Acne

Posted by d-newman @dnewman, Jan 31, 2012

I searched for this on the site but haven't found any discussions about it. My 17 yr old daughter has been having problems with acne for about 2 years now. We have done all the topical treatments, the topical and oral antibiotics and even Solodyn (Accutane). The Solodyn did help a little but not enough to warrant the dryness, fatigue and muscle aches. We are now trying birth control pills. Nothing else seems to be working. We are also trying chemical peels to see if that helps. Has anyone out there found any relief from facial acne? It is such a huge problem, for kids especially, it's hard to believe we haven't been able to conquer this yet. Any suggestions?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Skin Health Support Group.

I certainly wouldn't recommend birth control pills for acne given the mounting body of research suggesting a link between popular oral contraceptives and breast cancer. However, that's just one man's opinion.

That decision should be made factoring in the input of only you, your daughter, her father and most importantly her doctor.

You may want to have a look at this article about probiotics and acne: http://blog.pamelaegan.com/blog/post/2010/12/27/Vitamin-D3-and-Probiotics-Can-Help-Fight-Acne.aspx

For the sake of full disclosure, my mother, a highly acclaimed medical professional (nurse practitioner, to be specific) who has more letters appearing after her name in the form of credentials than her name consists of, is the author of the article referenced above. That said, I don't know of any other articles on the topic, and am only sharing this one because I genuinely believe it may help.

There is credible scientific data underlying the association of probiotics and acne prevention (as is also the case with probiotics and yeast infections). Basically, much acne is bacterial in nature, and the extent to which one's skin (and other parts of the body) are susceptible to bacterial infections, topical and otherwise, is in some way associated with floral balance inside the digestive tract.

I'm not claiming to understand how it all works well enough to explain it in detail. But from all I've read, I do understand the functionality, even if I cannot explain it myself coherently, hence why I referred you to my mother's article above.

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@petere

I certainly wouldn't recommend birth control pills for acne given the mounting body of research suggesting a link between popular oral contraceptives and breast cancer. However, that's just one man's opinion.

That decision should be made factoring in the input of only you, your daughter, her father and most importantly her doctor.

You may want to have a look at this article about probiotics and acne: http://blog.pamelaegan.com/blog/post/2010/12/27/Vitamin-D3-and-Probiotics-Can-Help-Fight-Acne.aspx

For the sake of full disclosure, my mother, a highly acclaimed medical professional (nurse practitioner, to be specific) who has more letters appearing after her name in the form of credentials than her name consists of, is the author of the article referenced above. That said, I don't know of any other articles on the topic, and am only sharing this one because I genuinely believe it may help.

There is credible scientific data underlying the association of probiotics and acne prevention (as is also the case with probiotics and yeast infections). Basically, much acne is bacterial in nature, and the extent to which one's skin (and other parts of the body) are susceptible to bacterial infections, topical and otherwise, is in some way associated with floral balance inside the digestive tract.

I'm not claiming to understand how it all works well enough to explain it in detail. But from all I've read, I do understand the functionality, even if I cannot explain it myself coherently, hence why I referred you to my mother's article above.

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Thank you for responding to my question!

In your mother's article she mentioned that her oldest son, who was on and off antibiotics regularly for awhile, had the worst problem with acne. My daughter also had ear tubes and fought ear, nose and throat infections with antibiotics growing up. It could be coincidence, but it makes sense that her system may not function as well having been on and off antibiotics for much of her adolescence.

I'm coming to the conclusion that intestinal health does affect the skin. I know when I'm not 100% well inside, I also have some issues with my skin. I do believe it is all intertwined and I'm glad to hear someone reputable back it up with experience and science.

After reading your reply, and your mother's article, I'll be shopping for a probiotic for both me and my daughter. She didn't mention any particular brand so I hope they're all relatively the same. It's definitely worth a try and thank you again for taking the time to reply.

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I used to suffer from Adult Hormonal Cystic Acne and I haven't had a problem since I have been using this skin care range for the last 18 months. I didn't have a lot of pimples, but the ones I had were so massive, they could have up to 5 cores in the one cyst. Not very pleasant.

http://zenmed.com/skincare/acne/

I hope your daughter finds a solution that works for her.

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@misskm

I used to suffer from Adult Hormonal Cystic Acne and I haven't had a problem since I have been using this skin care range for the last 18 months. I didn't have a lot of pimples, but the ones I had were so massive, they could have up to 5 cores in the one cyst. Not very pleasant.

http://zenmed.com/skincare/acne/

I hope your daughter finds a solution that works for her.

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Thanks for sharing and for the recommendation. I will check it out.

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Sounds like a gut problem!! Is she constipated?

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@kaydomac

Sounds like a gut problem!! Is she constipated?

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No

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@kaydomac

Sounds like a gut problem!! Is she constipated?

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what would constipation have to do with acne?

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@kaydomac

Sounds like a gut problem!! Is she constipated?

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when I was about 16 I had a problem with acne. It just went into scarring on my face. Several courses of antibiotics cleared this up for me. Also an appt with a dermatologist may help, my niece has had a lot of problems and this has helped her alot and the dermetalogist has the skin problem now quite manageable. Take care Piglit

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@kaydomac

Sounds like a gut problem!! Is she constipated?

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Yes, I would like to know about the correlation

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@kaydomac

Sounds like a gut problem!! Is she constipated?

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I'm not sure what the correlation would be unless it's just a build up of toxins in the body? She hasn't really said yet....

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