I’ve had these tiny micro bumps on my forehead that won’t go away. They aren’t itchy, have no visible heads, and my skin still feels smooth to the touch, but they’re noticeable up close.
What’s weird is they’re only in the middle of my forehead while the rest is completely smooth.
Could this be a damaged skin barrier? If you’ve dealt with this and found something that worked, please let me know!
Hello everyone, I'm struggling with FA and is so weird.. one day my face is clear and then Boom a bit of sweat is making my skin breaking out. I even created a disposable face towels brand because of this haha and used a lot of tea tree products in my routine, is the only non-harsh thing that helped. Ketoconazole it dries so bad and I'm tired of always waking up scared to look at my face. I know that is not going to be solved forever... but I really want to know your best hacks cause I'm way too tired. lol.
I am 26, fenale and take an immunosuppressant. I've been dealing with this for i dont even know how long. It seems to fluctuate day to day or throughout the day which is what makes me think its fungal. It just never truly goes away though. It itches but not really bad how everyone describes it. Right now I am using Azelaic acid and my skin really seems to like it but I am at a loss. I definitely struggle with CC's anyway but the bulk of it just looks way different. Hopefully I will have a dermatologist soon but that takes time and i am so fed up and self conscious. If it is just a huge break out of CC's then i am still super stuck on how to fix it. Been struggling to find a moisturizer i like recently too so thats not helping.
Thanks guys <3
We have tried differin for a few months and then clindamyacin with tretinoin for a year along with a few other things that have been recommended to us. My son’s acne will not clear fully and so now I’m thinking this might be fungal.
What serums do you use on the daily to hydrate your skin for that plumping glowy effect???
Also is this serum something u use for your makeup base?
Do you feel like it’s helped your acne?
Do you know if this serum is fungal acne safe?
Drop your skin type & give a detailed review :))
I’m trying to find a fungal acne safe hydrating serum for sensitive dehydrated to combination skin with comedones & clogged pores. HELP A GIRL OUT PLEASE!!!
I have tiny comedones & clogged pores with a dehydrated to combination skin type. My skin can feel slightly itchy in some areas like cheekbones & chin sometimes. I can wake up looking greasy & dehydrated. I have uneven skintone & alot of texture & sometimes grease on my forehead. On my cheeks I have those tiny bumps that look like clogged pores & I have some slight small post-acne marks. My nose pores can feel rough & sometimes look greasy. I have a rough upper lip. I’m sensitive to strong cleansers & exfoliating acids (e.g BHA & Benzoyl Peroxide) that can dry out my skin I think I used to have fungal acne back when I was 13 but I’m not sure…
My reason for purchasing each product based on what I’ve researched:
Bioderma miceller cleanser, I’ll use it only every night for removing sunscreen/makeup & I’ve heard it’s very gentle compared to other micellar waters & I’ve seen it acne-prone & fungal acne skin routines.
Geek & Gorgeous jelly joker cleanser, I’ll use it AM & PM, I heard it’s a gentle low ph cleanser & it’s suitable for fungal acne & it cleanses properly without stripping but I’ve seen people say it’s not the best for removing sunscreen & I’m not sure about removing makeup.
I’m not sure if I should use retinoid because im sensitive & 19, which is why the Geek & Gorgeous cheer up exfoliator stood out to me since it has 5% mandelic acid which is considered gentle & can help with texture, post-acne marks & bacteria from pores & it has 1% BHA that can help with my comedones & congested clogged pores. I’ll use it 2x a week.
Skin1004 centella ampoule, I heard I’m supposed to put an ampoule before serums, & I chose this specific one because I heard it’s lightweight & saw it has 100% centella, so basically it’s just something soothing to calm my skin barrier, especially after exfoliating.
IUNIK Beta-Glucan serum, I’ve used it before & I found it feeling thick & leaving a film despite seeing claims it’s lightweight, which is why I stopped using it because I didn’t like the thick feeling, but I’m re-adding it back into my routine because I need a plumping hydration serum & this one seems to work best since Beta-Glucan is a very hydrating ingredient, & back when I was using it - my skin was clearer compared to now.
