face.
I largely have comedonal spots which look almost like the sebaceous filaments on my nose- when pressed they come out as long, typically solid-but-soft snakes of white gunk. I also have solid and firm amber-like excretions, typically teardrop in shape and somewhat translucent.
When psychologically stressed it tends to take a turn for the worst, and my spots become more inflamed, and the healing rate typically becomes much slower- compounded by a tendency to pick at the skin and scabs forming over or around them.
In addition, my scalp is suffering quite significantly recently. Never before have I had such an issue, but I'm dealing with slower rates of healing and minor sores/lesions. Again, I would think this is due to the psychological circumstances I'm currently under.
I use a cerave "Acne Control" (ironic) cleanser and a tallow-based moisturiser, and wash my face with water and a clean towel several times throughout the day.For reference I am in my early 20s and have had spots to some extent for basically my entire adolescent and adult life.
I'm 5'9", weigh a lean (~10%bf) 161lbs, exercise regularly, shower after said exercise, and change my sheets weekly.
My diet is around 3,300 calories per day, consisting largely of 2% milk, orange juice, and white sugar. I also a fair amount eat fat-free, high protein yogurt, and eat basically the same pastrami and swiss sandwich every day for lunch. If I'm doing a lot of training, I'll also indulge in (relatively) lower fat glazed buns for the additional carbs.
I've never had issues with starches before, nor gluten, and have cycled these out of my diet entirely in the past without any patterned change to my spots. My pufa has averaged under 10g/day, and less than 10% of total fat intake for many years now.Any help would be greatly appreciated, I need to get through these tragic times by being as handsome as possible.
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@Atlas >he got meme'd into rubbing beef fat on his face and not eating any whole fruits or vegetables
pottery
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Put a clean hand towel on your pillow and change it daily.
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Topical niacinamide might help, if you can find a serum with good (not too many) ingredients. Also red light. Both don't work overnight though, more within six to eight weeks.
How long have you been eating the fat-free, high protein yogurt? Any changes in skin quality since you started? I'm asking because the case reports for increased acne after consuming low/no fat milk products over the decades have been so numerous, that even a Ray Peat inspired forum cannot ignore them. A2 dairy products instead of A1 might make a difference.
Edit:
Regarding diet, liver and oysters every now and then could be helpful.I've never been a big party attender, but I never went to a party where I didn't probably offend most of the people there by talking about what I was interested in. (Ray Peat)
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@Atlas said in Any and all solutions you had work for facial acne:
Hi all, I'm struggling (and have been) for a long time with recurring breakouts on my face.
I largely have comedonal spots which look almost like the sebaceous filaments on my nose- when pressed they come out as long, typically solid-but-soft snakes of white gunk. I also have solid and firm amber-like excretions, typically teardrop in shape and somewhat translucent.
When psychologically stressed it tends to take a turn for the worst, and my spots become more inflamed, and the healing rate typically becomes much slower- compounded by a tendency to pick at the skin and scabs forming over or around them.
In addition, my scalp is suffering quite significantly recently. Never before have I had such an issue, but I'm dealing with slower rates of healing and minor sores/lesions. Again, I would think this is due to the psychological circumstances I'm currently under.
I use a cerave "Acne Control" (ironic) cleanser and a tallow-based moisturiser, and wash my face with water and a clean towel several times throughout the day.For reference I am in my early 20s and have had spots to some extent for basically my entire adolescent and adult life.
I'm 5'9", weigh a lean (~10%bf) 161lbs, exercise regularly, shower after said exercise, and change my sheets weekly.
My diet is around 3,300 calories per day, consisting largely of 2% milk, orange juice, and white sugar. I also a fair amount eat fat-free, high protein yogurt, and eat basically the same pastrami and swiss sandwich every day for lunch. If I'm doing a lot of training, I'll also indulge in (relatively) lower fat glazed buns for the additional carbs.
I've never had issues with starches before, nor gluten, and have cycled these out of my diet entirely in the past without any patterned change to my spots. My pufa has averaged under 10g/day, and less than 10% of total fat intake for many years now.Any help would be greatly appreciated, I need to get through these tragic times by being as handsome as possible.
How much pastramy/meat per day? You should cut all the white sugar
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@water-fire, Your skin and scalp issues are probably related to a vitamin A deficiency
Benedicte Mai Lerche MSc PhD
BiochemNordic.com
https://biochemnordic.com/ -
@BiochemNordic said in Any and all solutions you had work for facial acne:
@water-fire, Your skin and scalp issues are probably related to a vitamin A deficiency
I didnt mention having these issues
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@sunsunsun I do also eat in season whole (raw) fruit and vegetables, predominantly blueberries at the moment, and carrots. I just don't really eat cooked food during the summer, so mostly it's either salad type things or sauerkraut/pickles.
The moisturiser was a present, and as my predicament indicates I have no idea about skincare. -
@Luke I do get a lot of sunlight at the moment, arguably maybe too much for my fair skin. The yogurt is a more recent addition, so that could be worth a look. I do also eat liver around once a fortnight. I'll look into a niacinamide containing moisturiser.
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@BiochemNordic Assuming this was meant for me, I'd be somewhat surprised if I was deficient with 2+ quarts of 2%/day and a (admittedly plant derived) vitamin A supplement, I'm usually far over the RDA according to my cronometer.
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@water-fire 100g, so not a great deal. Cutting the white sugar could present a problem though, because my physical performance hasn't ever been better despite what I assume are elevated cortisol levels from life stress. Is the evidence that conclusive on white sugar and acne?
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@Atlas said in Any and all solutions you had work for facial acne:
@water-fire 100g, so not a great deal. Cutting the white sugar could present a problem though, because my physical performance hasn't ever been better despite what I assume are elevated cortisol levels from life stress. Is the evidence that conclusive on white sugar and acne?
Milk+sugar is a Bad combo, sugar just exacerbate nutrients use, milk can contribute to acne. How much meat do you eat a day
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Cyproheptadine may help. I noticed it reduces the size of my spots in doses of 1mg a day.
I had a big spot in the center of my chest that for some reason wasn't healing or shrinking, and it was producing a lot of puss. When I started taking 1mg cyproheptadine again, after not using it for many months, the spot started to shrink and heal and is now almost completely gone.
Cypro can have side effects though (especially drowsiness) so try it on a day when you aren't doing anything the day after.
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You can try solban? (easy to make your own)
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Iād Avoid food s with iron, especially those with added iron, eg breads, cakes, pizza etc.
Use coffee/tea to block iron after meals.
Avoid pufa of course.
Small doses of penicillin or tetracycline could help -
@water-fire, sorry for the name confusion!
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I used to have large cysts on my neck and the corners of my face, around the bottom of my jaw bone beneath my ear. I also got whiteheads quite regularly. The only thing that really worked was cutting out starches for over a year. All my cysts are gone and I only get whiteheads after eating a lot of starch or fiber, which I'm forced to do because the effects of not excreting estrogen via fiber are worse than a few zits. I noticed that when I feel constipated I get acne, I think it's from SIBO. I also noticed recently that red meat makes me constipated if I eat too much at once, which I theorize is from the excess iron feeding the SIBO. Also I don't exercise other than walking, I don't see how your body can recover from chronic metabolism problems if you're constantly forcing it into a stressed exercise state.
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I'd also seriously question the idea that forcing your body into being 10% bodyfat is healthy and not reliant on stress metabolism.
