So i thought i would make my first proper blog post about something that is important to just about every woman. Our skin. As you can probably tell from the title of this post i have acne prone skin, but as well as that i also get an oily T-Zone and sometimes my skin can even be a bit sensitive.
I only developed acne about two years ago; i started noticing a growing number of spots around the end of summer 2010 just as i was about to start my A Levels, and it hasn't left me since. I'm not entirely sure what brought on my acne so suddenly because prior to that summer i had perfect skin, and i don't mean that to sound arrogant, but it was, i had no spots except for the odd one when it was that time of the month, and because i never really got spots, i never had scaring on my face.
Having now lived with acne for the past two years, i have learnt to just get on with it, i go to the shops with no makeup on and i try to wear as little makeup as i can. Life is too short to be constantly stressing about your skin and inevitably stressing about it will only make the acne worse.
This post is going to be a bit of a medical dictionary as i'm going to tell you the treatments i have tried and am currently trying to tame my acne.
Lymecycline/ Tetralysal ® 300
For a long time when i first got acne i wasn't on any form of treatment, it was just a case of me washing my face with face wash geared towards 'blemish prone skin' but no matter which one i tried the spots just were not budging (and believe me i tried a lot). Lymecycline was the very first treatment i started for my acne, and it was prescribed to me by my doctor. Lymecycline is a very common antibiotic used to help combat acne. The way it helps with acne is by helping your immune system to kill the bacteria with causes acne. It helps to calm down any inflammation of the skin, therefore making the skin smoother and clearer.
When i first started using Lymecycline i thought it was going to clear my acne for good, and for a while it did exactly that. For the first few months i had clear skin again, i still had the scaring but spots were no longer an issue, however after those first few months i started to notice that my spots were coming back, and they were coming back in force; the acne had now spread to my cheeks where as before is was contained to my forehead and chin. I continued my course of treatment, but it was never as good as those first few months. So after a year of being on Lymecycline, i decided to stop my course and see a dermatologist, and the dermatologist that i saw prescribed me Trimethoprim.
Trimethoprim
Trimethoprim is the most recent thing that i am currently trying to help 'cure' my acne, and I've only been on it for about two weeks. Trimethoprim is again another anti-biotic used to help treat acne. The way Trimethoprim works is it stops the bacteria from producing folate; this is what the bacteria cells use to make DNA (sounds scary i know). Just like the Lymecycline is helps to stop inflammation of the skin.
As i said, i have only been on Trimethoprim for two weeks so i can't give you i proper indication as to if it is working for me as it normally takes about two months for it too kick in and start working, however i have already noticed a difference in my skin. First of all the number of spots i have on my face has reduced, not dramatically but there are much less that i need to deal with. However with any medication there are side effects and since being on Trimethoprim, i have noticed my skin has changed from combination/oily to combination/dry skin. I'm finding that i need to use a lot me moisturiser and have also invested in a hydrating mask (something i never thought i would be buying), my skin has now become a lot more sensitive, which hasn't really caused any problems as of yet but it has meant that i am now only allowed to exfoliate once a week (according to my beautician) and have to be extra carful when i'm in the sun. So far it seems to be working but I'll give you another skin update in a few months once it has really got to work on my skin. Finally the last product i was prescribed by the dermatologist was Differin cream.
Differin Cream
Differin cream is basically a form of vitamin A, in which the active ingredient is adapalene. The purpose of Differin is to aid your skins natural exfoliation process; meaning that it increases the turnover of cells which therefore helps to unblock pores and the glands which produce sebum.
So far so good in terms of the Differin cream, i haven't had any allergic reaction too it which is a relief considering i have had an allergic reaction to the last two creams that i tried. Now i can't really tell you if it is helping with my acne as I'm currently using in conjunction with the Trimethoprim, so I'm not sure with one is helping more, but the two together seem to be combating my acne pretty well.
I'm sorry for crazy long post, but i just thought it would be helpful for all you acne sufferers out there. Any questions just leave me a comment below and i will be happy to answer :)
Lara x
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