Horrible lare breakouts along jawline. HELP.

Sep 13, 2013

Valerie H.

About a month ago my face started breaking out on the cheek area- I tried murad for a few months but stopped due to a dry patch on my cheek. so I switched over to st. ives green tea gel cleanser with aloe vera as a moisturizer, my skin was clearing up till a week after where my jawline, mouth area, and cheeks broke out in large pimples. I almost want to call it cystic acne. my face has NEVER gotten this bad, EVER. My acne got to the point where my face is in pain all the time.
I've tried:
-changing my sheets
-using a dye&perfume free detergent w/no fabric softner for my pillow cases and sheets
-sleeping on a different towel every night
-using a cool air humidifier next to my bed
-changing my diet- salads, more veggies, lemon water, cut the sugar, nothing to drino but water, meat: mostly chicken or turkey. and I'm a pizza, cheeseburger, fried food type of lady.
-working out, I still do. not to lose weight but to tone and be healthy
-more sleep
now.. so far I've used st. ives green tea gel cleanser with Simple light moisturizer, switched to Say yes to tomatoes gel cleanser, now I'm trying aveeno cream clear complexion with arbonne spot treatment. since switching to that latest choice I've noticed more white heads along my jawline. I am a picker at my face, but quit cold turkey a couple days ago. I'm also on the nuvaring, been on it for four-ish months. I've been on it before and never had this bad of acne.
my forehead, nose, and some cheek area is pretty, I have no problems with at all (except maybe large pores) but everything below that is itchy, red, inflammed, and painful. I need help. since my breakout I've been insecure and more stressed, which is not helping the fact that I juggle school and work. please, any advice? any supplements to help? anything to take to help hormonal balance? I've considered a lot.

Sep 13, 2013

Becca L.

Sounds like something that happened to my older brother :( his was also on his chest and back. He had to stay home from school back in high school because he couldn't wear a shirt, it would cause too much pain. His face looked like cystic acne as well. The dermatologist said it was too much testosterone and put him on accutane. Yours is most likely a hormone imbalance as well. I also had extreme acne in high school. I was put on the pill and it all cleared up. May need a different form of birth control. I'm no expert so don't hold me to all this, but please see a dermatologist! They are the experts! Good luck hun

Sep 13, 2013

Trish M.

I'm on nuvaring too. And here's what worked for me. Cleansing oil for makeup removal (any brand works). Purpose or neutrogena naturals cleanser (used with clarisonic at night, with hands in the daytime), witch hazel as toner, aveeno clear complexion daily moisturizer. At night, I would put the target brand 10% benzoyl peroxide cream on the acne spots or I would use tea tree oil.

Sep 13, 2013

Shauna S.

To me it sounds like a hormone inbalance. Also you drastic changes in diet, exercise, and constantly changing up your face washes really doesn't help. If you make drastic changes your body will immediately react in a bad way. Slow down a bit, let your skin breathe from all the different things you put on your face. See if it clears up at all within a month but I recommend going to your doctor to see if you can somehow change birth control. I don't know how nuvaring works, and if you can just take it out. I recommend probably seeing a dermatologist but they take like 2 years to see one, so go to your doctor and get them to do a blood test to check your iron levels, etc. Also I recommend afterwards trying Simple Skincare products. They're natural and shouldn't irritate your skin.

Sep 13, 2013

Trish M.

Best of luck to you. Cuz having breakouts sure doesn't make it easy to control stress which could b why your breaking out.

Sep 15, 2013

Valerie H.

The worst thing about breakouts is the physical pain!
I went to the docs and she prescribed me a cream called Tretinoin. I am using a regular daily facial cleanser by cetaphil and witch hazel a few times a week.
I know it can take 6wks to 3 months for my face to show true results.
I hope this works!

Sep 15, 2013

Valerie H.

And thank you for the advice!
Trish- I've tried witch hazel as a toner before, but it didn't show much result. I started it, but only a few times a week.
Shauna- I know I put my skin through hell the past couple of months. the breakouts started a few months after getting off birth control. I went back on it hoping it would balance things out, but it didnt. and this jawline-breakout started after I quit murad and used a spinning scrub a bit too much. I changed from say yes to tomatoes to aveeno because my skin was very dry and peely. I talked to my doc and she said to use something simple.
as for working out and eating healthier, in general I needed to start doing that.
my doctor also said that speariment helps! like a speariment tea. it has something to do with the hormones.