u/dhouse913

I’ve been getting these little bumps on my cheeks for about 6 months. Some pop up one day and are gone or flat in a day or two, some stay a week or more. I’ve tried duac, benzoyl peroxide, clyndamycin, doxycycline, I’m currently using a 3% sulfur wash. Nothing has helped so far. I had a couple of big pimples/ingrown hair bumps on my neck last week. The dermatologist cultured them and they came back positive for malassezia, so they prescribed me a ketoconazole wash to use 3x a week for the neck. Now I’m wondering if the bumps on my cheeks are fungal as well and maybe that’s why no other acne treatment has worked?

I’ve been struggling with a combination of clogged pores, papules and tiny pustules along with redness on my cheeks for about 6 months. I used to use widespread benzoyl peroxide gel on my cheeks, with what I thought was a preventative acne treatment. I also never moisturized at night because I was convinced that it would clog my pores. Within the past couple of weeks, I connected the dots and realized that I was constantly damaging my skin barrier, which is why my skin is always oily and probably why I’m getting clogged pores. I dropped actives and have been just cleansing and moisturizing the past week to hopefully repair the barrier and stop the oil. The dermatologist wasn’t sure what it was, maybe a combo of irritation and rosacea, she prescribed metrocream 0.75% and a 3% colloidal sulfur wash.

Anyway, I was given the metrocream for the papules but after a little research, it seems like it makes things worse for a lot of people so I haven’t started it. Does anyone have tips for reducing the amount of papules or how to make them go away faster? I just started using a 3% colloidal sulfur wash a week ago but haven’t seen any difference yet.

Hello,

I’ve been dealing with redness on my cheeks for as long as I can remember, however, for the past 6 months or so, I’ve also been dealing with little skin colored and pink bumps on my cheeks. Some of them come to a tiny whitehead, some show a visible sebum or keratin plug inside and some are just papules that take a week or so to fade.

I’ve been to several dermatologists and they seemingly don’t know what to diagnose. One told me it could be clogged pores and to use adapelene and azelaic acid. I never tried adapelene due to purge risk and the azelaic acid irritated my skin so I stopped after a week. Another dermatologist told me it kind of looks like irritation and gave me a 3% sulfur wash and metronidazole for the bumps. I started the sulfur wash 6 days ago but haven’t tried the metro cream yet. I’m really lost and it’s very upsetting that I’ve been struggling with my skin for so long.

Current pics of my skin from today. It only affects my cheeks, usually the center of my cheeks. I have a bit of a damaged skin barrier from trying all these actives so I’m currently just rinsing with water in the morning, moisturizing, then sulfur wash at night followed by moisturizer again. My main question is does this look like rosacea? I assume that’s why I was given a sulfur wash and metrocream.

I’ve been getting red bumps on my face for several months. Some of them have visible plugs inside of them and I’m able to extract them. Some are just red bumps that never come to a head and eventually flatten and fade. Some are skin colored, most become pink/red. None of them hurt or have any sensitivity when I touch them. My dermatologist seemed like she wasn’t sure what they are and recommended azelaic acid 15% and a retinoid.

Two weeks ago, I started the azelaic acid. I used it once a day, every other day, for 6 days, then used it once a day for 4 days and my skin got very red and bumpy. I stopped using it a week ago. I never started the retinoid because if azelaic acid made my skin react that way, I can only imagine what the adapelene would do. I spot treat the bumps with benzoyl peroxide 5%/clyndamycin 1%, which pretty much does nothing to shrink or minimize their appearance. I also take doxycycline 100mg daily and just started using green stridex a couple of days ago (every other day).

Is this the result of a damaged skin barrier? Is that why I’m getting all these bumps? I have very dry skin in the morning after washing my face (I’m going to try cutting out washing and just rinse with water) and then it’s extremely oily within 30 minutes. I just started moisturizing consistently within the past few days to see if that will improve the bumps. I’m not sure what to do, I get new bumps daily.

I started azelaic acid gel 15% 9 days ago. I initially used it every other day the first 5 days, then moved to once daily use for the past 4 days since I thought I was tolerating it well. My skin is getting worse. I can’t tell if I’m purging, breaking out or just getting some irritation. Regardless, I am going to stop using it for 2-3 days, moisturize and see if my skin calms down. I had put off starting the medication for a couple of months because I was afraid of this happening and here we are!

