Deep Acne--Ouch!

strawkisser · 07-28-2009, 01:00 PM

Hi Cysters--

This month I've had a sudden outbreak of deep, large, painful acne boils around my chin. I've never had anything this severe and painful before. I get a little zit now and then, but these are a whole new animal. I tried to pop them--but they are way to big and deep (sorry TMI). And they really hurt!

Do any of you suffer from something like this? Do you know what it is? My doctor said it might be 'cystic acne'... has anyone ever heard of that? Does it have anything to do with PCOS? Why did it come on so suddenly? How can I avoid having this stuff on my face in the future? What can I do to relieve the pain now (aside from popping)?

thanks!

afrogirl123 · 07-28-2009, 03:05 PM

i have a similar problem. it does have to do with pcos. i would say you should try to eat a low carb diet (lots of lean meat, veggies, nuts) and see if that gets things under control. i use mint julep masque for spot treatment and an aspirin mask twice a week for the redness.

Merigreen · 07-28-2009, 03:22 PM

Do not try to pop cystic acne... it has the potential of leaving a scar (more of a chance than regular acne).

Yes, cystic acne can be caused by PCOS (although that's not why it's called 'cystic' acne). Also, women with PCOS do tend to get acne around their chins, mouths, and jawlines.

etuc · 07-28-2009, 03:38 PM

The only thing that helped my cystic acne was Accutane.
I wish that I had access to it earlier because my chin is still somewhat lumpy over 25 years later! I hate to think what I would look like if I never had been given that RX.

Whatever you do do not try to pop them! My derm used to inject cortisone(I think) into them to try to shrink them and give some relief, I don't remember if that helped any it was so long ago. But I know for sure the accutane worked wonders for me, luckily I had no bad side effects from it, just some dryness and cracking lips, but it was well worth it.

charisse** · 07-28-2009, 03:44 PM

I also had nodular "cystic acne" due to PCOS. I did not have any acne until the birth of my son then BAM ! I tried a ton of meds and nothing worked until I tried Accutane. I have been off accutane for 2 months now and my skin is really starting to look 90% better. I still have some scarring from me trying to pop them too !! DONT pop them. My dermo also would give me cortisone shots and it helped alot (even though i passed out the first time..lol ) If you are not already you may want to try spiro first before just jumping in to accutane. But try all the creams and shots before accutane, it worked wonders for me and is a huge difference but my body had a hard time on it the last couple months. GL !!

Mzsymb · 08-01-2009, 01:29 AM

I also have this problem and they alway seem to occur in the same area, my neck and jawline area and moreso on one side than the other. It really sucks!! They leave dark spots and I don't even pick at them.

verriterri · 08-01-2009, 02:01 AM

Yeah, I had the same problem start about the same time I was diagnosed with PCOS. I tried staying away from dairy (mostly skim milk b/c I was a skim milk addict) and that cleared it up right away. I had read somewhere that dairy was linked to acne, so I tried it and it worked. I also use a Neutrogena Acne Stress Control foaming face wash and the toner, and that worked wonders! It seems to control my acne better. I've only gotten a couple of those cystic zits in the last 8 months since I've been using it.

koagem · 08-04-2009, 11:07 PM

When I started on Loestrin 24, I got a bunch of cystic acne that didnt clear up near my chin. My doctor put me on the anti-biotic minocycline and it really seems to have started clearing up. I think I am having a reaction to one of my medicines, probably either met of the anti-biotics, but I have had allergic problems with anti-biotics. In any case, I am on Yasmin and with the added antibiotics my skin, especially the cystic acne that just wouldnt go away, was really clearing up.

Mzsymb · 08-05-2009, 01:27 PM

I know when I'm not doing well with my blood sugar because I get cystic acne and excess hair growth. Other than that I don't get it but when I do, like now, it's painful!

zigzag · 08-14-2009, 08:39 AM

Most of my acne is tiny little pimples, tons of them. I have to go and get my faced professionally cleansed and microdermabrasion once every 6-8 weeks or else it gets out of control.

Now and then I'll get a nasty cystic acne breakout on my chin, jawline or even on the side of nose...for me, the only thing that clears it up is taking antibiotics for a few days. Nothing else will work, and they won't clear up on their own no matter what I put on them. I am usually prescribed amoxycillin for 3-5 days and then the cystic acne goes away.

Of course, taking antibiotics willy-nilly is not advised, I go to my doctor who will give me a course to get rid of the nasty cysts and I guess I do this up to 4 times per year. For me, nothing else works in getting rid of them, although others may have luck with over-the-counter treatments, I never have.

mutantfrog · 09-27-2009, 03:36 PM

That sounds like cystic acne. I used to have it really bad...I had 4 of them crop up on prom night. How exciting.

Anyways, I found that BCP was helpful in reducing the number--but be careful, some kinds make it worse. I found zovia helpful, and I found yasmin helpful. I tried 4 or 5 other kinds that made it drastically worse.

I know that some people have hangups about this...but...oral antibiotics are GREAT for controlling these things. Some kinds (Oracea? A tetracycline) come in very low dose, time released formulations that will minimize the impact on your GI system. For cystic acne, I was told (and agree based on personal experience) that oral AB's work better than topical ones. I took vibramycin for a long time and it worked well...I'm on erythromycin now (I briefly switched to minocycline, had an alleric reaction, and so now cant take the -cyclines, but erythromycin still works really well).

I don't take BCP at all now, just spiro/propecia and an oral AB and I haven't had any cysts in a loooong time.

DONT pop them.
I also found staying away from putting anything on my face (esp foundation) was helpful. I know it's tempting when you see that stuff there...but it just seemed to propogate the stuff for me.

Good luck!

RoaryKennedy · 09-28-2009, 07:16 PM

When I've got really sore, inflamed ones, I've found that Advil or an ibuprofen/motrin OTC product actually helps--it must take the swelling down a little bit, so you don't have as much pain.

Do you have a regular cycle? I've found that if I use a progesterone cream on days 8 - 28 of my cycle, it helps with acne a lot. I only tried it for one cycle, but during that time, I didn't get any cystic acne, and it seemed to help with my existing acne and even the red marks that are left behind from healing blemishes.

I have tried the antibiotics as well, and never had enough success with them to want to continue taking them--I had a lot of side effects like yeast infections, and at the time, I was on BCP, and since antibiotics can affect the protection of the BCP, I didn't want to chance it.