Salicylic Acid/Benzoyl Peroxide?

littlelisa_87 · 08-06-2006, 05:44 PM

Cleansers and toners with these chemicals in it don't seem to clear up or prevent acne for me, which they are supposed to do. Instead, my face looks like crap and I look really pale (I think the peroxide or acid bleaches my skin, and it's already sensitive enough). Do products with these chemicals actually work or am I better off using regular cleansers without them? I've tried St. Ives cleansers for oily/acne prone skin and the renewal cream as a moisturizer. It seems to clean my skin, but will it prevent my future breakouts?
Also, most of my acne is on my back! SOMEONE HELP! I can't even wear tanktops cuz it's so bad !

arejster · 08-07-2006, 08:58 AM

I went through the whole topical cream thing for acne - just what you're using - and it never helped me. Bleached my face, made my skin smell and look creamy and gross - I have both oily and flaky skin, so breakouts are no fun. I tried pill medication specific for acne - my dermatologist prescribed it. It helped a little bit but just barely. The thing that helped the most was the Birth Control Pill, which frankly isn't worth it. Depression seemed worse, no drive to do nearly anything, etc. But it did clear the hair up a little. Other than that I can't provide personal experience, because nothing I try really ever helps. i'm sorry.

LepHysteria · 08-07-2006, 10:16 PM

I never thought I had sensitive skin, but apparently I do.
I get a red rash when using benz perox, so I tried Clean and Clear (salic acid). That made me rash too.

Then I tried Adult Acnomel, and this was a god send. I used it for 4 years, then ran out of the tube, got more, and now that makes me rash too.

So I went back to Clean n Clear, and that, so far, works well. I got one which is a concealer plus acne meds. It does the trick, and helps them disappear faster.

I also found that the Metformin the dr rx'd for me helps the acne issue too.
Hope this helps

cec414 · 08-09-2006, 03:00 AM

While I am on two prescription medications for my acne, my dermatologist has me washing my face with Panoxyl 5%, which is benzoyl peroxide because b.p. is the one of the few medicine that acne bacteria cannot become resistant to, and so it's always effective. The 5% variety is hard to find in stores, but it's great stuff, and it hasn't made me look paler or caused inflammation except at the beginning of the treatment when I was getting used to all the medications. I found the Salicylic Acid never did anything for me, and made my skin worse.

One thing my dermatologist said was that if I did have back acne, it would be very hard to treat, and so you might want to do see a doctor about it if you can. In the meantime, try the benzoly on your back and try to get your hormones under control if they aren't, which might help as well.

violamarie · 08-11-2006, 04:34 PM

Benzoyl peroxide never really helps me much either. In fact I don't know if it helps at all. It seems nothing I do ever really changes things dramatically. I have used Benzaclin off/on for years. It didn't clear me up; maybe kept things from getting worse but I have no way of knowing that.
Now I have been on Retin-A for 8 months and I reached a plateau of improvement after about 4 months. It cleared me up some (more than anything else has), but didn't make it go away. And things are at a standstill now. I'm trying to get all the scars to fade but that's slow work since zits keep popping up in the same places.
I actually have a dermatologist appt scheduled but I'm not sure if they'll have any solutions for me... I don't want to go on BCP (I never noticed them helping before anyway), I'm scared of Accutane, and I've tried pretty much everything else (topicals and oral antibiotics).
The strangest part is that my acne isn't really severe or cystic, so you would think it would respond better. Also, I've been pregnant/nursing for 18 months so no AF. So I would think that the hormones should be pretty quiet at this point.