Hello all! So a few months ago I stopped taking my oral birth control after using it regularly for many years. Ever since then I noticed I’ve developed some nasty acne along my jawline that just never goes away. It’s always really large thick pimples that can be quite deep and painful. I’m assuming this is from the hormonal change since stopping birth control. I recall birth control helping a bit with my acne (though I still always had some) but I don’t remember having this cystic acne on my jawline before first taking it.
Is there a way to help with this via specific products, diet, etc? Thank ya!
Accutane works wonders for deep cystic acne, which is what it sounds like you may have. However, it is rough on your body and you MUST NOT get pregnant as your baby will look horrifying. Accutane will control acne very well, however. Talk to your doctor about the tradeoffs.
Dermatologist put me on spironolactone and it is a miracle. I had horrible big painful cysts and other issues from a hormonal imbalance.
Before spironolactone I was taking spearmint and it worked fairly well. Spearmint is an anti-androgen. Androgens are hormones that excess of them can cause oily skin and other problems.
This is what is right for me, and I cannot emphasize how life changing it was, but you need to see a dermatologist to see what is right for you. And maybe your GP because any underlying hormone imbalance deserves to be treated properly by a doctor.
Just a heads up: exactly zero topical treatment ever worked for my hormonal acne. I tried -everything-. Trust me. Everything, to the best of my ability, because I hated my acne so much. I was all over skincareaddiction and asianbeauty. Save yourself time and money and skip this song and dance: go to a doctor.
See a dermatologist.
Topical zinc helped me.
Some people react poorly to certain foods. I get zits any time I eat deep fried potato (no, it’s not because I’m “touching my face”). Had a coworker who would break out from chocolate. It’s not a dose response thing for me because I react from even a small amount. At least it doesn’t last as long as when I was a kid. But for you, just remember that cystic acne takes a long time to heal so you’ll have to cut things out for longer periods. And yes acne is absolutely a hormonal thing as witnessed by puberty and menstrual cycles but there can be additive things (personally I’m not convinced that there aren’t endocrine disruptors in deep fried potatoes).
I had cystic acne growing up and was put on Acutane. It worked great but I’m pretty much permanently thirsty now. Outside of that, face scrubs and no make-up would be your best bet. -Not a medical professional
