help with cystic acne

curlygirlbeautiful

it just started maybe month ago i felt a pimple, it really hurt. but it never formed a head. this one went down. but then 6 others have popped up over the last month. ive never had this prob b4 so i don know what to do. about me

30
af-am
normal to dry skin
use ocm (castor/olive)
2% SA to treat-neutrogena and clinique

i tried a sample of a facial peel i got from sephora right b4 this happened. any connection.

please help me get my skin acne free. also my skin feels tight, but doesnt look dry/flaky. HELP

MimsTX

My cystic acne is always hormone related, and I'll be honest, it doesn't much matter what I slather my face with, it doesn't get better until it's ready to get better.

BC pills have helped to bring it back under control in the past, and my doctor actually just perscribed a couple of oral meds to try and get it under control as well. Will let you know if I see any results from those, but i don't know yet if they're any good.

Maybe talk to your doctor about it next time you're in? They might have diet ideas that could help, or some kind of medicinal supplements if you're interested in them.

MichelleBFT

I have oily/dehydrated skin, so my experiences may not correlate directly to yours.

But I broke out in a fair amount of cystic acne when I used EVOO for OCM. It was a BIG nono for me. I still do OCM, with Grapeseed oil instead of EVOO, and am having MUCH better luck.

With the cysts, specifically, a lot of hot compresses, tea tree oil and dabbing with witch hazel spelled a quick end to my latest cyst.

curlygirlbeautiful

thanks. i notice the hot compresses do work. ill try tea tree and witch hazel instead of SA. thanks again

MichelleBFT

Some to think of it I did use some SA and glycolics as well, but not as much as I used the TTO and WH. I think my SA was stronger than yours, though.

If you're going to go out and buy WH, may I recommend the Thayer's Cucumber WH?? So much less of a vicious smell than plain WH.

LoloDSM

The only thing that helped my cystic acne was going to a dermatologist and eventually taking Accutane. My skin has been under control for four years now with topical medications and oral b/c.

Good luck! Cystic acne sucks.

Nappy_curly_crown

This thread has been RIGHT on time. In the past week, I've had THREE cystic pimples on my face....the most recent popped up yesterdayish and is right in the crease of my nose/face and hurts like HELL!!!! I'm going to try the warm compresses and I have some tea tree oil so I'll try that too. I never get these so I'm totally lost as to what has started them all of a sudden.

MichelleBFT

IMO, the TTO was that big player in getting rid of my most recent cyst.

Nappy_curly_crown

Ok....so I always carry around one of those little tea tree oil blimish sticks from the body shop with me in my makeup bag. They are B2G1 free right now btw. Anywho, I've been dabbing it on all day every hour or so...and that painful cystic pimple by my nose is almost GONE. It's not painful anymore and I can feel it starting to go down! Thank god for TTO cause that thing was making wearing my glasses painful!

MichelleBFT

Yay!!! That's awesome.

maximes

I never had cysts b4 but started to have them after using a toner. But I was also experimenting a lot with skincare products. You know what, I went back to my trusted ocm and hot face flanel. And my skin is getting much much better.

WurlyLox

MichelleBFT wrote: »

I have oily/dehydrated skin, so my experiences may not correlate directly to yours.

But I broke out in a fair amount of cystic acne when I used EVOO for OCM. It was a BIG nono for me. I still do OCM, with Grapeseed oil instead of EVOO, and am having MUCH better luck.

With the cysts, specifically, a lot of hot compresses, tea tree oil and dabbing with witch hazel spelled a quick end to my latest cyst.

Ditto on nixing the olive oil as it's fairly comedogenic. I don't know about grapeseed oil, but sunflower isn't at all comedogenic. That's what I use with my castor oil, but even with it, I'm careful to remove any excess that doesn't readily absorb with some alcohol-free toner, especially around the edges of my face.