Purito oat in calming gel cream, I’m seeing claims it’s lightweight & hydrating enough for sensitive acne-prone skin & it won’t clog pores. I’ve seen it many fungal acne skin routines. I’m
hoping it works as a makeup base too.
Skin1004 centella sunscreen, I was going to choose the COSRX ultra light sunscreen over this one because that one seemed to have claims of absorbing faster & feeling lighter, but after seeing a review that it peels under makeup because it has silicones & doesn’t work with water-based foundations, I had to let it go. I heard this one is soothing & looks dewy & works under makeup. I’ve seen it in many fungal acne skin routines.
What do you think about my routine, is it worth the purchase??? If you have better recommendations then please suggest.
I’ve been in the market for brightening serums that are fungal acne safe and I stumbled on this one. No one ever mentioned that it was fungal acne safe but I was checking the ingredients to see if it was something I could use and found out it has no triggers. I’ve placed an order, can’t wait to start using it.
I have tried everything from chlorhexidine, ketoconazole, sulfur, azeliac acid, hypochlorous acid, oral fluconazole, fungal acne safe products and nothing will get rid of it! Started on my back and spread to my chest, neck and face - the spurs themselves have got bigger and increased in quantity over time. Everything I try will seem like it’s working for a few days then makes it worse - I’ve seen my GP three times now and a referral to the dermatologist will take over a year (I live in England).
Anyone treating FA and using skincare that is not 100% FA safe?
I am asking because I cannot find a tinted sunscreen that is FA safe and does not have too many silicones. I have acne and FA. My skin is acne-prone, get breakouts very easily, and super sensitive.
For example, Cetaphil tinted SPF is FA safe, but it has Benzyl Alcohol as the second ingredient, and my skin just cannot tolerate it!
Colorscience sunscreens is full of silicones, 7 of them. I tried it, and I got a painful cyst:(
I've found a tinted sunscreens that I like, but it has three ingredients that are not FA safe - Polysorbate 60, Glyceryl Oleate, and Isopropyl Palmitate, according to various Apps checkers.
If you're treating FA and using skincare that is not 100% FA safe, do you feel your FA treatment is working well? if so, what are you using to treat FA?
To make things even more fun, skin cannot tolerate alcohol, alcohol dent., essential oils, fragrance/perfume, and too many plant/botanical extracts.
Edit: to clarify
I have fungal acne prone skin and have been using light skincare that I feel like is drying out my skin now so I’m looking for a moisturiser that will repair my skin barrier and is also fungal acne safe .
I’ve been using tret and azelaic on alternate nights with purito oat in gel cream which is not moisturising enough and cosrx ultralight sunscreen.
I have recently been battling with these red bumps. Before this i would get red like patches that would itch and come and go and i would get red and hot easily. Than i started getting little clear dumps that turn red and would grow and still itch which now this is the result of all of that. Most of this is on my left cheek. Im not sure what it is. As of now all i use is vanicream cleanser and vanicream moisturizer. I tried using anti dandruff shampoo because i was sure its fungal folliculitis but i noticed the bumps are more red and i got new ones. I dont use makeup anymore and i wash my face anytime i sweat. If anyone has experienced this or has any advice for me, anything would be helpful.
Hello i wanted to share with you my story regarding regular inflammatory acne, my severe treatment resistant fungal acne and how isotretinoin helped both of them.
The story is quite long so buckle up.
