Acne

[PandaValentine]

About how long after it starts does it take to go away? Prior to T I had none. Facial acne doesn't bother me so much (since there isn't much) but it develops in other places... so I was wondering does it take years? Does it work like regular puberty where once teens hit adults the acne starts clearing up?

- I managed to keep this one short.

[Arch]

I never had a problem with acne, but I have known lots of trans guys in real life. And about all I can tell you is that your mileage may vary. I know one guy who started T three years ago and still battles serious acne on his face and body, and I have another friend who seems to be like me; he gets a zit every now and then, and that's it. Experiences with acne run the gamut, but it seems to be perfectly normal to have acne for a few years. See what the other guys say, though.

[Da Monkey]

Ughhh yeah I know what you mean.

I've been on T for a year and a bit now and still get it, though it is not near as bad as when it first started (about three months on T). For a couple of months, though, I took pills for it and it helped a little bit.

I also never had acne problems before hand and it makes me look waaay younger than before. It really sucks :/

[Nygeel]

Puberty part 1 I didn't have too many pimples, just one on occasion. Part 2 I have the look of pimples just under the skin. I just use a scrub daily. I also have combination skin. It's oily and flakey at the same time, but if I replace the oils I get even more pimples.

[Adio]

I'm 17 months on T and I still have moderate acne.  I saw a dermatologist and he gave me oral and topical antibiotics.  The oral antibiotics helped a bit, but after my prescription ran out, the acne came back.  Now I'm using 10% benzoyl peroxide.  It dries out my skin pretty bad, but it works.  Hopefully it'll be like "normal" puberty and the acne will be gone within the next 2 years.

[FinnBear]

When I started I got horrible acne and I went to a dermatologist and she said I was over washing my face and in doing so making my face MORE oily. I never had acne before so my friend suggested that I use this product with salicylic acid. The dermatologist told me to just knock is back to a regular face wash in the morning and night and since doing that it's gotten a LOT better. I'd say I only have mild acne now. So if you are washing with a lot of stuff then maybe you're over washing as well?

[Squirrel698]

I've been on T for a year.  The acne on my face and chest is mild to moderate. 

However I do spend quite a bit of time keeping it under control with Lerosett.  http://www.gunillaofsweden.com/  I like the products because they are drug free with acids.  To many chemicals will age you faster than none.

Mostly it tends to clump just under my jawline.  Which is annoying but hidden mostly from view.  The a few spots here and there on my face.  The problem on my chest happened when I sweated in my binder and then didn't change.  That was a mistake but I never looked at my chest so I didn't see.  When I finally looked I was shocked how bad it was.  It's starting to clear up now.

[~RoadToTrista~]

Ugh, I hope estrogen doesn't cause acne......... does it? >.>

[Nygeel]

Ugh, I hope estrogen doesn't cause acne......... does it? >.>

Does the opposite. Cleans it up a bit.

[James-Alen]

I have god awful acne to begin with, and have had for most of my life due to nummular eczema and oily skin. I got on birth control to stop cycling, and clear up acne. It didn't work very well, which I blame on my skin disorder. So I dunno if E would always clear up acne, but surely wouldn't make it worse. That is my only fear of T. All of the effects dazzle me except the part of second puberty that states worsened acne. I'll have to wash my face a LOT.

[Arch]

When I was about seven and my brother was entering puberty, I remarked to my mother that he was suffering from "acme." Come to think of it, he DID like the Roadrunner cartoons an awful lot...

[Radar]

If I'm not diligent on my acne care I can still break out big time. I've always been prone to them but I can get more of them now on my back and upper arm. I have no idea if it will eventually let up or it will be something for life.

However, it's not nearly as big a problem as when I first started T, so it has improved. I also noticed I'd get more zits from areas on my binder- like the shoulder straps. Since top surgery I've noticed much less.

[PandaValentine]

When I started I got horrible acne and I went to a dermatologist and she said I was over washing my face and in doing so making my face MORE oily. I never had acne before so my friend suggested that I use this product with salicylic acid. The dermatologist told me to just knock is back to a regular face wash in the morning and night and since doing that it's gotten a LOT better. I'd say I only have mild acne now. So if you are washing with a lot of stuff then maybe you're over washing as well?

Actually I just stopped washing my face two days ago (I don't like not doing it) but as soon as I stopped my skin cleared up completely. I was only washing my face once or twice a day before, apparently I can't wash my face at all to keep it acne free. However nothing seems to help or change acne in other places. 

[Nathan.]

With my first puberty I had pretty bad acne but all on my face, my second puberty I still have pretty bad acne but it's mostly on my back and chest. It got worse around the 6th month on T so i'm not sure if it's going to keep on getting worse for a while or start clearing up. I remember a topic like this when I first joined susans and few guys said it took a year or two to go away. I guess it's different for everybody.

[PixieBoy]

I have more back and chest acne than I do face acne. Eating healthier makes my skin clear up more, stress, junk food and fertility cycle makes it worse. I had it way worse when I was younger, now it seems to have cleared up a bit. Losing the pageboy haircut also helped with it. I hope T won't make it worse than it was, because back/chest acne is so damn annoying...