Red marks left after Accutane - advice? (Pictures included) page

[KG]

I can understand that you're probably wondering why I'm not posting this on a more suitable forum such as acne.org. Well, to be frank, it's because I want to approach this problem as naturally as possible. I don't want to go through any drastic treatments or surgeries, etc.

Basically, I finished my course of Accutane back in early December. My face is 'clear' in the sense that I have barely little, if any, pimples left; all that remains are the red marks and some 'potholes' (indentations).

In general, I keep hearing that these marks and 'scars' can take up to 2 years to heal completely. Now, I'm more than happy to let time take its course, but I need to make sure that I'm supporting the healing process in the best way possible.

I know that the Primal nutrition and lifestyle is most suitable for this, but I would greatly appreciate any specific advice to assist my skin's recovery.

You can see me in this video here (very first person to be interviewed):
http://www.thesite.org/drinkanddrugs...legalequalsafe

Thanks!

[QuirkyPixy]

Heyo, occasional acne.org-er here! Can't see the pics yet, but for red marks, emu oil is the shit. Specifically the Skin Biology brand. It's expensive, but it lasts forever! Also, wearing a good zinc or titanium oxide sunscreen will help them heal faster. Diet can only help so much, so as long as you're getting plenty of Vitamin C, Zinc, magnesium, calcium and good fats, you should be good to go. Also, minimizing stress helps.

P.S.- Nice avatar, Samurai Champloo is excellent

[jqbancroft]

I also went through accutane (nasty stuff, I'd never do it again) and my red marks went away pretty quickly, even when I wasn't eating PB. From what I've read on the rest of the board, healing skin is usually as simple as eating primally (which cuts out the bad stuff) and ensuring vitamin D3 supps and plenty of good fats.

Best of luck!

[Twibble]

Oh, you mean those things that my ex-dermatologist swore up and down could not be side effects from Accutane?

Yeah. Mine took YEARS to go away, but they were probably exacerbated by the fact that I was eating wheat, low-fat, etc. all that time and shouldn't have been.

[krassi]

I've done two 6-month Accutane courses in my life and even though it worked temporarily, the acne soon returned.

I'd say your red spots and holes are from the previous acne, not the accutane, and your skin hasn't quite healed yet. It will take your skin some time to heal, I'm not really sure if there is anything specific you can do to speed things up.

[jon tall tree]

I just saw on tv people sued accutane for up to $25mil after health problems caused by the treatment

[krassi]

I'm not at all surprised, Accutane is a pretty rough drug and in my opinion should only be used for severe acne that doesn't respond to other treatment.

I do know some people though that have had a very good experience with it, and got rid of their acne permanently.

[slacker]

Get your D checked and up where it needs to be. Coconut oil in the diet is good. See Cillakat's vitamin D thread. If you search "acne" in the forums, you'll get lots of hits. This discussion arises fairly frequently. The primary ingredient in Acutane is retinol, a form of vitamin A. Retinol binds your vitamin D receptors, causing D to be wasted. Get rid of retinol as either supplement or skin treatment, get your D up, eat good fats including coconut oil, and get the stuff you need to metabolize your D propertly, such as K2, boron, etc. Small amounts of A in the form of beta-carotene are good enough.

[Leanne]

Diet will help a lot. Exfoliation will help too. Basically by using a gentle abrasion to scuff off the dry and dead skin cells you encourage new cells to grow. You can either go for the store bought kind like St. Ive's Apricot scrub (Walmart $4 feels nice on the face but can't pronounce and of the ingredients) or make something at home with all natural ingredients.
Ironically grains and sugar are great for the surface of your skin, but can make you break out when you are eating them.
If you have a coffee grinder put a small handful of dry rolled oats and a heaping table spoon of sugar and grind to a power. Mix two tablespoons of the powder with a table spoon of yogurt and rub on your face in gentle circular motion. You can either leave it for a while as a mask or rinse it right away. Oatmeal has a calming and softening effect and sooth irritation. The sugar is simply there as an abrasive and is not as irritating as a salt scrub which is courser and good for legs and body in a salt and oil scrub. If you are still prone to break outs or have oily skin skip the sugar and use half a table spoon of baking soda instead. If you have essential oils, one or two drops of lavender, rosewood or palmarosa are all good choices as they encourage cellular regeneration and a balance to the skin's natural sebum production and are often used to reduce scaring and redness.

[Adrianag]

Don't know if it will help for this particular issue but this is a pretty primal scar minimizer that I used on keloid scars as a child.

Put fresh lemon juice into an oyster shell. A chemical reaction will create a white foam. Spread this foam on the scars. It will bleach them out.