acne :(

[hazel]

Although it might not be too evident from my profile pic (largely due to lighting and the bad resolution on my phone camera) I have absolutely terrible skin and while it's not as bad as it was during my teen years, I still regularly get spots and blackheads all over my face, and more worryingly perhaps for someone looking to become female in the future, my chest also (this I confess really gets to me, even if I pass I'll still be a girl stuck with horrible chest scars due to the horrors of guy puberty ).

What I was wondering is, for someone who already suffers quite badly with this what could i expect the effects of hrt to do to my skin? Might it get better due to the limiting effects it will have on testosterone? Or does it get worse seeing as how I would sort of be going through puberty again? I realize it probably affects people differently but if I could just get some idea what others have gone through i would appreciate it, thanks.

[Zumbagirl]

I also had bad acne growing up, and I have to be honest it was one the biggest fears of my transition and something I was determined to fix. Here are my thoughts and observations:

1). The hormones are going to take a long time, I'm talking years before you see the full effect onth pores of your skin. But they do work, just don't go holding your breath waiting for a miracle. They do make pimple problems go away though, especially once I was on a full dose and heading for surgery.

2). You cannot do anything about the quality of your skin until electrolysis is done. All told my electrolysis spanned almost 3 years. I was pretty much almost near my srs date by the time I was able to fully address my complexion.

3). While that was going on, I made sure that I kept the dead skin off of my face. I was recommended to use Amlactin lotion for my skin and cleaning with cetaphil and also use exfoliators regularly. It took a good 6-9 months before I started to see the benefit of a skin and teeth care regimen that would put a born woman to shame

4). Once everything I was done, I went for facials and there is nothing like the treatment. It cleans and opens up the pores nicely. A good facial will get all of the gunk out of your pores, and then they close up and your skin will take on the texture of a genetic female.

5). I made an appointment with a dermatologist and decided to do dermabrasion. He recommended 6 treatments spread out over 6 months (one a month) and I had to use special creams on my face. The dermabrasion did work for me and in fact I would recommend it to anyone. The treatments ran me about $100 each and the creams were another $100. I was done with electrolysis, so I had money to blow on things like this. I also had my teeth whitened. The face to me is a package deal

6). Nowadays I really enjoy taking care of myself. In fact half of the fun to me is keeping myself beautiful (or as beautiful as I can). Before my transition I hated my body, after my transition I take really good care of my investment and enjoy having a pretty smile and smooth skin to match the rest of the surgery and hormonal effects.

So I just want to say, you can do it. It just requires a lot of effort. It's not even expensive, just a lot of time and a boat load of patience.

[Ms. OBrien CVT]

Try steaming your face and the use a light exfoliating scrub.

[Tejas]

In case it goes crazy, I found this! http://imgur.com/gallery/YeIVX

[hazel]

I also had bad acne growing up, and I have to be honest it was one the biggest fears of my transition and something I was determined to fix. Here are my thoughts and observations:

1). The hormones are going to take a long time, I'm talking years before you see the full effect onth pores of your skin. But they do work, just don't go holding your breath waiting for a miracle. They do make pimple problems go away though, especially once I was on a full dose and heading for surgery.

2). You cannot do anything about the quality of your skin until electrolysis is done. All told my electrolysis spanned almost 3 years. I was pretty much almost near my srs date by the time I was able to fully address my complexion.

3). While that was going on, I made sure that I kept the dead skin off of my face. I was recommended to use Amlactin lotion for my skin and cleaning with cetaphil and also use exfoliators regularly. It took a good 6-9 months before I started to see the benefit of a skin and teeth care regimen that would put a born woman to shame

4). Once everything I was done, I went for facials and there is nothing like the treatment. It cleans and opens up the pores nicely. A good facial will get all of the gunk out of your pores, and then they close up and your skin will take on the texture of a genetic female.

5). I made an appointment with a dermatologist and decided to do dermabrasion. He recommended 6 treatments spread out over 6 months (one a month) and I had to use special creams on my face. The dermabrasion did work for me and in fact I would recommend it to anyone. The treatments ran me about $100 each and the creams were another $100. I was done with electrolysis, so I had money to blow on things like this. I also had my teeth whitened. The face to me is a package deal

6). Nowadays I really enjoy taking care of myself. In fact half of the fun to me is keeping myself beautiful (or as beautiful as I can). Before my transition I hated my body, after my transition I take really good care of my investment and enjoy having a pretty smile and smooth skin to match the rest of the surgery and hormonal effects.

So I just want to say, you can do it. It just requires a lot of effort. It's not even expensive, just a lot of time and a boat load of patience.

Thanks for the answers Zumbagirl (enjoy your rep point ), it's good to know that I should be hoping for the best rather than expecting the worst, I have considered microdermabrasion, but I figured that was something to leave until your acne had properly subsided, which unfortunately mine hasn't yet :/ Teeth whitening will definitely be on the agenda for me as well, although the longer I put it off the more coffee I can drink in the meantime 

[hazel]

In case it goes crazy, I found this! http://imgur.com/gallery/YeIVX

I found that the other day as well, in fact I've just got back from buying some manuka honey! I'm usually quite skeptical about stuff like this, but after a bit of digging online and finding quite a few people reporting success with this so I thought what the hell.