I was getting large cyst like acne on my neck as well and I finally figured out that it was from the dimethicone in my shampoo. Where my hair was hitting my skin, it was causing a break out. I've changed shampoo and don't have that problem anymore. Just though I'd let you know.

I am so sorry you are suffering. I have been there where acne is concerned. In the past, I have been on antibiotics two times, used a ton of prescription and non-prescription products, hoping to be done with this in my late 30's. Now, I use Buzz On Acne, a spray on acne product I read about on the Q boards. My skin is doing great! If you are interested, check out www.buzzonacne.com It's a great product and the customer service is awesome!

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Nicki

I also suffer from this kind of acne . It started about 2 yrs. ago and I have tried a variety of products. Sometimes I look like I have chickenpox. I wash my face now with St. Ives green tea cleanser and use a retin-a moisturizer from Paula Begoun. These calm down my skin but do not completely cure the problem . I will go to the Buzz site and check it out. Thanks for starting this topic as I felt bad about what is happening to my skin.

I'm desperate so I just ordered some Buzz on Acne - did a search and read some storys here on the Q and it sounds AMAZING....maybe there is hope!!

What state does this ship from? Wanted to try and figure out when mine will deliver :)

"A DOG WEARS IT'S HEART ON IT'S TAIL"

lovemylabs - sorry I didn't see your post in time to respond before you ordered. If you did a search, I'm sure you saw some of my raves. But still I would have cautioned you about 2 things.

First, there is no refund policy, so if you feel BOA doesn't work for you, you will not get your money back. Since it is only one product and under $30 and free shipping w/code, that isn't too big of an issue for most acne suffers who are used to paying much more $$ out of pocket for multiple Rx and derm appts. Still something to be aware of.

Second, you already stated in your original post that you had already purchased 2 Murad products. I would have advised you to use and try them first giving them at least 6 weeks (barring any obvious allergic reaction) trial before moving on to something else. Murad has a good rep and works well for some people. With BOA, it is imperative not to use with products containing other actives and especially not salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. So don't use BOA and Murad together as I'm not certain but I do think maybe Murad contains one or both of those ingredients.

Finally in reference to your specific problem of neck and back acne, I didn't have that particular problem. But I did have major hormonal cyst type acne on my chin, around my mouth and on jawline which is BOA completely cleared. I really hope it works for you. Denise ships incredibly fast. I can never remember where she is, somewhere back east or down south, like Oklahoma or Arkansas I think? Geez, I really should know since I've ordered so many times, lol! I'm in Hawaii and my orders always reach me within a week and I'm always amazed!

On 2/20/2011 MrsSweetieBear2u said:

lovemylabs - sorry I didn't see your post in time to respond before you ordered. If you did a search, I'm sure you saw some of my raves. But still I would have cautioned you about 2 things.

First, there is no refund policy, so if you feel BOA doesn't work for you, you will not get your money back. Since it is only one product and under $30 and free shipping w/code, that isn't too big of an issue for most acne suffers who are used to paying much more $$ out of pocket for multiple Rx and derm appts. Still something to be aware of.

Second, you already stated in your original post that you had already purchased 2 Murad products. I would have advised you to use and try them first giving them at least 6 weeks (barring any obvious allergic reaction) trial before moving on to something else. Murad has a good rep and works well for some people. With BOA, it is imperative not to use with products containing other actives and especially not salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. So don't use BOA and Murad together as I'm not certain but I do think maybe Murad contains one or both of those ingredients.

Finally in reference to your specific problem of neck and back acne, I didn't have that particular problem. But I did have major hormonal cyst type acne on my chin, around my mouth and on jawline which is BOA completely cleared. I really hope it works for you. Denise ships incredibly fast. I can never remember where she is, somewhere back east or down south, like Oklahoma or Arkansas I think? Geez, I really should know since I've ordered so many times, lol! I'm in Hawaii and my orders always reach me within a week and I'm always amazed!

Thank you SO much for your helpful post. Maybe I can use the BOA just on my neck and chest area at first while I use the Murad for 6-8 weeks on my face and then maybe switch to just using the BOA.

My question is....What about cleansers and moisturizers while using BOA even in the begining....I HAVE to cleanse my skin (makeup) and I have to moisturize....even with breakouts I am aging and look WORSE w/out moisture.

I'm so glad she ships fast :) I hope I get it soon. I did get the free shipping with the SHIP10 code

Please let me know your thoughts on the above (regarding cleansing and such)

Murad came highly recommended at Ulta and Sephora for helping with Adult Acne that's why I started there....

"A DOG WEARS IT'S HEART ON IT'S TAIL"

On 2/20/2011 lovemylabs said:

On 2/20/2011 NickiML said:

I am so sorry you are suffering. I have been there where acne is concerned. In the past, I have been on antibiotics two times, used a ton of prescription and non-prescription products, hoping to be done with this in my late 30's. Now, I use Buzz On Acne, a spray on acne product I read about on the Q boards. My skin is doing great! If you are interested, check out www.buzzonacne.com It's a great product and the customer service is awesome!

Good luck. Keep us posted.

I am going to head over and check it out - What other skin care products do you use with this? LIke to cleanse and tone and moist your skin?

On the website - buzzonhealth.com, you will find recommendations and info about ingredients you should avoid while using Buzz on Acne. I recommend reading all the info on the website, then e-mail Denise if you have any questions. Denise doesn't offer a refund. I purchased one bottle to see how it worked for me.

