Cystic Acne Tips
Quick recap: my skin turned from bad to worse when I was 14 years old. It turned from teenage acne into a full-blown face full of cystic pimples (under the skin). I had a solid face routine and I avoided sugar like it was the devil, yet my skin continued to decline. I was diagnosed with cystic acne after a year of no progress on the pill doxycycline. It wasn’t long before I felt so down and my self-esteem dropped lower than it ever had.. It was also during this time that I started restricting food because if I couldn’t have clear skin, at least I could be skinny (a very dangerous mindset). So here are a few of my tips.
1. Giving up/reducing dairy
This may not be top of the list for everyone but giving up dairy really helped with my “normal acne”, leaving a few big cystic pimples behind. I was already intolerant to dairy when I was younger and it wasn't until I stopped eating it about 4 years back that I realised what a negative impact it was having on my life. If you are fine with dairy and feel like it doesn't impact your skin ignore this tip but make an effort to focus on lessening the amount of in your diet.
2. Cortisone injections
Going to be honest if you get acne this bad it can’t just go away by drinking 10 glasses of water or using the latest Clearasil range. To get rid of the last 3 cysts (which left my face swollen), I had cortisone injections over several months to drain them. This was a last resort after almost two years of these cystic pimples. Beware of the side effects though as over use of cortisone injections can cause pitted scars if not properly treated.
3. Know when to see a dermatologist
I waited until my acne left my face swollen and I was too upset to leave the house before seeking help outside of my doctors (doxycycline) and random facial products which claimed to fix my problems with no results. Going to a dermatologist and getting blood work done was what helped me learn the cause of my acne (hormones), and that it wasn't anything I was doing but genetic. If you are Christchurch based I would suggest KM Surgical who helped me get rid of both the acne and cysts (linked below).
4. Not overdoing it on facial products
It can be hard not to use every product under the sun, but this actually won’t help you to get rid of your acne. It is better to work out your skin type and choose products based off this. When I went to talk to a skin specialist about my skin I realised that the products I was using were actually drying out my skin (my skin type is oily) and causing it to flake. Avoid pimple creams which claim to reduce pimple size as they tend to not be helpful. The Cetaphil range helped me and did not irritate my skin.
https://www.cetaphil.com/daily-facial-cleanser
5. Reducing sugar
Important: this definitely does not say give up sugar! Just limit refined sugars but still enjoy in moderation. Chocolate doesn’t cause acne, especially cystic but it can help reduce inflammation and swelling by reducing both refined/unrefined sugars. As the insulin in sugars can irritate/inflame skin. Still have a treat now and then just focus on less refined more unrefined.
