The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Anyone have unusual advice for salvaging bad skin?
I have had terrible, borderline life-destroying bad skin since high school. I've fought it for over a decade with every treatment option under the sun (including copious amounts of SPF to block out the sun), and it's still awful, albeit in a more "beat up, scarred, leathery" way now than a "covered in pimples way" it used to be.
I think I'm totally fucked and just have to accept that. But might as well ask if anyone has any unusual or hail mary methods for improving skin texture/quality, fighting acne, reducing scarring, reducing redness, etc.
Just for the hell of it, here is a list of skin treatments I currently or have formerly used:
Niacinamide
Retinoids (Accutane and Tretinoin)
Azelaic Acid
Urea repair
Vitamin C (topical and oral)
SPF (million sunscreen variants, applied every day, applied every two hours outside)
Snail Mucin Power Essence
Oral collagen supplements
Fish oil supplements
Vitamin D supplements
Daily cleansers
Hyaluronic Acid
Ferulic Acid
Toothpaste (actually a pretty good short term pimple reducer)
Glycolic Acid (exfoliator)
Korean facial masks
Slugging (putting a layer of vaseline or a similar substance on at night to trap in moisture)
Eliminating hot showers
Silk pillowcases
Claritin (to reduce general inflamation)
Rhofade (weird, controversial short-term treatment for redness that restricts blood flow to the face)
Ivermectin (fight skin mites associated with rosacea)
No sugar consumption
No dairy consumption
Black head removal tape
Botox
Dysport (similar to Botox)
Microneedling
Radiofrequency microneedling
Fraxel non-ablative laser
And I'm sure there's a whole bunch of random smaller treatments from when I was young that I forgot
I have become something of an amateur expert on this shit, feel to ask anything if you're curious.
Based on the extensive list of treatments the obvious "See a dermatologist" I suppose has already been covered? I only mention this at all because you did not. Some of what you've listed appear to be treatments for acne rosacea.
Usual medical treatments for acne vulgaris include benzoyl peroxide, azelaic acid, erythromycin, clindamycin, or dapsone. None of these are over-the-counter, at least as far as I know, depending on where you are. There is also systemic therapy, such as the use of minocycline or doxycycline. These are oral antibiotics with an anti-inflammatory effect. There is also the synthetic retinoid isotretinoin, which is highly regulated due to all sorts of possible side-effects. None of this is relevant information for the skincare hobbyist, however, unless you see a specialist, which I recommend if that route hasn't been taken--though I suspect it has. If it has, consider seeing different doctors until you attain a therapy you are content works to greater degree than what you've done tried so far.
What's up with the hot showers? Cholinergic urticaria is when you break out in hives from contact with hot water (but also an increase in body temperature and sweating), but is that what you experience? I imagine any real dermatologist would be eager to have you as a patient (This is not meant as a slight in any way).
None of this may help in the slightest, but I wish you luck.
I've been to many dermatologists, as well as two plastic surgeons, one of whom is considered one of the best laser surgeons in the world. On the whole, my experiences with them have been fairly negative. Not that their advice is bad, just that it tends to be very typical (retinoids + sunscreen + moisturizer), and they seem to lack the means or inclination to seriously deal with extremely bad cases like mine.
I don't really blame them, dermatological responses to treatments are incredibly varied on an individual basis, and there isn't really much derms can do about it at a certain point.. There are people who have dry skin and put on an OTC moisturizer for a few weeks and then they're fine. Then there are people with dry skin who will spend literally years juggling multiple moisturizers, toners, cleansers, and serums trying to find the right combo that properly protects the skin barrier without causing break outs.
I've used azelaic acid and dapsone, both work decently well, but always seem to loose effectiveness for me, and of course, both cause irritation for me. I've considered oral antibiotics, but I'm scared of their long-term side effects, IIRC there isn't a lot of good research on what happens when people take daily antibiotics for months and there are plenty of horror stories of people developing IBS from them.
The experience is exactly that. If I take a hot shower, I get hives on my chest. If I put my head under the water of a hot shower (which I haven't done in years), my face turns red and swells up. Even with lukewarm showers, I get some redness in my face and chest, and if I make the water a little too warm, I get hives.
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