Middle Age Acne!?!?

I have only been str8 shaving now for about 3+ months or so, and with all the natural experimenting with all the AS's and Balms and such one thing finally took hold in my brain, a lot of the bumps and what I thought was just the irratition that of course only led to more and more the the little and not so little 'weepers' with every new shave turned out to be just plain pimples coming up that I have NOT had to worry about since puperty!! If your skin like mine seems to react to all the oils and various lotion vehicles by just plain breaking out, then the paridigm of less is more, or maybe just enough should be taken up in post shave!! I never thought about acne being part of the experiance, but when I backed off with all the extra balms and skin oil my shaves became less bloody and skin smoother. With less acne breakout there was less uneven terain to chop off. I hope this little epiphany will help other middle age newbies with teenie/boper type skin.
Post Scriptum : Thanks to all of you at SRP for making my new wet-shaving hobby a great experience!!

SRP's tinkersd!

My skin is oily too. I don't/can't use balms or conditioners either.

I just turned 55 and I still get some pimples. That is why I don't use preshave oil....:chop:

yea you gotta be careful with what you smear on your face, thats a given. im very picky with what i put on my face, i try not to get too exotic with oils and stuff, and if i see any signs of break out i immediately discontinue use.

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

I agree, I have never used balms, milks or other aftershave fru-fru. Cold water, witch hazel and alcohol based AS is all I will consider, and I have found that using a straight razor has actually reduced the occasional acne break out that I still experience (I'm 60).

alcohol based AS is the way to go, no pain no gain (aka the slight stinging sensation of the alcohol that i have come to love):D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by craigisbetter

alcohol based AS is the way to go, no pain no gain (aka the slight stinging sensation of the alcohol that i have come to love):D

---

Alchohol or any products with a drying/astrigent effect are bad for people with acne. Also, there are VERY FEW oils that you can use. I've read that tea tree oil or vitamin E oil is the ONLY oil you should put on your skin if you have acne. Also, Safeway sells a relatively cheap vitamin E cream, which does a better job of moisturizing ALL DAY than most lotions (even expensive ones) AND contains vitamin E (anti--oxidant) to repair damaged/scarred skin.

Unforunately I've had to deal with acne my whole adult life (i'm 27)....I'm not a big fan of doctors and taking pills and chemicals and stuff so I've tried just about everything else under the sun.

Everybody is different, but I've found that a wash with a good quality facial cleanser (no perfumes, foaming agents, unneeding chemicals) once or twice a day goes along way. Of course that dries your skin, so you need to follow up with a good lotion (or in my case vitamin E cream)

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
- Artificial scents or perfumes that irritate the skin.
- Oils!!! They clog pores just like dirt! Tea tree oil is an exception for some reason (i've read that it acts as an anti-bacterial, and also isn't really a "true" oil)
- Cheap shaving cream (it's full of chemicals, artificial scents, oils)
- Skin irritation from too much abrasion (ie. from shaving, scrubbing, rubbing, etc.)....I think this is one reason straight razor shaving seems to help people with acne....less irritation.
- Any kind of grime, grease, dirt, oil, etc. on your face or anything that will clog your pores. If there's no bacteria clogging up your pores, you should not have any acne.

Things to use:
- Good (real) cleanser and/or exfoliating wash (I hesitate to use the word "soap")
- Tea tree oil and vitamin E cream
- Good quality (real) lotion (no perfumy junk)
- Benzoyl peroxide
- Neosporin in problem areas
- If you have the money, proactive is a great system.
- Good shaving soap w/o artificial junk/scents/perfumes
- Straight or DE razor
- Soft drying towel, don't ever "scrub" your face!!!

Well.....this problem has been such a pain for me, I figured I'd pass along what I've learned over the years from trying LOTS of different techniques and products, and reading LOTS of trustworthy health blogs, websites and wiki articles!! If anyone else has suggestions, I'm all ears!

I just turned 40, a few months ago and you could hone off the oils my face produces...nice visual, eh? lol
I never had acne, when i was younger, but i lived in the high-desert. Now i live in a humid area and the oils and acne are a constant problem.

mac

I'm relatively young (29) and still get acne. Sometimes worse than others. I don't use any oils or anything on my face. I just started using Clubman aftershave and notice a little bit of improvement.

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by jdurango

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The0ctopus

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

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Vekta

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! :D

Hydrogen peroxide works great too. And it is cheap.

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

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.

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

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by RazorPete

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.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Kees

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

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.

Yes thats the brand name here, Mupirocin. Its a good product. Its the one which we use to kill staph colonizing in people's noses and also it works well for mild impetigo.

Iodine is also an excellent, time tested anti-bacterial agent, and yes, like chlorine, its also impossible for bacteria to develop resistance to it. We use iodine, (also called povodine here too) to prep skin prior to surgery.

As far as a preventative measure for skin infection, iodine is certainly effective but my point is that used every day it can tend to irritate the skin of some people. Thats why the dilute bleach I described above is useful, especially to people with more sensitive skin who are prone to skin infections.

Also, I just want to let you know this idea about acne being an infection is a bit controversial. Impetigo, which everyone regards as a true infection, is something which is easily transmissible. Most would agree that transmissibility is one of the key defining factors of an infection. On the other hand, you can't catch acne from another person, you have to have an inborn tendency to get acne, which derives from complex, incompletely understood interactions between oil production, hormones in addition to bacteria.

Anyway, its just my opinion, and I think the subject is debatable. Thanks for the interesting discussion Kees, and see you around.

Pete

Thanks for the discussion on this. Stay away from shaving products with alcohols, astringents, synthetics, petrochemicals, and floral water fluff.

There is one preshave soap/oil that I use that works well and doesn't create any skin issues - Castile Soap. It does have some essential oils in it, but they are thinned out a bit with the water mixture.

Pabster

.