22 Years Old Woman, Hormonal Acne - Birmingham, AL

I have had very persistent hormonal acne on my face since I was 12 years old. At age 17, I went on accutane for 7 months. After accutane, my face was clear for about 7 additional months, after which my acne came back worse than it had ever been before. My confidence took a major hit when my acne returned with a vengeance. I cried almost every night when I washed my makeup off; I no longer felt beautiful. With the help of birth control, my acne settled down over the years, but I still dealt with constant breakouts around my chin and cheeks. During the summer of 2016, after graduating undergrad (Roll Tide!), I decided that I really wanted to clear my face up before I began teaching high school in the fall. I wouldn't feel quite as mature if my face were more broken out than most of my teenage students. So I consulted with a new dermatologist in Birmingham, who recommended a combination of spironolactone pills and tretinoin cream (similar to Retin-A). I have been using those two in combination with CeraVe moisturizing wash every evening for 47 days so far. Of course, my acne got tremendously worse before it got better. On day 17, I had a mild/medium chemical peel performed on my entire face. The peel may have sped up my healing process, but I believe the majority of my progress was due to the spiro/tretinoin combo. I am THRILLED with my results so far, and I will be even happier when some of my old scars fade. For anyone suffering from hormonal acne, I recommend checking out this treatment plan. Plus, the spironolactone is a diuretic, so you can expect to lose a few pounds pretty quickly. And because the medicine inhibits testosterone, you may experience enlarged breasts, thickening of hair, and thinning of facial hair. With the tretinoin, you'll likely get rid of both acne AND wrinkles. I have experienced all of these side effects, and I sure as heck am not complaining!

I got this chemical peel with the goal of clearing up my acne and some of my milder acne scars. My dermatologist performed extractions of the pimples on my face, followed by a medium-level peel for 4 minutes. During the peel, my face blistered and turned dark pink, and a few areas frosted over. The peeling started on day 2 and continued for the next 4 days. I noticed a breakout on day 2 that calmed down over the next few days. However, I do not think my acne is significantly better than before the peel. I am underwhelmed with the results, which I had been led to believe would be significant. I am continuing with my tretinoin/spironolactone treatment regimen with the hopes that this acne will go away once and for all.