After I was finally rid of my adult acne, I was left with a face full of red spots where the active acne used to be. I had red spots everywhere! They were pretty noticeable, and when I’d wash my face with warm water, or scrub it with a gentle exfoliant, the spots would come out even more and it looked like I had chickenpox! When I was a teenager, I would have a red spot for about a week after a pimple went away. Well, as an adult, my red spots seemed to stay FOREVER. I had read that the spots would go away within a few months, so I started to freak out when six months had passed and they were still there! I kept reading that the red spots were not acne scars, but they started to feel like scars since they wouldn’t go away. Well, the red spots are now gone! It took about two years for them to fade completely! Two years! The good news is that they are gone, and they didn’t last forever, so they are indeed not scars. When I wash my face with warm water, I can still see faint red spots, but you can’t see them otherwise.
Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation is another term for these red spots. Since I have fair/medium skin, they show up red on me, but you may also see them as brown or purple, depending on your skin color. Unfortunately, I wasn’t successful in speeding up the fading process of them. I tried Mederma on them, but that didn’t do anything. I wore a strong sunscreen every day, which is important, because the sun can make the spots worse. I also tried Hydroquinone, a lightening agent, but I honestly don’t think it’s meant to lighten red spots - just brown sunspots. I also used Differin, a retinoid, every day, which I think probably helped, but not a lot.
Recently, I did have three IPL Photo Facials, which may have helped with the red spots, but the spots were pretty much gone by the time I had the treatments. I am quite curious to know if Photo Facials do help to speed up the visibility of the red spots, but I don’t have any first-hand knowledge of this. There are also acne clearing lasers that work on active acne, but whether or not they work on the red spots, I don’t know. The Palomar LuxV is what we used at my Medical Spa.
The only way I have personally been able to avoid these spots recently is to prevent breakouts completely. If you have any advice that works, let me know!!!!!!!!!!!
Don't miss out...get Savvy Skin posts via email!
Get
Savvy Skin posts via email!
January 12th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Yes, I need to know how to get rid of acne scars, too. I have tons, and I don’t use makeup, so it O_O.
I wash my face with cleanser very morning & night and I apply Proactiv or Neutrogena, but pimples still appear and there’s nothing I can do about it to get rid or it PREVENT it. :( I have to just wait until the pimple becomes a scar and newer pimples appear. >_
January 18th, 2008 at 11:02 pm
I tried many products too. But nothing seemed to work. I think I have tried more than 4 products! It all started when i was in year 5. I started getting a few zits on my face. It was just a little like once in a month sort of thing. I got it all over my forehead. I was a lil piss that they appeared on my face. After year 5, I went to year 6 hoping it would go away, but, NO. It didn’t! I had more and more on my forehead. And it felt really eeeky. I then tried all this products like Tea Tree, Clearasil and Oxy. But it didn’t really work. The pimples were still there. It only went smaller in the night and a lil bigger in the day. As months passed, I was 13 years old then. That was the time where I got it ALL OVER MY FACE! Literally. I lived in missery every single day. ): Everyday, new spots appear on my face. From my forehead to my cheeks and chin. It was HUGE zits! everywhere. I had no choice. When year 7 was about to end, I really could not take it anymore. I begged the shit outta my mom to take me to see a skin specialist. They checked my face and told me to get some treatment. I went for this treatment called Iclear. It really worked! Iclear is a light where they put me under. This violet/blue light is made to kill all the acne bacteria in my face. I went for 8-10 sessions and followed every intructions given by the doc. Today, my skin is so beautiful! I don’t need to worry about washing my face or wondering when will the next eeky zit come out again! It’s all GONE FOR GOOD! I felt so free. Even when i’m stressed, no pimple will appear anymore. Soo, I’m really happy now. (:
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:45 am
is estee lauder Advance Night Repair COncentrate (have to be used in 21 days in a row) help to fade the red spot?
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:34 pm
Lovy,
I honestly don’t think that will work any better than anything else. What I think works best is what I wrote about in this post. Sorry I don’t have a better answer!
July 16th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
I have no answer for those of you with red spots, but…
For those of you ethnic people with brown spots, I do have an answer for you. exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate! I use ground coffee beans on my face just about everyday after I steam my face and BEFORE I actually use my face wash. Steam will loosen these dead skin cells (which is what these spots really are) and the coffee will slough them off. After this go to your regular face wash routine. You won’t have instant results but your skin will improve faster than bleaching (which doesn’t guarantee permanent results). Now ground coffee works for me, but most of you will probably find it way too harsh, so go ahead and use sugar instead (although I don’t know how well it works).
WARNING: exfoliating too much can cause breakouts. So either use a VERY good anti-acne facewash, or mix epsom salt into your face wash (which is what I do, and it works great).
This just works for me, use the method at your own risk!