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  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by jdurango View Post
    Alchohol or any products with a drying/astrigent effect are bad for people with acne....

    If that isn't enough (which it's not for me) you should use some benzoyl peroxide at night before bed....and to clear up problem spots quickly, a dab of neosporin is perfect.

    So....things to avoid:

    - Alchohol/astringent products that dry the skin....

    Things to use:....
    - Benzoyl peroxide....

    - If you have the money, proactive is a great system....
    If you think alcohol is irritating what about benzoyl peroxide, this stuff will dry out even the oiliest skin, and leave it nice and red.

    Proactive is just benzoyl peroxide, and the other stuff is just lotion, save you money and go back to the basics.

    Everything contains chemicals, so you cannot be chemical free no matter how hard you try.

    alcohol works in a similar manner to benzoyl peroxide, but is not as severe.

  2. #12
    Ladies Corner and General Chat CarrieM's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by The0ctopus View Post
    i was thinking of trying the sweetalmond oil for the preshave. sounds pretty gentle.
    you got to get stuff that doesnt clog the pores
    "nongreasy, noncomedogenic" that means non pore clogging. those are key words to look out for
    You should try jojoba oil, This is the closest thing to what your skin naturally secretes and it is non comedogenic

  3. #13
    Junior Member gollum83's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vekta View Post
    Benzoyl peroxide is pretty good if you're not allergic to it but it bleaches e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.
    Well that's what peroxides generally do!

  4. #14
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    Hydrogen peroxide works great too. And it is cheap.

  5. #15
    Senior Member RazorPete's Avatar
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    Here are my two bits, for what they are worth, I hope it is not too long winded, but what do you expect from a dermatologist. I guess you have to say I am passionate about the skin! ha ha

    Anyway, I've found that there are three kinds of problems on the face that people usually call acne. One is acne, also called acne vulgaris, which when its mild, causes whiteheads and blackheads, or when severe, causes pustules or even cysts which scar after healing. For the severe form you should see a dermatologist. But the mild forms you can treat with over the counter benzoyl peroxide washes (yes they bleach clothing as mentioned above). Proactive is a nice product, but it is simply a packaged form of good old fashioned benzoyl peroxide. Like comments above, I usually discourage the use of alcohols and astringents on the skin of people with acne, as they irritate rather than help the problem. The same goes for abrasive cleansers.

    I will also echo a point made above, which many people do not appreciate, is that oil in just about any form will make acne worse. Terms like noncomedogenic or "dermatologist approved" are marketing rather than scientific statements. The only way you know for sure something will not worsen your acne is if it says on the label "oil-free". Nowadays, there are a lot of good oil free moisturizers and sunscreens available for those with acne.

    The other two things that sometimes people mistake for acne vulgaris are acne rosacea and seborrheic dermatitis. Acne rosacea does not cause white or blackheads, and does not cause pimples or cysts. It causes little red bumps, 2-5 mm in size, which are sometimes itchy and which are usually located around the nose or around the mouth. This is not worsened by oil, instead things like alcohol, spicy foods, or especially sunlight, can make it worse. There are some prescription meds that are helpful, but spf 30 sunscreen first thing in the morning on your face (keep it next to your razor!) is worth trying as a first step.

    Finally the other thing people commonly mistake for acne is seborrheic dermatitis, also called dandruff. It can cause facial redness, but its distinguished from acne in that it causes flaking rather than pimples or blackheads. It usually occurs on the eyebrows, sides of the nose or mustache, in back of or in the ears, and of course the scalp. Selsun blue, or nizoral shampoo applied for several minutes to the affected area once a day is a good way to keep that under control.

    I hope this can be useful to some of the folks here.

    regards,

    Pete

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  7. #16
    Senior Member blabbermouth Kees's Avatar
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    With shaving you tend to spread the bugs over your entire face. Every acne lesion contains millions of them, if you nick one it contaminates the blade that spreads it across your face and inoculates clean nick with the bugs.

    So what you need is a proper desinfectant.

    Here;s what you can use immediately after shaving: hydrogen peroxide, iodine (apply and leave for 1-2 minutes before removing it), chlorhexidine gel or cream (stuff surgeons use to clean hands pre-op.

    I have used iodine as a pre-shave as well for a while when I had acne in my Adam's apple region.
    Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.

  8. #17
    Senior Member RazorPete's Avatar
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    Kees,

    Its great you can tolerate chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide and iodine on your face, and for just a short period of time, most people using this wont get into trouble. But acne is a chronic condition and many people who need an every day therapy would find Iodine, hydrogen peroxide and especially chlorhexidine is just too irritating for frequent use.

