29 Yr Female Mid Acne Mild Acne Scarring Minimal Ice Pick Scars with Some Rolling. Oily Skin - San Antonio, TX

I was looking to get rid of old acne scars and wipe out new breakouts so I was put on Tazorac and Aczone about a year and a half ago. My skin went from bad to HORRIBLE for the first 3-4 weeks I was on the combo BUT THEN it all changed. Ever since my skin "adjusted," it breaks out less AND my old scars are clearing up. Look into Aczone in combination with Tazorac.... there is a GREAT discount card (I get both for $50 TOTAL). About one year and three months after I started this regimen, I get about 2 pimples a month during "that time of the month," BUT THAT'S IT, no joke. I'm 29 and suffered with acne from the age of 22-28. Tazorac and Aczone performed miracles. Keep your head up, you're not alone! :)

Alright, let me take you on a journey; I think it will bring your spirits up. I was the girl in high school who never broke out. I do mean never, not once. When I was 22 however, a hormonal change happened and I developed acne. I don't mean a little acne, I mean SERIOUS white heads, cysts, and black head acne. It was horrible. My doc put me on Clindamycin gel (twice a day) and had me do glycolic/ salicylic peels bi weekly. This was a lot of peeling BUT it was completely cleared up, scars and all, after about a year. I kept up with the Clindamaycin gel but dropped the peels and my face looked great. Now... fast forward to the age of 27 when VERY SUDDENLY, my face started breaking out again. This stuff came back with a vengeance. My doc put me on Tazorac in addition to Clindamaycin gel..... no luck. He added the oral treatment Minocyclin, and it got a little better. When I say a little better though, I mean going from 25 breakouts everywhere (blackheads, white heads, and cysts) to 15-20 everywhere so really, it still sucked BIG TIME. I started doing some research and found "Aczone," which was used mainly for teenagers so really, I figured my doc wouldn't prescribe it. Long story short, after an argument, he did finally agree to let me try it. I dropped the Clindamycin gel, dropped the Minocyclin, and began using Aczone (twice a day) and Tazorac (at night). Now, keep in mind: this was right before I turned 28. What happened at first was AWFUL. I started having volcanic looking breakouts, which led to me picking, which led to me scarring (yes, I know: Don't pick.... too bad). I remember this happening for about two weeks. Then, the skin flaking came..... so dry. I was breaking out, shedding skin, and sunburned easily (for the first time in my life). Also, my face felt like it was burning 24/7. Now, with this said, I was having less breakouts overall AND with all the skin shedding, the breakouts I did have were most certainly healing faster. Skip a couple weeks or a few and go to about two months in. My skin was FLAWLESS. Dry when exposed to sun and/or wind, but flawless as far as breakouts (besides one or two cystic breakouts during that time of the month). In 6 months, I'll be 30 (sssshhhhhh.... don't tell ANYONE, lol) and I don't have breakouts as long as I don't skip my "doses" of Aczone and Tazorac. My old scarring is minimal, as Tazorac sheds skin faster there (which I'll never understand), but I'm still taking action to erase damage from picking (my bad, lol). I get glycolic peels every month or two to help erase the scars, kill and draw out any thing that may be lying under my epidermis, and avoid the aging process as much as possible but with that said, every single esthetician I've seen has told me "what beautiful skin" I have (while they tell me how they hate hearing clients use those "useless prescription creams and gels", lol). The catch to all this however, is that if you don't moisturize enough while using these: YOU ARE SCREWED and I can't stress that enough (I use Murad sensitive skin along with Burt's Bees Radiance Day and Night cremes... and Neutrogena face sunscreen)! I'm not a doctor and I am very aware that not any two people respond exactly alike to everything, but I would try that combo... honestly, I would. I don't know. Take this at face value to you bc I was just searching around the web (out of boredom) and came upon your thread here. You sound down and I can relate VERY well. I just figured that while I was going through it, I could have used a success story so maybe you can too. :) Hope it helps!

I think it was definitely worth it. Was a bit painful ..But worth it. No scarring when professionally done.