Pretty much the title

Got a lot of acne around my mouth and want to get rid of it I tried a lot of stuff, even got some antibiotics perscribed twice, but nothing seemed to make a substantial difference.

Also, please don’t tell me i have to change my eating habits, im on a strict diet of goth mommy milk and chocolate granola.

  • Carl@anarchist.nexusEnglish
    8·
    2 days ago

    This means you had fungal acne. Fungal infections can cause all kinds of things, ranging from acne, athletes foot, jock itch, yeast infections, and dandruff. In fact, one of the easiest sources of anti-fungal skin treatments is anti-dandruff shampoo that contains zinc pyrithione.

    OP, if you’ve tried most of the big things (it sounds like you have) and haven’t had any relief, try using some anti-dandruff shampoo as a face wash. It sounds stupid, but I swear it’s the only thing that helped me when I was a teen. I first noticed it when I used the anti-dandruff shampoo for dandruff, but then I did the typical guy thing of “use it as shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash, motor oil, cutting fluid, BBQ sauce, boat resin, degreaser, greaser, and garage door lube” thing. Basically, my bar of soap ran low, so I used the shampoo I already had in the shower with me. And then I started noticing that my skin was clearer too. After some googling, I discovered that fungal acne is a thing, and it’ll basically be immune to any of the traditional treatments because none of those are targeted at fungus.

    If your acne improves after a few days of washing with the shampoo, you know you have fungal acne and can simply start using anti-dandruff shampoo to wash your face regularly. Technically you can get special zinc pyrithione soap… But why bother with that, when you can get Head & Shoulders in a giant pump bottle?

      • Carl@anarchist.nexusEnglish
        1·
        2 days ago

        Also worth noting that if this is the case, your diet will also slightly factor into it. Insulin triggers your sebaceous glands to produce sebum (skin oil), and fungus tends to thrive in oily environments (like your scalp and face), because it needs the oil to help retain moisture.

        So keeping your insulin levels low (avoiding sugar and carbs, high fiber and protein, etc) will help starve the fungus out. Basically, if you see improvement from the dandruff shampoo and that gets things under control, your diet may be the difference between “spot-treating” and “completely clear”.