Acne, Cystic Acne is treated at Indulge Salon
Secrets to relieve Acne and Cystic Acne
client of Indulge Salon, York, Pa suffering from facial acne as a teen
Acne that turns into Cystic is one of the hardest acne types to reduce or eliminate. At Indulge salon we have been able to achieve relief of cystic and agitated acne. This type of acne is demoralizing creates doubt and low self esteem after years of “dealing with this type of acne.
One of our young teenage clients came to us to figure out how to “get rid” of her acne on her face, shoulders and back. I was moved that she trusted me to guide her. I remember saying to her that this is a two way show with her maintaining certain behaviors and habits at home while I worked with her treatments weekly. After 1 year of working with her we both were able to see a huge difference in her skin texture, the reduction of cystic acne. The biggest difference has been in the winter of 2019 with introduction of some new treatments that allows her collagen to work more efficiently weekly.
She has been on medications to fight the acne since ten years old, however; her parents were concerned about her organs as any parent would be. Eventually, she did stop taking medications because she was getting results working with our treatments. I must say in some instances medication will be needed but in her case, she found the results spoke for themselves. Her breakouts were less, her cystic acne was getting to be in just some selected areas vs all over the back and shoulders.
Our team at Indulge Salon has worked together to help her achieve her skincare goals.
What is Cystic Acne?
It is the most serious type of acne. It develops when cysts form deep underneath the epidermis in the dermal layer. It feels bumpy appearing like a pimple but is not squeezable to release the bacteria to heal. The oil dead skin cells plus the accumulation of bacterial make happy bed fellows in the skin causing “congestion” or clogging of the pores. it gets even more complicated than just those elements, it just seems to get worse.
This type of acne tends to get worse in the teens because of hormonal imbalances, oily skin, and usually teens. I’ve personally worked with teens and adults that have this type of acne. It is emotionally charged every time our teens look at their skin. Their friends may have clear skin and when they look in the mirror they are more self conscience hopeful that for once in their life they will have smoother acne free skin.
shoulder acne plus scarring that was shown as of 2018
What does Cystic acne look like?
- looks like a boil type bump
- whitish almost clear on the top of the hard bump
- redness with irritation around the edges of the acne bump
- painful to the touch
- patches of the bumps surrounded closely by other bumps
This type of acne is not just located primarily on the face. It can be congested on the lower back, the top of the shoulders, the middle of the back where the bra strap connects and the neck and the arms. Bacteria can thrive near the bra strap in droves!! The behind the ears can be commonplace too!
Is medication for acne the answer?
In most acne cases originate at the dermatologist office because this is the first line of defense for teens and their parents. Parents are more concerned about the drugs that are administered that will affect the liver. I do want to add the benefits of some of the drugs that are given in severe cases. After this is consistently in the body system, we have found that using our facial services such as Hydra Clean, we found success in the reduction of acne breakouts, diminished cystic acne. The larger cystic acne bumps, rough textured skin start to smooth out.
Dermatologists can prescribe Accutane which is the most popular mediation used to treat acne. This ingredient is derived from Vitamin A, taken in tablet form. 85% of patients do see improvements with a few months. Spironolactone (Aldactone) is another alternative prescription treatment for cystic acne. This medication is used as a diuretic to help treat edema and high blood pressure. Of course professionals are looking for for medications to reduce ace and control inflammatory acne. This type is great for lower facial acne around the jawline. Oral contraceptives were and are a viable option in women. Its effective during the hormonal fluctuations related to the menstrual cycle. Birth control pills contain estrogen which helps regular the overall hormone levels and possibly reduce acne. They aren’t for everyone especially if you smoke, have blood clots and are trying to get pregnant. Again, serious risks of taking this medication should be considered:
- acne worsening
- bruising
- more skin inflammation
- blood in the urine (this is extreme)
- muscle and joint pain
- headaches
- breast tenderness
- dizziness
- fatigue
- high blood potassium
- menstrual irregularities
Then after starting this and getting another type of problem due to the medication its a push pull situation to deal with the acne problem. Which do you solve first? Back to the doctor they prescribe an antiobiotic, other symptoms may occur such as nausea, diarrhea, sun sensitivity, vomiting and other symptoms.
Over the counter treatments for acne have some of the same generic ingredients however; when someone is experiencing and living with Cystic acne you need more strength, consistency of treatments that are topical and mechanical (physically cleaning the skin) the right ingredients.
How quickly can I see results from the right system?
After working with many clients that have cystic acne along with teenage acne, I was empathetic to their emotional needs and started to search for the best systematic way to manage the acne. I was getting referrals from dermatologists to manage cystic acne in the labia area which is even more painful in the genital area. We treat that area a little differently by waxing and keeping this under control. We will address this in another blog post.
Topical treatments are my very favorite treatments along with galvanic current that stimulates the skin cells charging them with energy that gets those bacteria ridden, clogged pores, and the dead skin cells off their proverbial “couch” and get them moving up to the surface to be discarded. Some retinoids that are prescriptive will cause the skin to constantly peel because they are topically applied daily.
We, my team and I have found that while the peeling action is very important to remove the dead skin that was dormant underneath, emotionally we don’t want to have that occur every day. We developed a system over a year period that has been successful with chemical skin peels with ranged levels for the time of the peel, along with various weekly treatments that kill bacteria, a prescribed skin care treatments that are managed monthly so that we are always breaking down the skin to encourage skin renewal then encouraging nourishment with the layering of vitamins in skin care. The goal of treatment acne and cystic acne is to get it managed if your skin is prone to it so that it will be reduced or eliminated because of both parties you and the new habits that we will teach you and work with you on for constant improvement of change.
Will the scars that I have stay forever?
We cannot promise that all of the scars will leave your body. Scarring will be diminished if you are under a consistent skin care treatment that is rigorous for effectiveness. Never pop cystic acne because this will likely cause scarring. Popping acne or cystic acne can cause the spread of bacterial infections. I’ve seen this and it is ugly for all involved plus the crying and emotionally scarring this leaves is worse than the scarring itself.
Unless the turnover of the cells is ongoing, the scarring will stay due to the lack of turnover of cells. We encourage the turnover with a variety of treatments such as:
- Dermaplaning removes the surface levels dead skin and vellus hair
Shoulder acne improved after 4 months of collectively using our products and at home maintenance
- Hydra clean to kill bacteria
- Variety of chemical peels that infuse Vitamin A derivatives into the skin during the process. See more info here
- Micro needling
- Laser resurfacing – we will refer to a dermatologist for this
- Dermabrasion
- Rhonda Allison skin care treatments that are alternated with the change of the skin texture
- Guidance from our skincare professionals on daily habits
Home maintenance immediate suggestions you can integrate are:
- Avoid inflammatory foods – visit some website that focus on this
- Avoid picking your skin by figuring out your triggers of stress that cause you to touch your skin
- Select makeup that is light and airy that won’t clog your pores – schedule a makeup consultation with our makeup specialists at 717846.4424
- never go to bed with makeup on
- wear your sunscreen with spf in daily before makeup
- wash your face twice a day with the correct cleansers for day and for night
- avoid picking your skin because this leads to cystic acne.
- stress is linked to STRESS breakouts!
We have more to share with you that is not able to fit in this lengthy post. I love sharing success stories however we don’t have enough room here. Link to our facebook http://www.facebook.com/Indulgesalon
If you are interested in our 90 day system of treatments for an annual program, please contact 717.846.4424.
