u/Responsible_Phone284

Hi everyone! Hoping to get to advice please. Apologies if I’m posting in the wrong place, I tried searching the sub for hairline acne and couldn’t find any posts related to that so hopefully it’s okay I post this.

25 year old woman, never really dealt with acne until this year. Throughout my life I’ve only ever gotten the odd whitehead when I had slept in my makeup during high school and even that was very rare.

About 5 months ago, I had a pretty bad infection (not skin related) which caused an immune response of eczema and severe skin sensitivity all over my body. The eczema was fine, I’ve had that skin condition my entire life and I manage it to where it’s basically nonexistent these days. But the skin sensitivity or reactivity (?) has been next level.

My face started producing excess sebum so I had loads of sebaceous filaments on my forehead and nose, and I started getting those really deep, painful, red bumps on my forehead and hairline. Thankfully I’ve managed to mostly control the sebaceous filaments and the forehead acne has stopped but I cannot control the hairline acne (specifically either side of my forehead and the edge of the cheekbone area if that makes sense?)

What I’ve been doing:
- I wash my hair every 3 days so the oils from my hair aren’t finding their way onto my face.
- When applying hair products, i apply at least 1 inch from the hairline.
- When applying skincare, I don’t go anywhere near my hairline.
- I change my pillowcase at least every 2-3 days, I also use silk pillowcases.
- I cleanse my face as soon as I wake up and about 1 hour before bed in the evening to allow skincare to soak in.
- I cleanse my hairline twice daily and ensure cleanser is completely washed off.

Current products my skin can handle without breakouts (as in doesn’t bring the deep forehead acne out):
- CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser
- Beauty of Joseon Rice Water Sunscreen (the cream packaging)
- Cetaphil Hydrating Moisturiser
- Paula’s Choice 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant (every 3rd night)

Products I’ve tried but my skin won’t tolerate them even though I used them prior to the reaction:
- TO niacinamide serum
- Basically any type of vitamin C (I’ve tried so many brands and every time, I end up with deep painful lumps all over my forehead)

Just want to preface this by saying I don’t believe my skin barrier is compromised since my skin feels hydrated and plump, it’s not tight or sore or itchy or burning. No products cause any kind of discomfort, it’s just the deep painful acne that I can’t seem to shake. I also had my hormones tested and everything was completely normal other than my testosterone being a little low due to birth control. I skip my period for a year at a time due to a medical condition so I doubt it’s hormonal acne but I don’t know.

PLEASE give me advice on what else I could be doing to combat the hairline acne, it’s so annoying and painful!

Hi everyone! Thought I’d share this for anyone wanting to try something new to help their brain fog.

History:
- Have been having migraine attacks from early teenage years
- Turned chronic end of 2022 after contracting covid
- Trialled multiple oral preventatives and botox, no success
- Been on Emgality CGRP since July 2024
- Currently taking 400mg Magnesium Glycinate in the evening (in powder form), I’ve been doing this for over a year which is why I know it’s not improving the brain fog, just purely for migraine and sleep purposes
- On 30mg Baclofen daily (in 3 doses) for chronic muscle pain in neck and traps
- Been drinking over 3L of water daily for the past 2 years

Okay so onto the point of this post. My migraine head pain has reduced to 1-3 days/month from basically daily. But while the head pain has reduced, I’m still having silent migraine activity (all of my symptoms minus head pain) and my brain fog basically was ruining my life. I felt like a zombie 24/7 and my aphasia was getting worse by the day.

For the past year I’ve been back in the gym trying to lose all the weight that was gained through oral preventatives. To help me in the gym, I’ve been taking creatine for the past 2 months and at first I was thinking “wow I feel so much stronger” but recently I started to notice I was waking up fresher, I feel more energetic and more like myself again, I’m not struggling so much with aphasia, my brain fog is lifting. When I tell you that my depression has improved SO much, I’m not lying!

My dosage:
I mix 5g creatine monohydrate (the brand I use is BSc Pure Creatine) with fruit juice and water. I use fruit juice because sugar can boost creatine absorption into muscles, and water to dilute the juice (I was raised in a diluted fruit juice household🤣) and I’ve noticed that it helps the creatine be less gritty.

Just want to add in here again that I’ve been drinking over 3L of water daily for the past 2 years so I know these effects are not caused by higher hydration levels. Creatine is the only thing I’ve changed the last 2 months also.

Disclaimer: consult your doctor before starting new supplements to ensure it is right for you and do your own research!