I had inflammatory papulo-pustular acne that left PIE lesions since high school that i never treated or cared for. In college and grad school it kept getting progressively worse so i went to my dermatologist about 3 years ago and i was prescribed adapelene, benzoyle peroxide and doxycycline. To be fair this combo really worked. It didnt clear all of my acne but almost 80%. I was quite satisfied and with little to no side effects besides initial purging and dryness. I was on it for 4 months and then i was taken off of doxycycline and in about 2-3 weeks i noticed newer acne lesions and the dreaded PIE lesions. My dermatologist then talked to me about isotretinoin but i was quite scared because i was a stressed depressed grad student and the psychological side effects that i heard about it seemed scary. I politely declined then resumed using only adapelene and benzoyle peroxide almost daily for the next 2 years. And of course it wasnt enough at all. This year i decided to visit another dermatologist for both my acne and my segmental vitiligo that i started to develop on my face. I was put on high intensity topical corticosteroid for a month for vitiligo spots and got put back on doxycycline and adapelene alone. And if anyone knows about corticosteroid they flare up ur acne. And yes 3 weeks later i started getting papular acne on the spots where i had to put steroid on it ... but also some tiny little itchy pustular bumps around my chin and naso labial folds and then progressively around my cheeks and forehead and temples and all over. These were so much more annoying that regular acne because your entire face looked red and bumpy. The internet took me down a rabbit hole where i discovered that this is called fungal acne. And my dermatologist confirmed it with so i got put on ketoconazole wash for 2 weeks and switched my steroids to topical tacrolimus. The ketoderm wash helped quite a bit but irritated my skin and i couldnt moisturizer well because nothing was fungal acne safe. The lesions all reappeared after i stopped the wash. My derm then got me on weekly ketoconazole wash for my face and my body which wasnt enough. I discussed with her that i think this is caused by doxycycline (which is a verfiable fact) and that i dont want to use it ... i would rather have regular acne than this. She didnt seem to buy it but i had enough. I would cry everyday and i would refuse to see myself in the mirror, i wore face masks everyday, i couldnt put on makeup because my skin was both oily and bumpy and also dry from the ketoconazole wash. I also btw tried oral fluconazole and also didnt work. I was miserable and i thought that this is it ... nothing would work. I womened up and try to talk to my derm one last time and told her i am sick of topicals and doxycyline and all of this bs, i am ready for isotretinoin(i researched its use for fungal acne and i had mixed results but oddly little to no credible posts discussing it), i dont care anymore. It took a lot of convincing and a lot of crying but i got put on it. I started with 20 mg and for reference i weight 110 pounds and tbh the first month i didnt feel many side effects besides dry lips at around 3 weeks of treatment and didnt purge which i think its due to my use of topicals and reduced inflmmation by doxycycline and tbh my fungal acne disappeared gradually and fully by the second week and my regular acne disappeared almost by the 5th week. I am now on 30 mg and i am still noticing dryness which is manageable, lower back pain, mild hair breakage and incredible smooth clear skin and also absolutely no psychiatric effect.
Please if you are able to take isotretinoin and you have fungal acne, i beg of you to openly discuss it with your provider.
Fungal acne ruined my mental health and over all being and no one deserve to feel the way i felt.
Can anyone help figure out what this is? Back in June, I had a bad breakout on my chest and face of small red dots, similar sized, with some small heads on my chest and some on my face. Ketoconazole seemed to slowly help. I went to the derm, and he said he wasn’t sure what it was because he didn’t think it was fungal, but couldn’t explain why the ketoconazole was working. It cleared fully on my face, and about 85-90% on my chest over the course of a month with continued ketoconazole use. I eventually stopped using it. This week, it returned on my chest (see pictures) and not yet on my face. Any ideas on what this could be?
hey so I experienced some issues with my skin for the past 2 years now and I was thinking back and forth if it has something to do with fungal acne.
i am female 26 now and never had issues with acne in my teen years. 2 years ago i kind of destroyed my skin barrier with different things, mostly due to salicylic acid or differin gel a year ago (Because i was staring to get skin-colored bumps on my cheek).
There were ups and downs after simplifying my skin care routine and introducing azelaic acid a few months ago. However i still struggle with PIE/redness and these weird bimps that are surrounded by redness, so not really normal pimples. could also be irritation but idk anymore.. they are sometimes itchy but not very much.
Sometimes it seems worse in terms of texture and redness after laying out in the sun but only when there is already some texture/bumps there, but i also had phases this summer where it was still calm after being in the sun a lot (yes i wear SPF 50).
interesting to know it is almost only on this side of the cheek
some background on my skin:
i've had the odd single itchy spot (always on my jaw, chin, neck, chest, sometimes back) since university, when i was (mis)diagnosed with stress related excema and given fucibet, which helped. but 3 years ago i had a huge flare up that lasted 2 years until dogged research and experimentation let me to figure out it was malassezia. i then took itraconazole solidly for 3 months which cleared it up, and since then i've made my entire bodycare products etc fungus-safe, used clotrimazole topically, and take a week of itraconazole at the beginning of the month, and this has cleared my skin almost completely. it clears after itraconazole use and then slowly comes back during the month, but only a few spots at a time. it's been a life changer for me. but my gp said this can't be long term, even though my liver remains seemingly unaffected and my bloods are good, so they referred me to a dermatologist as it was returning (half a dozen bumps or so) each month.
