Never Ending Acne and Dark Spots for 6 years.

[#1]

Hi, I have extremely sensitive skin and I break out all the time and when I do, a dark spot is created, so my entire face is filled with them. I have literally tried everything and at this point I give up on the dark spots. I am 16 years old so I want to know if there is any sensitive yet effective way to help clear up my skin? I don't eat greasy foods, I have a healthy diet and drink lots of green tea so I just do not understand why this is still happening. I have also gone to a dermatologist, many times. Someone PLEASE HELP ME. 

[#2]

Hello there,

I'm the same age as you & have suffered from acne about as long as you have as well. I can ABSOLUTELY understand what you are going through and am seeing a dermatologist myself. Nothing has helped me either, and there are days where my skin would look slightly better and then it'd go back to non stop breaking out!

Something I think you should know though, I asked my dermatologist about eating soy products and she says it is partly the reason why I'm breaking out. Soy products apparently cause you to create a lot of hormones therefore, they cause breakouts. Soy products include: tofu, vegetarian meat (e.g. patty for a veggie burger), etc. Eat less of any soy products and it might help .

I am allergic to many things and have questioned about my allergies to soy products. I was told that I am allergic to soy products but eating never harmed me so I just ate a lot of soy products all these years because it taste good. But I realized that I breakout partially because they're more of allergy-acnes I should say.

Try avoiding food that may seem healthy but are actually harming you in a different way. Try to stay away from soy products and see if it might help (:

We'll both have clear skin one day, there's hope for us (:

[#3]

I empathize with you. I have had acne almost all my life. Trust me, I have tried everything! I am in my 40's and a dermatologist finally prescribed an oral antibiotic for me.  I have been taking Minocycline and it has really helped greatly. The doctor also prescribed a topic foam, called Clyndamycin Topical Phosphate Foam 1%, which is a topical antibiotic. I wash with a very mild glycolic cleanser. Peter Thomas Roth has a great glycolic cleanser.The last thing I recommend is Perricone's Intensive Pore Minimizer solution, which helps to tighten pores. 

Good luck to you! I really recommend seeing a dermatologist

[#4]

It's likely your hormones. If you have other PMS related symptoms that bother you a lot, I'd speak to your doctor about birth control. Clinics for adolescents can actually give you multiple months of the pill for free. If you have acne primarily on your cheeks or jaw, that is a sure sign of your body producing too many androgens and BC can definitely help that. (But I had acne on my forehead and random spots, and BC helped me with that too).

However, if you have acne primarily on very red areas of your face-cheeks/chin that seem dry or irritated, you might have a mild form of rosacea.

Where do you get your acne? If it's near your hairline or one side of your face, it might be partially caused by hair products that get on your pillow.

I'm sure you've tried salylic acid pads, that works for awhile but I think over time they become less effective. I'd use a cleanser and toner that will soothe your skin such as the Fresh Soy Cleanser (or you could try the new Bosica Detoxifying Black Cleanser), and the Body Shop's Aloe Calming Toner. The doctor prescribed Differen" worked well for me, but benzoyl peroxide 10% really knocks acne out. I got it from a drug store brand Clearasil.  However, it might be a bit too strong for your skin. Try the benzoyl peroxide out, and just make sure you wear sun protection and apply a soothing moisturizer after overnight spot treatment.

Do not pop your pimples! Aim to reduce inflammation and/or dry them out. For brown spots, treat those with either 1)Clinique's Even Better Clinical Dark Spot Corrector 2) Shiseido's White Lucent Spot Targeting Serum, or 3) The Body Shop's Tea Tree Blemish Fade Night Lotion. I've found Clinique's to be most effective.