Any suggestions for my Fungal Ance?

[Sofra]

Hi ive had fungal acne for months (since August 2022) and if you dont know what Fungal Acne is its basically a bunch of tiny bumps that look like pimples but dont rise to the surface and are most common on your chin or forehead. Ive tried a lot of products for it like salacitic acid and stuff like that but nothing seems to help it does make the bumps smaller but never really go away. Ive been struggling with this for almost a year and its really embarrassing and gets in the way on my confidence too. It would really help if anyone can help me out with some suggestions on what i could use or do to get rid of it, or anyone who has had this problem before and share how they got rid of it. 

[canismajor]

Azelaic acid! I used to struggle with fungal acne on my forehead too, went to a dermatologist and she prescribed me 20% azelaic acid cream, and in less than 2 months it cleared up! Nothing worked for me like azelaic acid, I highly recommend you look into it : ) 

[Sofra]

thanks! can you tell me what brand it was?

[lauradollar]

Just about a week ago i got those little tiny itchy bumps, which i thought was allergic dermatitis and got prescribed an antihistamine, which did not help at all and the bumps started spreading to my neck a bit. It was not noticeable on camera, but in real life it was because of the texture and the most annoying part was itchiness. 
so what has helped me was mixing rice vinegar (you can also try apple cider, i just only had rice vinegar at home), 1 teaspoon vinegar 4.5% and 1 teaspoon filtered water. And i applied this as a toner (avoid the area around the eyes!!) before going to bed for 10-15 minutes. Then washed my face with a regular cleanser and applied moisturizer and went to bed. 
this worked almost immediately for me and my bumps and itchiness are almost all gone now, and it’s been about 4 days that I started applying the vinegar solution. 
hope this helps! Just be careful with the application and avoid contact with eyes! 
also, overexfoliation, using harsh chemicals on my face and serums with acids on a daily basis destroyed my skin barrier, which makes it so much more prone to al’ kinds of infections. So make sure you are gentle with your skin and not using too many harsh products. Actually sticking to just a cleanser abd moisturizer as daily skincare should be sufficient in most cases.

take care!

[CattyT3]

Your description sounds exactly like my skin - I used to have a lot of small bumps on my forehead and regular breakouts here and there in no particular location on my face. I have used a salicylic acid cleanser for years and it has never contributed to any improvement in my skin condition, same for glycolic acid - my skin does not do anything when these ingredients are used even everyday.
I found settling my gut health (I do have IBS and my scattered breakouts are more often than not reaction to physical or just general life stress increasing on a particular day) made a world of difference for my skin. I have collagen powder with HA, vitamin C, and probiotics daily now, and if I ever accidentally miss a day, my stomach and skin feel it. So see if you might have health concerns to look into addressing that might be contributing to skin health as a side effect.
I have also determined (unfortunately after a few months of increasing pain until I went to my doctor when it got bad enough to make me miss school) and got allergy diagnoses for lavender and "natural/ essential oil" based fragrance. This has been my big missing link in being able to maintain my skin's improved condition as I didn't realize my skin hates lavender and I accidentally ended up with my daily skincare routine containing lavender oil or extract in every step of my routine, so now my reaction to lavender and having natural fragrance that is high up on ingredient lists actually impacts my breathing along with immediately making my eyes swell up. I am on a journey right now to figure out if I might be allergic to certain other ingredients like BHT just due to my adverse reactions to a couple of other products I have now stopped using. I will be going to get tested for possibly having rosacea as well just because of how my skin behaves to physical and my mental stressors. 
- So, after checking in with your body and seeing if you might need to get tested for any health issues that may or may not include allergies to ingredients you are using - 
I have found that maximizing on skincare for hydration and promoting gentle skin repair has been my key to not only eliminating the permanent minefield of the small bumps on my forehead, but now my stress breakouts are a bit more reduced and overall my skin's texture is almost back to the former glory it was before my skin got very irritated on an almost permanent basis right as my teen years ended. My main concern is now actually tackling the hyperpigmentation left behind on a few spots around my forehead as I now have a handle of how to keep my skin calm and soothe it no matter the weather, the day or what life throws at me.

General description of the ingredients I look for to work on my skin: [[https://community.sephora.com/t5/Deeper-Shades/What-is-the-best-skincare-routine/m-p/6545882/highlig...

For most of my gentle products I actually rely are from East Asian skincare brands I order: [https://community.sephora.com/t5/K-Beauty/I-need-a-good-skincare-for-dry-skin/m-p/6546701/highlight/...

I will add products here to let you know what my tried and true skin savior products I get from Sephora are - some are products I used for a while and have now progressed to using more potent versions of. [https://community.sephora.com/t5/K-Beauty/K-Beauty-Anti-Aging/m-p/6546469/highlight/true#M3234]

These are sunscreens I trust for my skin. Supergoop! Glowscreen SPF 40 Sunscreen with Hyaluronic Acid + Niacinamide #Kinlo Tinted Sunscreen and the few linked here [https://community.sephora.com/t5/K-Beauty/Something-magical-about-Asian-sunscreens-post-your/m-p/655...

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THE LINKS TO MY OTHER POSTS THAT HAVE INFORMATION ON WHAT INGREDIENTS/ PRODUCTS TO LOOK FOR ARE NOT WORKING!

[Sofra]

this helps so soo much im def gonna look into all this thank you!😁

[WinglessOne]

Hi @Sofra ! Have you seen a board certified dermatologist or primary care doctor about your skin condition? That's the best way to get personalized treatment options that'll actually work for you.

I'm not a doctor but I can tell you this: "fungal acne" isn't really acne at all. It's a type of folliculitis caused by yeast overgrowth in some of the hair follicles on your skin. Salicylic acid won't treat it. You can try using anti-fungal ingredients though, since those can reduce the yeast on our skin. Using an anti-dandruff shampoo as a face wash might help: something like Nizoral (contains ketoconazole), Vanicream Dandruff Shampoo (contains pyrithione zinc), or Selsun Blue (contains selenium sulfide). Lather it on the affected skin, let it sit for 3-5 minutes, and then rinse it off. 

Ideally I'd recommend Vanicream Z-Bar which is a solid skin cleanser containing pyrithione zinc, but Vanicream stopped making it a while ago. The closest I've found to it so far is DermaHarmony Zinc Therapy Soap which I buy from Amazon. 

I still think you should see a doctor, especially if you've had this ongoing issue since last summer. If your bumps aren't itchy, they might not be "fungal acne" either. Having a doc diagnose the root cause will help you choose treatments that'll actually address the problem. 

[CattyT3]

Perfect line of advice for getting a diagnosis to pinpoint what exactly it is you are suffering from and to know the actives to steer clear of and what to try out to see if it works on your skin.