The only skincare products I use are: BE's Rare Minerals cleanser & Eucerin's Sensitive Skin Everyday Protection Lotion SPF 30 (been using this for a couple of years, I think).

Although the BE cleanser is not totally approved by Denise, she said it was o.k. to use. And, by approved, I mean that the product doesn't have any questionable ingredients that will either irritate the skin or diminish BOA's effectiveness. I tried to go back to philosophy's Purity and MDEW but my face got red and the exfoliating wash irritated my neck (brown & red patch). Denise told me to stop using both products ASAP!

Nicki

MrsSweetieBear2 - You always offer great information and suggestions. :-))

I think Denise recommended both Cetaphil and CeraVe. And, she went out and bought Aveeno's Postively Radiant Makeup Removing Cleanser so she could try it. It was rated best cleanser in Allure Magazine. Denise likes the cleanser very much and encouraged me to try it. Maybe one of these would work for you and/or lovemylabs.

Mario Badescu will send out a lot of samples for free if you go to their website and fill out a skin questionnaire. I did this years ago. Someone posted about this on the boards last week or so - about how impressed she was with the samples, the entire experience, etc.

Nicki

The thing that cured my cystic acne was going low carb. High stress that you don't deal with properly through exercise, meditation or whatnot can wreck your hormones, BUT if you're eating high carb, it makes things that much worse.

When you eat a lot of carbs, the pancreas has to produce more insulin, and that insulin really irritates most of the body--from your brain, skin, heart...to the ovaries that go into overdrive producing even more hormones. The entire endocrin system is involved, and it can create acne in a heartbeat. When you go low carb, you're really helping the ovaries to calm down, and when I started eating this way, my skin cleared up in less than a week with total improvement in less than two to three.

I also found out that my body really can't deal with carbs depending on where I am in my cycle (ovulation counts,too). If I eat at certain times, my skin will start breaking out in less than 48 hours, and the other usual symptoms that come with this kind of thing will also return.

Good luck!

The sun burns hotter, we're hotter.

How do we tax the sun to discourage this activity?

On 2/20/2011 blahblahvampemerblah said:

The thing that cured my cystic acne was going low carb. High stress that you don't deal with properly through exercise, meditation or whatnot can wreck your hormones, BUT if you're eating high carb, it makes things that much worse.

When you eat a lot of carbs, the pancreas has to produce more insulin, and that insulin really irritates most of the body--from your brain, skin, heart...to the ovaries that go into overdrive producing even more hormones. The entire endocrin system is involved, and it can create acne in a heartbeat. When you go low carb, you're really helping the ovaries to calm down, and when I started eating this way, my skin cleared up in less than a week with total improvement in less than two to three.

I also found out that my body really can't deal with carbs depending on where I am in my cycle (ovulation counts,too). If I eat at certain times, my skin will start breaking out in less than 48 hours, and the other usual symptoms that come with this kind of thing will also return.

Good luck!

Thanks for the tip! I eat a fairly lean/clean diet - The only carbs I eat that are high in carbs is Steel Cut oatmeal with Protein powder in the morning, it helps with energy and keeps my colon going :) For lunch it's usually a big salad with tuna or chicken and dinner is usually a steamed veggie maybe a tiny bit of brown rice and a protein source - snacks are usually a few almonds or a low carb yogert or string cheese or an apple. I drink about 90oz of pure water a day too. I guess I'll just be super sure to watch the carbs and maybe relax more. I do workout for 80min 6 days a week and that does help me with my stress.

"A DOG WEARS IT'S HEART ON IT'S TAIL"

On 2/20/2011 lovemylabs said:

On 2/20/2011 RTS said:

I was getting large cyst like acne on my neck as well and I finally figured out that it was from the dimethicone in my shampoo. Where my hair was hitting my skin, it was causing a break out. I've changed shampoo and don't have that problem anymore. Just though I'd let you know.

Humm that is interesting - I did switch shampoo's (Aveeno) but I don't let the shampoo get on my face so I'm not sure if that would be it or not.... BUT who knows maybe my system is changing and I am more sensitive to things like that now.

Getting older and these hormones really are downers :(

The new Aveeno shampoos cause horrific breakouts for me on my face, neck, chest, and back. Even if you don' t get the shampoo on your face, the residue stays in your hair which can get onto your face. If you noticed the breakouts once you started the shampoo, that could be the culprit.

When you get these types of breakouts, they are often due to irritation, not just hormones. Whenever something irritates my skin, my neck always breaks out with large cystic bumps.

The last thing you want to do in a case like this is start a lot of new products, even though you will be tempted to fight it with everything you can. I would highly recommend starting only one new product and using it for several weeks until your skin calms down. If you bombard your skin with lots of new things, it will only become more irritated and more broken out.

Also, while Buzz on Acne has helped many people here, the silver in it can cause irritation for some people. My son's face literally exploded overnight into huge cystic pimples covering every inch of his skin, even places where he never breaks out. Again, if you get cystic type pimples from a product, this is usually a sign of irritation. If you get little white heads that go away quickly, that can be a sign that the product is cleaning out pores. I don't believe in the purging theory (neither does my dermatologist), but if your skin is very clogged, you can get little whiteheads when skin starts exfoliating.