Beauty Tips For Body Care
So, this might be jumping the gun a bit. I often lurk here and I felt like I really needed to make an account just to let people know about a possible cause of acne who might not have thought about it yet:FUNGUSOr yeast, to be more specific. I had seen it posted often here, but it didn't click with me until I started to read this blog post.I actually found the blog post here while digging around for something else. I took the time to read it and the realization hit me like a ton of bricks.History (feel free to skip this part):I used BP for a long time when I was younger (in the form of Proactiv) and then went on birth control for a stint a few years after stopping Proactiv. During the years use of Proactiv my skin was okay but not great - steady mild to moderate acne. I had sort of given up on it as my skin continued to worsen and tried Birth Control. I had horrible reactions to BC, including developing acid reflux and IBS, so I stopped using it. It didn't seem to really change my skin very much at all, so there was no love lost. I still have the reflux and minor intestinal issues.My skin continued to worsen, sometimes I'd have bouts of clearing, generally following sun exposure. I would "manage" my lesions with stacks of hydrocolloid bandaids, which got very expensive and wasn't treating the root cause. Some Asian Beauty products seemed to improve things, but not much and only for a little while.Currently: I've recently started Differin, which seemed to help my skin texture and quality, but was only somewhat improving the acne and has instigated a bit of a purge, as it is meant to do. Over the years I noticed that my skin seemed very sensitive to specific products. It made me assume that I just had sensitive skin, but what I didn't realize is that all of this time (maybe even before BC) I had a fungal infection, and my skincare products were literally feeding it.That blog post changed my life. I went right to the store and picked up Lotrimin Ultra, Vanicream Gentle Facial Cleanser, and Head & Shoulders Shampoo (for scalp and body). I ditched my make-up and grabbed a foundation off of the "safe list" from the blog.I saw ridiculous results after one night of slathering the Lotrimin on my face - like an 80% reduction. The active lesions just smoothed out into normal skin, some pustules came to a head and ceased to be inflammatory. I was floored. The differin seems to be helping the deeper stuff come up a little bit easier, but I've only been on it a about a week or so, so I know that the Lotrimin is what is causing the dramatic reversal.Fifteen years of this shit. FIFTEEN YEARS. Please, if you have acne that has been waxing and waning, has uniform closed comedones with inflammatory pustules and lesions / seems to focus around hair follicles, and hasn't really responded to other treatment - please give that blog post a read. Or better yet, have your derm give you a test for yeast.As for me, I fully expect to get some hormonal breakouts occasionally, and some more light purging from the Differin. However, my skin is breathing a sigh of relief right now. It isn't angry anymore. I could cry! FUNGUS IS AMONG US.EDIT: Got a good question asking how a fungal infection starts: On the blog it mentions people who have used Benzoyl Peroxide for long stints of time, Birth Control, face picking (which I'm guilty of) etc. I think what happens is that you wipe out good bacteria and your natural skin barrier, and it leaves an open place for yeast/fungus to set up shop. BP and other acne treatments don't kill fungus, only bacteria.
Girls Blog 2015
Submitted by skincareaddalt
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