tronvillain

In high school I took tetracycline, which seemed to help a little, but it wasn't until my second year at university when I started taking accutane that my skin problems went away. Okay, while you are taking it gives you dry skin (moisturizer), dandruff (benzagel), and potentially damages your liver (blood tests), but in my mind it is definitely worth it.

Defiant Heretic:
It is hideous and sometimes painful, and it does not necessarily go away on its own. Even if it does, why should people have to wait for it to go away, especially if it takes a long time?

ebolamonger

Secular Elation, you should go to a dermatologist right away. For 3 years, I had moderate acne and just believed that all I needed to do was keep washing my face and applying OTC benzoyl peroxide cream. I never really had a lot of red pimples, but I had very bad skin tone, lots of blackheads, and lots of clogged pores that formed little flesh-colored bumps (not milia). But since I didn't actually have pimples, I thought it wasn't serious enough for me to see a dermatologist. However, I made up my mind to go when I just couldn't bear looking in a mirror anymore.

I was put on topical benzaclin, tazorac, and this benzoyl peroxide face wash. (Now here's a secret. The prescription face wash is 5% BP, but you can get a 6% BP wash from Clean and Clear that is, at least in my experience, cheaper than the copay for the prescription stuff AND it's a bigger tube. Look for the purple tube.)
That was about a year ago. Within 6 months, I had 85% improvement. It sounds like a long time and it's not 100% improvement, but on me, it was drastic. No more bumps, no more blackheads, just large pores and a few blemishes.

I've been slacking off lately in my skin care, so my face has gotten worse, but I've been strict in the last week and it's starting to bounce right back.

brighid

Because it can be painful (especially cystic acne), disfiguring and it won't necessarily go away on it's own. I have struggled with acne for 15+ years and tried everything other then Accutane and some of the harsher prescription meds because I wasn't willing to take the risk of birth defects, etc.

As a woman, my problem was largely due to hormone imbalance and until that was addressed my acne would remain, no matter what I used. Sometimes the acne would be very painful and although it isn't life threatening, it is a chronic illness.

Brighid