Originally Posted by Ailos
My apologies Shift, but I have to contradict you.
The sun can temporarily reduce acne by making the skin inhospitable to P. Acnes, and also by drying out the skin upon receiving damaging UV radiation. However, this is a temporary effect and will soon stop working. Not only that, any amount of sun damage will lead to an increase in the chance of developing skin cancer (UV radiation creates tyrosine dimers in the DNA of skin cells).
However, I can't argue against a nice tan. There are enzymes called photoreactive enzymes (PRE) that repair these tyrosine dimers upon exposure to blue-spectrum light. PRE is actually added to sun block now, but if you want a safe tan, perhaps you could locate PRE without UV blockers (though your skin will still exhibit aging).
Back to acne, I had acne for the longest time and nothing seemed to work on the topical level (though I had it on my back, chest, face, and neck). I ultimately went to my dermatologist, who recommended isotretinoin (Accutane). Despite it's scary reputation (with claims of depression, suicide, etc.), he seemed to think it was fine. And it works. I'm still on it now, and my skin is as clear as summer blue skies. Studies actually show that the incidence of suicide is actually higher in the general population than in the population taking isotretinoin. I have noticed a slight fluctuation in mood, but I've always kind of been that way.
Though if you find response to topical treatments, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, etc., then that's great. You may also want to look into systemic antibiotics, though they run you the slight risk of colitis (at least some of them do).
Anyways, hope that helps!
Yea, maybe it doesn't work for all people. Whenever I get a tan my acne disappears. Whatever you try and works, I guess. Also, I'm not a huge supporter of getting ridiculous amounts of sun exposure. You know how people go on vacation to some sunny destination, and spend a few hours tanning in the sun? That's what I'm talking about. Most people do this anyway, without getting skin cancer, and that's what I'm suggesting. Compared to the little sun exposure I get over the span of my life, it's insignificant. This is for those of us who are pale and never really get that sun-time in Eh, people can make their own judgments. Sun has always caused my acne to disappear. Getting exposure, even in low doses regularly, will clear it up.
Doryx is an antibiotic prescribed for acne, and it makes your skin more sensitive to the sun. It did shit for the acne on its own, but when I combined it with spending time in the sun, it worked amazing wonders
A word of caution against Accutane: my brother went on it, and his lips got detroyed. He has this problem now where they are constantly chapped, chafed, peeling, and painful. Since we are in Florida it's not particularly bad, but whenever we go into cold dry weather his lips begin to peel, ooze, and get extremely painful and swollen. This problem started after he started Accutane, and the dermatologist told us that the medicine was in fact the cause... it seems that this is a common side effect. So his acne cleared up, but his lips are ruined (he's 22, so at an age where probably his acne would have gone away or been close to, but his lips are destroyed now). It's been about 4-5 years since he started and he still has this severe, painful, and embarrassing problem. I don't know if it will go away eventually, and I also don't know if there are preventative measures you can take to avoid it (meaning, he's not the sort of guy to put lotion on his lips every night if something like that helped, although in retrospect he probably would after suffering but hindsight IS 20/20)
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