Sorry to hear that you are still suffering from acne. At your age, you are suffering from this condition known as adult onset acne.
Contrary to conventional belief, acne is not a problem faced only during teenage years. Increasing we see adults coming to seek treatments for their acne issues. Adult onset acne tends to afflict females much more than males. And in my practice, I see women between the ages of 30s to 50s coming to see me for acne breakouts.
Adult onset acne has a very strong hormonal basis, from my experience, its main characteristics are as follows:
1. Afflict more women than men
2. Acne lesions tend to congregate at the U-zone of the face (Chin, skin above the upper lips, corners of the nose, even jawline)
3. Highly associated with menstrual cycles
4. Not as straightforward to treat as teenage acne
You stated that you are using T3 Mycin. This is an antibiotic gel, with the main medication being clindamycin. It usually has good effect but with larger cystic lesions, it should not be used alone. I would advise you to stop that medication. In fact, in my practice, for even mild to moderate acne, I do not recommend topical antibiotics as a monotherapy (sole treatment method). Antibiotic resistance quickly build up in such situations.
The short answer is that there is no known cure for acne. But I still actively treat it because I want to prevent acne scarring in patients. With the right management, we can reduce the intensity and even the frequency of breakouts.
In my practice, modalities I tend to use to treat adult onset acne include but not limited to:
1. Oral isotretinoin (with monitoring)
2. Oral antibiotics if required
3. Medical extractions of cystic acne lesions
4. Acne Clear Facial (combination of active ingredients to encourage unclogging of sebum plugs and gentle exfoliation, including Blue Light PDT to kill off P.acnes Bacteria)
5. Topical medications and selected home-use skincare
Hope that helps.
Thank you!
Regards
Dr Heng