I've been lazy and haven't been doing OCM for the past two weeks and now have some cystic pimples myself. I don't usually have a problem with them when I am OCMing at least 2-3 days a week. I've just been removing makeup with moist towelettes before falling into bed, and I'm paying for it now.

I just got some tea tree oil the other day, so I'll have to try it on the zits. I used toothpaste on them last night and it helped some - mine's Colgate Total which has an anitbacterial ingredient, but any white paste is supposed to help. Milk of magnesia is supposed to help them, too, but I've never tried it.

MimsTX

Nappy_curly_crown wrote: »

Ok....so I always carry around one of those little tea tree oil blimish sticks from the body shop with me in my makeup bag. They are B2G1 free right now btw. Anywho, I've been dabbing it on all day every hour or so...and that painful cystic pimple by my nose is almost GONE. It's not painful anymore and I can feel it starting to go down! Thank god for TTO cause that thing was making wearing my glasses painful!

Ok, so this convinced me to try those sticks from the body shop. I had to order them online as I don't have a store very close by, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. ANYTHING that will help these suckers, I'm all for...

Nappy_curly_crown

yeah....its totally gone now....not even a trace of it. I'm ditching the makeup for the rest of the week and going with just a moisturizer and clear primer. I'm also trying to schedule a facial this weekend because i'm noticing lots of clogged pores that I havn't had in a LONG time.

Nappy_curly_crown

MimsTX wrote: »

Nappy_curly_crown wrote: »

Ok....so I always carry around one of those little tea tree oil blimish sticks from the body shop with me in my makeup bag. They are B2G1 free right now btw. Anywho, I've been dabbing it on all day every hour or so...and that painful cystic pimple by my nose is almost GONE. It's not painful anymore and I can feel it starting to go down! Thank god for TTO cause that thing was making wearing my glasses painful!

Ok, so this convinced me to try those sticks from the body shop. I had to order them online as I don't have a store very close by, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. ANYTHING that will help these suckers, I'm all for...

I hope u like them!!! I use the gel ones in the tube and you can apply them over your makeup and everything. They also contain SA to help it exfoliate the area so that the TTO can penatrate better. Totally worth it!!!

WurlyLox

I have a lot of trouble with zits when I use a primer. Yeah, the makeup goes on smoother and looks better, but I nearly always break out. I've tried several, and as with hair, I think it's the silicones that most primers seem to have - bad 'cones :evil:! They're often the main ingredient. I

I have very oily skin, especially in the T-zone, but that doesn't seem to have any bearing on breakouts until I throw primer into the mix.

luvmylocs

i second the tea tree oil. i use a stick i get from dessert essence i believe. i got it from whole foods. it's a little roll on. it's VERY GOOD. i too notice a drastic reduction in any acne in a day or so. i have learned to resist the urge to wear foundation to cover up my skin when i have a breakout. i dab the tea tree on. my skin doesn't look great and i refuse to take pics. i blot to keep the shine awaay and that's that. the irony is that foundation looks better when your skin is actually clear.

Misses_Jai

ok, must try the TTO sticks.....i can attribute mine to hormones as all the cystic acne appears on my chin area right around the time my cycle is due to arrive. ice works well for the swelling, redness, and some of the pain. i don't use anything with acne medication in it, i.e. BP or SA, as that tends to exacerbate the problem. instead, i just ice it, take some aleve (naproxen sodium works well - you just have to take it the moment you feel the cyst has formed or is beginning to form), wait it out and most importantly, KEEP MY HANDS OFF MY FACE....that's the hardest one for me.....

MichelleBFT

Interestingly, what I've read about using TTO on acne is that it works in a fashion similar to how BP works, but more slowly and more importantly (IMO), more naturally. I loathe BP, but I LOVE TTO.

