Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post

spacemanspiffmm · 06-29-2003, 07:02 AM

Actually, I would say the key is to find a good dermatologist. Usually it'll be someone who's YOUNG (I went through a few older ones who seemed to think pimples weren't a big deal at all until I found a younger one who understood). The doctor I go to new opened my eyes to a bunch of treatments I hadn't known about -

1) an antibiotic, doxycycline, which I take in a daily pill and which has cut the number of pimples i get by about 30 percent

2) a topical cream, retin-A, which works by causing the outer layer of skin to slough off, meaning that the skin on my face is slightly thinner and thus much more permeable to oxygen. result: far fewer pimples, and blotchiness/scars from pimples go away much more quickly

3) when I start getting one of those monster zits (actually called cysts) that I know will be big and red and painful in a few days, I can come in for a quick 5-minute appointment where my doctor injects the cyst with cortisone. She doesn't charge me, and the zit gets killed before it even has a chance to grow up.

you need to find a doc that knows about all this stuff - if you're a college student, your school will often have excellent dermatologists as part of the university health plan (that's how I found mine).

Good luck!

06-29-2003, 07:02 AM	#5 (permalink)
spacemanspiffmm Upright	dermatologist Actually, I would say the key is to find a good dermatologist. Usually it'll be someone who's YOUNG (I went through a few older ones who seemed to think pimples weren't a big deal at all until I found a younger one who understood). The doctor I go to new opened my eyes to a bunch of treatments I hadn't known about - 1) an antibiotic, doxycycline, which I take in a daily pill and which has cut the number of pimples i get by about 30 percent 2) a topical cream, retin-A, which works by causing the outer layer of skin to slough off, meaning that the skin on my face is slightly thinner and thus much more permeable to oxygen. result: far fewer pimples, and blotchiness/scars from pimples go away much more quickly 3) when I start getting one of those monster zits (actually called cysts) that I know will be big and red and painful in a few days, I can come in for a quick 5-minute appointment where my doctor injects the cyst with cortisone. She doesn't charge me, and the zit gets killed before it even has a chance to grow up. you need to find a doc that knows about all this stuff - if you're a college student, your school will often have excellent dermatologists as part of the university health plan (that's how I found mine). Good luck!