Folks on my Twitter and Facebook page timelines will know this, but I wanted to see what else others might have to say.
I’ve been fighting a breakout on my chin area for about a month or perhaps more. I initially attributed it to hormones – that dreaded time of the month does it to me. I might get a spot sometimes, but it usually goes away fairly quickly with the flow… as it were.
This time, I’m not just getting a spot. I’m getting spotS <- plural. A couple of them of the painful variety.
And its just on my chin. Nowhere else. I’ve scaled back my skincare (nothing new), hydrated the chin area till I swear its flooded, slapped on tea tree oil on the spot, tried various combinations of creams for acne skin just for the chin… and am turning up at a loss. The spots aren’t going away and have in fact multiplied.
For someone who thought that age has finally taken care of that darned spotty problem, its a big deal. So come on, help me out here.
Do you have a sure fire remedy to kill spots and pimples? Specifically on the chin area. Or perhaps you have a secret weapon for bazookaing away these large painful spots? Please share!
I could pledge you my first born if your remedy works, but as there’s no hope of that happening any time soon, you will have my undying gratitude instead.
Help!
Paris B
Note: I wanted to thank everyone of you for you helpful tips but its swelling! I didn’t want to bloat the comment box further so thank you each and every one of you for taking the time to share your tips. I will be implementing some of it and hopefully will see some improvements soon. Thank you! xx
did you eat anything weird? or anything heaty? might be just hormone, but sorry i haven’t got any sure fire way to get rid of spots, but try go see chinese doc? might help!
That’s a thought but nope, no real change in diet and in fact, am drinking lots of water too! Dratted hormones 😛
I’m not sure I can be of much help, since what I use is dermatologist prescribed. I slather on Stieva A, a tretinoin, then spot treat with Duac, which is benzyl peroxide. I used to use Differin cream, but my derma gave me Duac this year. She said it was more potent. I also use tea tree oil on smaller spots. If you have those clay masks, you could mix up a tiny bit and put them directly on spots. Wash off after the prescribed time on the package. I’ve been told that it dries them up really fast.
Sorry if my reply was long, or if it wasn’t helpful. Hope you find a useful suggestion from your other readers 🙂
Thanks for the various recs Denise 🙂
Try the ayurvedic water therapy. Read more here: http://www.sakthifoundation.org/WaterTherapy.htm
I am on this therapy for the last few weeks, and it is helping to clear out my skin.
Sometimes I can’t hit the 1.5 ltr, so I’ll drink as much as I can. On most days, I wil do at least 1ltr in the morning , and just drink more water throughout the day.
Am already drinking loads of water but that is an interesting concept! I will look into it 😀
I used to swear by this:
After cleansing and toning (if you do that), spread a thin layer of anti-zit cream (I swear by J&J’s Clean and Clear) on the problematic area. Let that sink in a little and then moisturise as well as sunscreen as usual.
Also, rubbing alcohol on all your mobile phones and desk phones and home phones. They’re horrible culprits 😛
That’s a thought about the phones. And bedsheets too. I might have to change it all and see if it gets better.
You and I both! For me its my forehead, chin and back! T_T In the past they usually just go away with either a clay mask or applying tea tree oilon them, but nowadays these don’t work for me anymore. It’s either my skin has grown immune to them, or it’s probably about time i toss them out already because they’re more then 2 years old now! Haha!
I just discovered something unconventional though – not sure if you’ve heard about this miracle product from China called Bao Fu Ling? It’s used to treat burns but i swear that it worked overnight to reduce my backne! I’m still a little iffy about using it on my face, but after hearing my colleague rave about it i might give it a try! 😛
Hmm I haven’t come across that cream, but what’s with us and spots eh? I blame the haze 😛
I’ve had problems with spots on my chin for several years and it only started recently to get better. The Tee Tree Oil from Body Shop helps a lot I’ve found.
Thanks! Am using tea tree oil too and it works very well for small pimples but doesn’t do a thing for cystic acne 🙁
oh..i’m going thru the same thing..but on the cheeks n chin…tried a lot of things…tho my new skincare is helping the rest of my face n preventing new blemishes..the old ones r still stubbornly there…Tea tree oil works a bit…but not fully curing them 🙁 will try the clay masks thing
Am going to try a combination attack of clay mask and tea tree oil later today LOL Hope it does something 😛
Paris,
Reading your article made me feel for you so much. I just recovered from a chin breakout or rather chronic chin zit pops (months! and no I wasnt having my P). I know it sounds gross! Like you the rest of my face area is free from blemishes. Miraculously one day, it receded and till now hasnt resurfaced. Im not sure what it was exactly that I did to make it go away but what I tried was eating vit-c tabs n drink more water. Plus, a purifying serum day n night on chin area after cleansing n toning, followed by usual EL ANR serum n aloe soothing moisturiser to seal all the goodness in. Hope it helps! Fingers n toes crossed.
Thanks Shaney! Usually they go away quite quickly without fuss. This time, they are being stubborn! Argh!
sorry to hear :(. i’ve used toothpaste as my OTC remedy. not the gel kind though. it dries out the zit and makes it more pop-able. it also works with cystic acne, though you can’t pop that but it’ll definitely go down in size.
with the toothpaste, just dab it on the affected spot, rub it in a little, and then dab extra on top :D.
