Yes, I have a heart-breaking confession. I have adult acne. For some reason lately it's getting really bad on my face and chest. Could there be an explanation for this?

Yes, I had just started my period, but it's never THIS bad. Usually one or two pimples, this is full blown acne...

What's the deal? And what's the solution?

Although common myth says it has to do with chocolate, sex, etc... it's mostly body chemistry.

You've been under a decent amount of stress lately... working hard, etc, and this may directly affect it... as well as not resting enough, etc. I used to have TERRIBLE acne... and I tried everything under the sun until I tried this:

Dan's Regimen - 3 step system to clear skin (http://www.acne.org/regimen.html)

And it worked like a charm. I don't work for them or anything like that, so I'm not trying to advertise it... but do read the board, there are plenty of success stories but also failure stories... so it's not for everyone.

On top of that, try to drink plenty of water, get as much rest as possible, and try to use a gentle face wash and possibly an astringent (if you have sensitive or dry skin, then I suggest you use caution) and a moisturizer so you don't dry out your skin too bad.

I too have this problem, although I'm much older than either of you. I visited that site Sneezy. I think that I will be giving the regimen a try! Thanks for providing the link!

I have heard that stress can also be a cause of the outbreak of acne. One person in my life has noticed that I tend to break out more when I have an important musical performance coming up where I will be very exposed, musically.

I will go from being basically pretty clear on my face, and then, WHAMMO!

Momma, perhaps stress might also be causing it for you? Any big stresses right now in your life that might be unusual?

EDIT: Oops! I can see that the stress thing has already been addressed by Sneezy. Sorry!

There's definitely some stress. So I think you guys are right, that might be what is causing this...

Example: Tuesday, (today) I have to lead my first guest night at the local public library for the men's barbershop chorus on this side of the river that I direct. I have never done this kind of thing before. There has been much publicized about it. I am getting totally stressed out about it. My face is a real mess!

I'm wondering why this is choosing to affect my face and chest and not my back where I can easily hide it...

I don't know. But, I have noticed that acne sometimes goes beyond the facial area for women as compared to men. I know this really doesn't help, but it's just an observation.

It sucks. Not that I really wear low cut shirts, but its on my chest... not cleavage area, just above that... UGH! It's gross. And I shower daily, sometimes twice, and use acne bodywash.

I also think, and have heard that different types of detergent can be a cause, like that which is used to wash clothing, bedding, clothes, towels, wash cloths, etc. I greatly suspect that is the cause of some of what I am experiencing.

Yeah, I've used the same detergent for years, and nothing like this..

OK, guys time for me to get into the act. I had 1" pimples as a teenager and adult acne. Yep have a regimin two and it does use the presription Retin-A, but it's a minor part of it.

But, I'm going to ask a question before giving away all or part of my formula.

Hair:
(Q1) Ever run into a situation where your hair suddenly gets so greasy, you can't seem to get it clean?

(Q2) Long time ago had dandruff, but that's taken care of. ANybody experience dandruff?

Affected areas:
(Q3) Ever run into situations where if you rub your fingers on the area, they are so thivk with oil and soap doesn't appear to get them clean?

Observations:
(Q4) The situation in Q3 goes up with stress, polutants, sweating, and vacations?

(Q5) Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 events are rare, but they seem to set off incidents?

Answers anybody? Elaborate.

Ok, listen up CM (please)! I found a sure fire cure for this. My skin (yes I'm an old lady but this happened up until the time I was 50) and my son's skin had acne, blackheads and pimples, yuck. I tried everything under the sun and it didn't work. What I found that DID work was silver water or colloidial silver water to be exact.

The regime I and my son successfully used was after washing my face with soap and water and drying thoroughly, taking a cotton ball and wet it with silver water and go over my entire face (or anyplace else that had pimples or blackheads or acne) with the cotton ball. I would do this at least 2 times a day. I would also take a bath and put about 1 cup of silver water into the bath water. I bought a silver water generator (you can get them online or I'll tell you where I got mine if you PM me and really want to know more) and I make quarts of this at home for about 2 cents of electric and the price of a gallon of distilled water. The cost is in the generator though. Some are cheaper than others, but they all essentially work the same. The battery operated ones are not as good or reliable as the ones that run off electricity though so don't be fooled.

The reason this silver water works is because it gets down into the pores and kills the bacteria hiding in the pores. The Retin A I tried and all I did was waste my money as it didn't work. Sorry.

You can buy silver water in health food stores but they charge an arm and a leg for a small bottle. If you want to really get serious, buy a generator and make your own.

My kid had awful blackheads on his face and chest and back... no more. They never came back once he successfully got rid of the bacteria that caused them in the first place.

I also use a solution of 1/2 cup silver water in a quart of fresh water and just dump on my hair when I want it really clean of all the gook or buildup from shampoo.

You can drink the stuff also and also use as an eye wash if you have a stye in your eye. I used to wake up with styes and after using silver water straight into my eye about 3x that day and nothing more by the time night came around - no stye.

It's been around for many years (the Romans and Greeks used silver water). Google Silver Water and read about all the wonderful uses for this stuff. I even put it in the washing machine when I do my towels and it gets all the goo out of the towels after I have been sick and need to do bedding and towels. It is nature's antibacterial. I used to drink it (only take one or two tablespoons a day) as I had some virus in my body and it worked on that.

I've had my generator for 9 years now and it works the same as the day I bought it. The silver wire just needs cleaned after each use.

I would try silver water before I'd go for the Retin A... just my opinion.

Wow, thank you, I will definitely look into that, blackheads are awful too... You don't even want to know what I do to get them out...

... actually... I kind of do want to know.

... most people try to squeeze them out... if you do something else, I'm... intrigued.

Well, squeezing never works that well because I have them in between my brows, crease of the nose, all over nose, under lip... I scrape them out with a credit card. :(

Hope you clean the cred card before you put it on your face...

hope you clean the cred card before you put it on your face... DOI!

Is $25 for a 16oz bottle a good price?

Hmmm... Credit card? I stick needles into mine!

Hmmm... Credit card? I stick needles into mine!OW!

Chi,
I have found that cleaning with apple cider vinegar has helped a lot.

Just add a bit on a ball of cotton and wipe the area before bed.

EDIT:: Do let us know if it helps, as I would like to know if it works for different skin types or not.

I've actually done the apple cider vinegar before, it just makes me smelly... Doesn't do anything. But thanks for the advice.

I've actually done the apple cider vinegar before, it just makes me smelly.....

... might help if you washed yourself every now and then.

I think there are plenty of regimens here that you could follow... my regimen costs about... mm... $10 at the most...

So let us know how it goes :)

You shut your mouth!! I'm giving the silver water a try first, and then will venture on to see what else could help if that doesn't.

I too suffer from adult acne. What helped me was a glycolic acid cleanser. You wipe it over your face at night and just leave it on.

Sometimes adult acne is just caused by hormone changes or stress and will go away with a little extra care to your skin by using an acne regimen directed towards mature skin... or there could be an underlying problem... I would suggest looking up info on PCOS and see if you might fall under the symptoms. I hope everything clears up for you dear :).

I don't have PCOS. I know what's caused my acne. I just need to know how to get rid of it... Thanks for all the advice guys.