Curly Girl Fla

Puritan's Pride has a blemish stick with tea tree oil/9ml for $3.49-pretty darn cheap if you need to order anything else...never used it, but looks like it has similar ingredients to the others....just fyi...

mrspoppers

I am able to use EVOO for OCM with no problems, as long as I'm careful about the ratio of EVOO to castor oil when I mix up a new batch. I found twice that if I didn't put enough castor oil in the bottle, I would get cystic acne. When I added a bit more castor oil, it was fine. I tried using safflower oil, which is supposed to be noncomedogenic (or less, maybe), but I got more cystic acne with it.

I find if I spent some extra time massaging the individual cysts with oil when cleansing my face, they came to a head almost right away.

MichelleBFT

mrspoppers wrote: »

I am able to use EVOO for OCM with no problems, as long as I'm careful about the ratio of EVOO to castor oil when I mix up a new batch. I found twice that if I didn't put enough castor oil in the bottle, I would get cystic acne. When I added a bit more castor oil, it was fine. I tried using safflower oil, which is supposed to be noncomedogenic (or less, maybe), but I got more cystic acne with it.

I find if I spent some extra time massaging the individual cysts with oil when cleansing my face, they came to a head almost right away.

I found the same thing!! I'm using grapeseed oil, though. EVOO was a big no go for me... even if it hadn't broken me out, I really didn't like the feel of it. But I really like the grapeseed oil.

WurlyLox

OK, I'm sold on tea tree, too! I dabbed a little straight TT oil on my acne the other night, and even the worst ones were almost gone the next morning. A little redness but no remaining swelling or pain. Will have to get one of the little roll-on thingies so I can keep it handy.

Yeah, massaging definitely helps bring them to a head, but I just don't get as many in the first place when not using EVOO. It's just more naturally comedogenic than some other oils. Like MichelleBFT, I just don't like how it feels - too thick and greasy for me.

I had a link that I've used in some other threads to a list of oils and other ingredients and their comedogenicity, but I can't seem to lay my hands on it right now . . . .

MichelleBFT

If you google "acne detective" it comes up, first hit.

Misses_Jai

MichelleBFT wrote: »

Interestingly, what I've read about using TTO on acne is that it works in a fashion similar to how BP works, but more slowly and more importantly (IMO), more naturally. I loathe BP, but I LOVE TTO.

that's good to know....BP is too drying for me and SA just makes me break out that much more..

*going online to look for TTO sticks*

RedCatWaves

Just a comment about roll-on and stick types of applicators...roll-on and (to a lesser extent) stick applicators are inherently designed to contaminate the entire contents after the first use. Since acne is often caused by bacteria, I'd find another applicator type, or use the applicator to apply to something clean, like a cosmetic puff, and then apply the product to your face.

MichelleBFT

Personally I loathe roller applicators... I prefer to just buy a bottle of TTO and dip a clean q-tip into it. That q-tip is applied to a couple of blemishes and then thrown away.

I have a Vitamin E Oil roller that I use to put the oil on a clean finger, and then where I want it, never directly to my face. I feel like rollers in general, besides the possibility of contamination, are unreliable with how much product they deliver.

Misses_Jai

MichelleBFT wrote: »

Personally I loathe roller applicators... I prefer to just buy a bottle of TTO and dip a clean q-tip into it. That q-tip is applied to a couple of blemishes and then thrown away.

I have a Vitamin E Oil roller that I use to put the oil on a clean finger, and then where I want it, never directly to my face. I feel like rollers in general, besides the possibility of contamination, are unreliable with how much product they deliver.

good idea.....

Josephine

MichelleBFT wrote: »

I have oily/dehydrated skin, so my experiences may not correlate directly to yours.

But I broke out in a fair amount of cystic acne when I used EVOO for OCM. It was a BIG nono for me. I still do OCM, with Grapeseed oil instead of EVOO, and am having MUCH better luck.

With the cysts, specifically, a lot of hot compresses, tea tree oil and dabbing with witch hazel spelled a quick end to my latest cyst.

Thanks..I just started and did OCM last week with EVOO and I also like the OP have the same exact situation(except 4 zits) and I've never had cystic acne. I was and still am sorta scared it's my hormones and I'm waiting on my period...