    Also, its good to remember that acne is not simply an infection but is multifactorial in nature. Abnormalities in oil production, bacterial colonization and in some instances hormones, all can exacerbate this condition. Therefore its useful to choose therapies which can address more than one of these factors.

    One of the nice things about benzoyl peroxide, aside from it being far less irritating than iodine or chlorhexidine, is that it can both decrease oil production on the skin as well as kill bacteria.

    Pete

    edited to add: Here are a couple references on some cutting edge (pardon the pun) research on bacteria and the skin, in case people are interested in this.

    http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/conten...urcetype=HWCIT

    Here is an brief overview of it:
    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0528142821.htm
    Last edited by RazorPete; 06-18-2009 at 07:56 PM. Reason: to add a couple references

  9. #18
    Senior Member blabbermouth Kees's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RazorPete View Post
    Kees,

    Its great you can tolerate chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide and iodine on your face, and for just a short period of time, most people using this wont get into trouble. But acne is a chronic condition and many people who need an every day therapy would find Iodine, hydrogen peroxide and especially chlorhexidine is just too irritating for frequent use.

    Also, its good to remember that acne is not simply an infection but is multifactorial in nature. Abnormalities in oil production, bacterial colonization and in some instances hormones, all can exacerbate this condition. Therefore its useful to choose therapies which can address more than one of these factors.

    One of the nice things about benzoyl peroxide, aside from it being far less irritating than iodine or chlorhexidine, is that it can both decrease oil production on the skin as well as kill bacteria.
    I am fully aware that acne is multifactorial. I do not pretend desinfectants are a cure of acne. I do know that shaving can spread bugs already present to other parts of the skin. Bugs can easily settle in fresh nicks. This settling that can be caused by shaving can be halted, not the acne itself. Another thing: not every pustule on the face is acne.
    Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.

  10. #19
    Senior Member RazorPete's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kees View Post
    I am fully aware that acne is multifactorial. I do not pretend desinfectants are a cure of acne. I do know that shaving can spread bugs already present to other parts of the skin. Bugs can easily settle in fresh nicks. This settling that can be caused by shaving can be halted, not the acne itself. Another thing: not every pustule on the face is acne.
    Totally agree Kees. Skin infections like impetigo, though a separate issue from acne, are an important shaving related problem. And people can mistake the pustules or skin redness that infections cause with acne, so I get your point.

    Especially with the rise of methecillin resistant staph, this is a important thing to bring up here in the shaving forum, especially if one is noticing recurrent problems with skin infections on the face associated with shaving.

    But again, I just want to say certain disinfectants can be quite harsh on the skin for everyday use. A fairly mild way to disinfect the skin prior to shaving is to dilute chlorine bleach 5 cc (1 tsp) in one liter (quart) of hot water from the tap will provide a level of sodium hypochlorite 0.05% w/v (only a little higher chlorine concentration that one would get in a public swimming pool). Soak a clean towel in it and give yourself the hot towel treatment with it for several minutes prior to shaving. I have recommended this for people for many years, albeit not neccessarily for shaving, and it works well to reduce recurrent skin infections. Pediatricians have more recently picked up on this trick and are starting to recommend it too. One of my dermatology colleagues Amy Pallor wrote a nice article on this therapy recently, I enclose a link below. A nice bonus of this therapy is that even methicillin resistant staph cannot develop resistance to chlorine, its a physicial impossibility.

    Bleach baths clear rash and banish flare-ups of skin disease

    Another thing to consider about recurrent facial skin infections is that infectious staph and other bacteria can colonize or reside in the opening of the nose. So that when you wipe your nose, you are spreading the bacteria and it can then find open areas of the skin to infect after shaving.

    Impetigo: Bacterial Skin Infections: Merck Manual Home Edition

    For a person experiencing recurrent facial skin infections, applying antibiotic ointment to the nose three times a week is a also worthwhile thing to try. Mupirocin works best but it is prescription only in the US (not sure about the Netherlands). Polysporin ointment is a good over the counter substitute.

    Cheers,

    Pete
    Last edited by RazorPete; 06-18-2009 at 11:45 PM.

  11. #20
    Senior Member blabbermouth Kees's Avatar
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    Mupirocin is available on prescription here as Bactroban ointment.

    Acne is a non-staphylococcal infection of the skin. For recurrent staph infections of the skin dermatologists here recomment using Betadine (=povidon iodine) shampoo applied to the skin like you would use shower gel. This is also used as a pre-operative skin cleaning by the patient before they go to hospital for cardiac surgery.

    Iodine resistance does not occur so can be repeated as often as possible.
    Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr.

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