my frustrating skin

[adgjm]

This going to be long. Sorry!

I am a woman in my early 40's and have weird skin. All of my life, it was oily and very prone to acne, but not to the cystic stage. For about 7 years in my late 20s-early 30s I used Retin-A gel (orange tube) and took several rather broad-spectrum abx (one at a time) internally to treat my never-ending symptoms. Success never was anything to write home about. Eventually dermatologists wanted me to quit the abx due to generalized abx tolerances, when they're used for non-critical applications.

My skin still is oily to the point of having no real wrinkles, except the very surface layer of skin just will not peel off without serious exfoliation. It's dry outside of this top layer and starts looking like flakes that stay connected with tiny, dry boundary lines. This feels dry from underneath, and any foundation make-up that I wear starts caking up on these edges. It looks dreadful. Particularly the central area of my face (nose, chin, center forehead) is affected by this, and it lessens toward the edges of my face.

This layer of skin just will not peel off unless there has been a pimple nearby, and then the whole surrounding area will peel for days. These pimples either are deep, or else they are lots of widespread, fairly surface blackheads and a few basic whiteheads.

About a year ago I started exfoliating my face with a foot scrub. I remembered using Aapri face scrub as a teen, so looked for natural ingredients such as ground apricot seeds and walnut shells, so found the foot scrub. Something new happened. For the first time in what seemed ages, my face would peel in the shower, after I gently rub this stuff into my face with my fingertips. After rinsing it off, I can gently scrape my skin with my fingernails, and rolls of dead skin come off, which I rinse away. Then and after my shower is through, my skin feels so good! It feels like it can breathe. It's soft, supple, and flexible, and the cracked-looking landscape is gone. I love how this feels. However, after a couple of days, the dead, dry, stuck skin flakes reappear. I get nervous exfoliating too often, and besides, something else is happening, two things, actually.

First, my acne seems to have returned. I would have thought that with my skin being able to breathe again, it might flare up, but eventually abate. It has been a year now. It hasn't abated. I'm 41 and still get acne like a 15 year-old!

Second, my face tends to redden and look blotchy in the afternoon. While the skin may feel good and no longer look like a desert, the coloring fluctuates. My face warms, too. So again, I'm hesitant to overdo exfoliating, but after a while I have to, to get rid of the awful peely look.

And the skin still is quite oily, despite those stupid stuck flakes.

When I'm not exfoliating, typically I wash with a soft washcloth and nothing more than warm water. I don't want to use soap, as it just dries the outer layer.

Any ideas how to get rid of this peely/not-peely problem? At my age, a dermatologist will be reluctant to prescribe Retin-A again, as this already was a problem when I was in my mid-30s. The insurance is going to assume I'm a wrinkly old person who just wants a face lift per the "other" use of Retin-A.

Thank you for any advice you may have.

[Health Dr. 1]

There are several things that you can do that may help to give you healthier-looking skin. First, you might try an exfoliant that is a little less harsh than the one that you are currently using; E3 Light Polish is all-natural and gentle enough for regular use. It may be that the exfoliant that you are using is working, but it may also be stripping and irritating the skin as well. This could possibly result in the blotchiness and some of the pimples. It would also be wise to have a hormone panel performed in order to see if fluctuating hormone levels are playing a role in your acne at this age. Often, progesterone cream can help to balance the hormones if this is the case. Something else to consider is the quality of the water that you use to shower and bathe. Many chemicals can be present in this water and can dramatically affect the health of your skin. Wellness filter makes various filters that can be fitted to your showerhead or used on a sink that can greatly improve water quality.

In addition to the above, I would strongly recommend that you stick to you commitment to use all-natural, organic products. AquaSpirit and Parfait Visage make a great skin care combination for nearly all skin types and can actually help to nourish and regenerate the skin cells. I think that this may be particularly useful in your situation. Also, due to the history of antibiotic use, I would perform a colon cleanse and liver/gallbladder flush as detailed at www.ghchealth.com/liver-and-gallbladder-flush.html. This can help to remove toxins from the body that could potentially cause skin eruptions. Plus, it is a very healthy thing to do for a number of other reasons. Finally, a probiotic such as Latero-flora can help in replenishing the beneficial bacteria that were probably destroyed by the antibiotics.

[adgjm]

Thank you very much for your reply. I think I will try a gentler exfoliant, as you suggest, looking for something in-between my present one and the many that I tried previously, most of which have hardly an exfoliating beads or capabilities.

I'll speak with my physician about the hormone panel, because she knows I've struggled with acne for nearly 30 years. I think she's even mentioned this. Thanks for this advice.

I should have mentioned my water in my initial post. I do have hard water where I live, but I have a whole-house water conditioner so my water is soft. I have had this thing for 16 years and love it. It's by General Ionics, and I have it serviced and kept up-to-date on a regular schedule. I know it makes a big difference in the health of my hair.

I'll also look into the colon and liver/gallbladder cleanses. I've heard about them before, and it sounds good, although I have been off of abx for approx. 6 years. I consume a fair amount of dairy, including yogurt, and I purchase from a local organic dairy and buy organic when I can. I also love ACV for a variety of purposes and drink 3 quarts of liquids per day (mostly water; don't like soda-pop). I am restricted to a low-oxalate diet, though, which limits dietary changes.

You have been very helpful, and the products here that you mentioned look very interesting, especially the corn scrub. I have one more question, though. Is it just me, or is it common that other adults or just women break out worse in the spring, compared to fall/winter? Maybe there are allergens in the air contributing to break-outs?

Thank you again!