The first three photos are the morning I started to use it. The second three photos are from today.

I’ve been getting little/big red bumps on and off for several months now. Some have visible white plugs in there and come out like string cheese if I extract them. Others never develop a head or plug and just slowly flatten and fade. They are exclusive to my cheeks. I should mention I have very oily skin. I don’t get them on my nose or forehead or chin. I have no idea what they are or what is causing them. These photos are from today and are worse than usual.

I use:
•dove sensitive skin soap morning and night
•Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel morning and night
•DUAC 5%/1% on active bumps at night
•Almay dramatically different concealer to cover and spot treat the bumps when I’m at work

I’ve been getting little/big red bumps on and off for several months now. Some have visible white plugs in there and come out like string cheese if I extract them. Others never develop a head or plug and just slowly flatten and fade. They are exclusive to my cheeks. I should mention I have very oily skin. I don’t get them on my nose or forehead or chin. I have no idea what they are or what is causing them. These photos are from today and are worse than usual.

I use:
•dove sensitive skin soap morning and night
•Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel morning and night
•DUAC 5%/1% on active bumps at night
•Almay dramatically different concealer to cover and spot treat the bumps when I’m at work

What can I do to smooth out my skin texture? I get a lot of clogged pores/comedones and texture bumps that eventually do go away but I usually have several on my cheeks at any given time. I have extremely oily/acne prone skin. I was recently prescribed 15% azeleic acid but am afraid to start as I don’t want it to cause me to purge. Is there anything else I can do that’s gentler? Stridex 0.5% maybe? I’ve been using disc (5% benzoyl peroxide/1% clyndamycin) on whatever acne/texture bumps I get.

Morning:
La Roche posay toleriane wash
Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel
Duac

Evening:
La Roche posay toleriane wash
Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel
Duac

What can I do to smooth out my skin texture? I get a lot of clogged pores/comedones and texture bumps that eventually do go away but I usually have several on my cheeks at any given time. I have extremely oily/acne prone skin. I was recently prescribed 15% azeleic acid but am afraid to start as I don’t want it to cause me to purge. Is there anything else I can do that’s gentler? Stridex 0.5% maybe? I’ve been using disc (5% benzoyl peroxide/1% clyndamycin) on whatever acne/texture bumps I get.

Morning:
La Roche posay toleriane wash
Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel
Duac

Evening:
La Roche posay toleriane wash
Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel
Duac

I’ve been getting a bunch of closed comedones for the past couple of months. Some turn into whiteheads, some sit as small red bumps like in this photo with a plug just underneath the surface and some flatten back down and go away. I have a handful on my face right now and have no idea why I started getting these. I’ve never experienced this before.

About two months ago, I had a cystic pimple and was put on 100mg doxycycline 2x a day along with clyndamycin pads (I’ve stopped using the clyndamycin pads). I was also prescribed dapsone 5% which I spot treat with. I have been using a concealer pen to cover spots sometimes (it’s 2026, let a guy live haha) which I just recently found out is highly comedogenic so I assume that’s what’s been causing the clogged pores? I also have extremely oily skin and texture as you can see.

Morning routine:
Wash with La Roche posay purifying foam cleaner
Amazon moisturizing water gel
Dapsone 5% spot treat

Night routine:
Micellar water if I use concealer
Wash with La Roche posay purifying foam cleaner
Dapsone 5% spot treat
Amazon moisturizing water gel

I’ve been getting a bunch of closed comedones for the past couple of months. Some turn into whiteheads, some flatten back down and go away. I have a handful on my face right now and have no idea why I started getting these. I’ve never experienced this before.

About two months ago, I had a cystic pimple and was put on 100mg doxycycline 2x a day along with clyndamycin pads (I’ve stopped using the clyndamycin pads). That’s the only thing I can pinpoint that would maybe be causing this?

Morning routine:
Wash with La Roche posay purifying foam cleaner
Moisturizer

Night routine:
Wash with La Roche posay purifying foam cleaner
Stridex 2% wipe
Moisturizer
Spot treat pimples with benzoyl peroxide