Ok that’s really new to me. Any toothpaste or a specific one 😛
um. colgate works well. you can use the ones that are striped, as long as it’s not pure gel. good luck 🙂 i swear by it.
Hhmmm…As an adult-acne sufferer, I guess I have some thoughts to contribute:
1) What KIND of break-outs are those? Are they small zits which come to head relatively quickly? Or do you mean underlying cystic bumps-“the painful variety”
For smaller zits which come to head, I usually do nothing or dab the tiniest bit of benzoyl peroxide ON IT only (avoid surrounding area). Helps to dry it out quicker.
As for cystic ones which rarely/never/takes forever to come to head, I slap on a large 3M Nexcare Acne Patch every night. It takes some time, but they usually come to head…eventually…And then I pop it carefully when it’s fully “ripe”.
2) Maybe you’re doing too much at one go to solve the problem? “hydrated the chin area till I swear its flooded, slapped on tea tree oil on the spot, tried various combinations of creams for acne skin just for the chin”
Try to use just ONE sure-fire moisturiser and ONE acne-treatment. And sometimes, combinations of creams for acne skin are counter productive – some active ingredients cancel each other out.
HTHs!
hahha i heart ur rarely/never/take forever thing. its true, i HATE cystic acne!
Haha thanks Sue Lynn. I wasn’t doing it all at the same time but over a period of time 🙂 But I’ll go and get that Nexcare thing. I’d totally forgotten about it – never tried it because things were never so bad before, but now it gives me a chance to 😛
ok since it’s just on your chin, try this:
1. dont eat dairy products for a week n see what happens
2. dont apply ANYTHING on ur chin except for aloe vera gel. the Fruit of the earth kind. make sure it’s the 100% aloe vera gel. when u apply it, rub it in properly. doing this will help u make sure it isnt any of ur facial products, and it wont dry it out since it’s aloe vera. just try this regime for 1 week, and if it doesnt go away, then try the rest recommended by other commenters.
this is because i believe u shud try using all natural ingredients and nothing else, no benzyl peroxide or chemicals or ANYTHING. since it’s only ur chin its fine, if its cheeks n all it’s more difficult.
Thanks Alene 🙂 I don’t eat much dairy (lactose intolerant 🙁 ) but I’ll be sure to cut it out totally for now and I’ll give the aloe vera gel a try. No harm in it!
I just got two small zits on the right side of my mouth!! It’s been AGES!
They are the WORST!!
I ate yogurt to detox
the acne on the chin went down in 2-3 days
Wow seriously? I would love to but with my newly discovered lactose intolerancy, I can’t handle yogurt 🙁
I soak up a cotton pad with Kiehls Calendula toner and leave them on the zit-prone area (I normally do not use that toner because it’s way too drying for my skin) before using Vichy’s Normaderm moisturizer and lastly dabbing Mario Badescu’s Drying Lotion onto those zits! I really hope you manage to get that breakout of yours under control! *hug*
I feel with you! Those painful underlying zits are the plague – just this week, I developed one close to my mouth that hurt whenever I moved my mouth. 🙁 (I also got some of those painful things on my right shoulder. O.o)
What I did was put dead sea salt masks on it (only on the spots as it’s very drying) and moisturized with aloe vera gel (someone mentioned that above, too) plus jojoba oil so the hydration would be locked it. My skin is really sensitive to creams and lotions, so I try to use very basic products.
The spot has come to a head and is disappearing now. Phew!
I hope your spots go away soon!
see a skin doctor!!!
I feel you 🙁 I used to have clear skin and recently i dont know why i will get 1 or 2 big ones thats deep inside very painful and can’t press it out.
I thought i am not suppose to get pimples after 30!
Its like one heal and another one will appear never ending problems and trying to treat pimples daily.
BUt i know this is bad but i stop using any moisturizers or sun screen when i have pimples so.. maybe that will help if u just stop everything and treat it.
Try Eryderm. You can get those from the pharmacies. It works on your face and for back acnes too. I use it when i feel like i’m about to get a pimple on my cheek or forehead and they’re usually gone by one week or less. 🙂 Hope this helps!
Have you tried not doing anything at all? I experienced this before in a larger scale and went to see a skin specialist. She told me to stop using everything. Not even toner. Just wash with noncomedogenic cleanser and acne cream. That’s it. It finally cleared up pretty fast.
Omg I know how it feels! I get spots exclusively on my chin and most of the time its cystic acne. When it gets bad, nothing I do seem to make it better and instead they multiply. I’ve tried taking doxycycline (antiobiotic) and it worked only so long as I was still taking it. I didn’t want to be on antibiotics forever and yet I don’t want to go to the next extreme (that pill that is also a birth countrol I think) since the spots are concentrated on the chin only. So now I’ve sort of accepted that I might never be ‘cured’ of acne and should not stress about it. I make sure I use cleanser with salicylic acid, Neem face mask once a week and I use a different moisturiser on my chin that doesn’t exacerbate the acne (I use simple kind to skin). When I see a pimple coming, I use Duac gel. I also love using Nexcare acne patch and bio oil. Hope that helps and good luck!