i just had that nhs dermatology appointment and was disappointed. the doctor asked me 3 standard questions (family history of diabetes / excema / hayfever) and then told me there was nothing to be done for my malassezia because there's no underlying condition that can be addressed. he then said that i should simply continue to observe myself, though when i said itraconazole works consistently he said i shouldn't pursue that long term, because it's hard on the liver and 'i know it's annoying to be slightly itchy but why take a medicine if you don't need it'. i appreciate he deals with much more severe and life limiting conditions than mine, but i did tell him that the 2 year flare up got so bad that it was painful, stopping me sleep and socialise, until i started itraconazole. i told him my history and my attempts to control flare ups, even though he never asked.
on the one hand i'm relieved; there's no elusive silver bullet to pursue / spend time and money on. on the other, i'm frustrated that he was dismissive of how the condition has affected my life and uninterested in engaging in my desire to find ways of dealing with it long term.
some advice he gave that might be helpful to others:
he told me the fungus reproduces by spores, which survive washing because they only 'die' at 140 degrees c. so he recommended ironing my pillows and other bedding.
he also said that creams are usually effective but need rubbing in to get down into the follicles - rub for 2 to 3 minutes, even if it feels like you're not rubbing anything in.
but he also said that any moisture helps the fungus, so keep your skin extremely dry. i showed him pics of my skin trying that technique and he literally shrugged.
and apparently it's not the sweat specifically but the moisture/humidity that helps the fungus, so washing isn't always a good idea as the skin takes a long time to dry out after - he recommended using a hair dryer on cold to dry out my skin after washing, eating, and before bed. (can anyone confirm from their own knowledge that this is true? or otherwise?)
has anyone landed on a maintenance regime for itraconazole or fluconazole (which i can get over the counter) which keeps it at bay? or has anyone had success taking oral antifungals responsively to flare ups? any long term advice welcomer - i don't mind the odd itchy spot but i can't let it get back to how it was.
I’ve struggled with fungal acne for a very long time. I’ve tried working with Derms who gave me prescriptions (fluconozale, ketoconazole, etc), I’ve spent $1,000s on “acne-clearing” body washes and salyzcidic acid cleansers and all the things, I’ve bought all the products and tried all the routines… it would get better then it would get worse but I never had any long-term improvement or significant break throughs.
Fast forward to this year, I got married in April and wanted nothing more than to have clear skin on my wedding day. I started working with an esthetician and getting facials a few months before the wedding to try and help prep my skin. I was telling her my issues and she suggested working with a dietician because my skin issues were probably related to my gut health. I had never explored that route and was determined to have clear skin for my wedding so I found a dietician in my area and started working with her.
WHEN I TELL YOU she listened to my story and all my symptoms and struggles and knew almost immediately what was causing my acne I almost cried. She put on a very strict elimination diet that avoided foods that cause inflation and were feeding the bad bacteria in my gut and making my skin flare up. The diet was TOUGH (no alcohol, no caffeine, no sugar, no gluten, no starches, no wheat/grains) but again, I had 3 months until my wedding and I was extremely determined so I followed it, cut all of that out of my diet, and my skin literally started clearing 2 weeks later. I stayed mostly on that diet for 3 months (with a few exceptions) and my skin looked AMAZING at my wedding and has stayed pretty clear ever since!!!
I’m sharing this in case anyone else out there has explored the gut health route for skin issues. I can’t believe it took me this long to discover it but I am SO thankful and grateful!
It is sometimes itchy, obviously some of this is regular acne but the white bumps are so stubborn and my standard skincare regime hasn’t done anything ☹️
If anyone has any advice; products or what to do for treatment please let me know.
after i got FA/sebdem, i did a shit ton of research and actually found out that some items that were recommended weren't fully FA safe. examples are zeroid MD moisturiser, or fenty skin tint.
does anyone know why? i'm really just curious
Same as title.