Forehead pimples anyone?

IWJ

Hey,

Apologies in advance to mods- I don't know where to post this.

I'm a little concerned about pimples appearing mainly on my forehead but also noticing one or two random ones appearing in other areas on my face. I'm not sure whether or not they will turn into full- on acne. Any advice would be great! Its just that I'm finding this very strange.

So a little background info:

I'm in my early twenties and exactly towards the end of August 2014, I started noticing the emergence of pimples on my forehead. They weren't acne filled or anything- just red pimples ranging in size scattered all over my forehead.

My mother has great skin and father is a smoker so not so great there. Both never had any sort of acne nor would you consider any of them to have bad skin. None of my siblings have acne.

I don't drink very often, quit smoking a year ago, exercise quite a bit and hence sweat a lot.

I eat relatively healthy and drink plenty of fluids (including green tea and hot water with lemon). I went through a vegan phase for a while and even then the spots didn't completely disappear.

They start to heal but then come back out of nowhere e.g they started to disappear 4 days ago when I started some intermittent fasting but now I see them coming back.

I suppose the main thing that's getting to me is that I can't pinpoint the reason(s) for breakouts. Here are some of the causes that I suspect:

1. Wax from hair mixing sweating onto forehead when exercising.
2. Head and Shoulders shampoo (quite unlikely?).
3. Eating egg (yolks), nuts, fats.
4. Hormonal?
5. Digestive issues ( I tend to get easily constipated quite a bit- this may be due to the fact that sometimes I don't chew fully).
6. Stress


Any cures would be great. Getting sick of it at the moment.

Lux23

This happened to me recently and copped that it started around the same time I started exercising a lot more (as in I was sweating). I got myself a sweatband for the gym and it is starting to clear more. That could be the problem?

IWJ

Lux23 wrote: »

This happened to me recently and copped that it started around the same time I started exercising a lot more (as in I was sweating). I got myself a sweatband for the gym and it is starting to clear more. That could be the problem?

But isn't sweating supposed to be good for the skin? I meant that perhaps the hair wax that I was using could have been the culprit.

coffeepls

You sound very healthy. Perhaps you just need to pay a little more attention to the t zone. The old 'cleanse, tone & moisturise' routine. I'd honestly just go into a boots store and ask the pharmacist what they suggest. Water doesn't clear away all the dirt from the forehead sometimes & soap can clog pores even more.

IWJ

coffeepls wrote: »

You sound very healthy. Perhaps you just need to pay a little more attention to the t zone. The old 'cleanse, tone & moisturise' routine. I'd honestly just go into a boots store and ask the pharmacist what they suggest. Water doesn't clear away all the dirt from the forehead sometimes & soap can clog pores even more.

Thanks for this. Will talk to a pharmacist and try to wear a sweat band as the other poster mentioned.

The reason for these sudden breakouts is what is getting to me. Have you had a similar experience?

coffeepls

I'm not an active person (long term illness) - so can't really compare with all that gym & sweating! I think you might be over worrying, but I really am only going by what I know as someone who was obsessed with their bad skin when I was a teen over 30 years ago.

La_Gordy

Hey there, I have quite bad acne but it is very much managed by using products that contain benzoyl peroxide. The best I found was Quinoderm 5%, however this has been shelved in the EU. However your doctor can prescribe you creams, a common one being Duac. Also i think Oxy do a 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream that is under 5e.

Howard Roark

Before you go buying face washes etc try this,

When you sweat wipe your face with a clean cloth and cold water.

Before you go to bed clean your face with warm (not hot) water, then rinse with cold.

Wash any product out of your hair before you sleep.

Put a fresh pillowcase/ clean t shirt or ideally a fresh towel over the pillow(s) you sleep on every night.

Don't focus on your face in the shower, just splash some water from your hands to your face.



I was in a similar enough position to you where spots came out of nowhere even though I usually have perfect skin, I found the over the counter face washes to be a waste of money for the most part, though if you want to try one I like the morning burst from clearasil followed up by any face moisturizer.

suites

try coconut nut oil it will clear up your skin in no time

scrimshanker

La Roche Posay effeclar duo+ is amazing stuff.

Use a gentle facial cleanser (I like cetaphil, ymmv) twice a day. Nothing harsh! Make sure you prepare your skin first - get a hand hot fresh facecloth and let it sit on your skin to open the pores. Then use the cleanser, then apply the lrp effeclar. It's really important to be gentle and use mild products so your skin doesn't overreact to the changes.

I'd also echo the advice of others - wash wax out before you sleep and try sleep on clean pillowcases. If you have two, you could flip them so you get 4 days of clean pillow cases and then just wash them.

chickenlicken2

Spots on the forehead (I think if I recall from a skin mapping facial years ago) can be related to diet.

It could be your shampoo. I had something similar except it was a patch on my chest and the only thing I could rule it down to was was certain brands of shampoo. Just the way the shampoo was rinsing out it affected one zone.
Do they follow a pattern of appearing or appearing more prominent after you wash your hair.
Try a different shampoo. Maybe a natural or tea tree based one.
Another mate had something similar but side of face and was recommended to use clear non coloured shampoo

Lux23

IWJ wrote: »

But isn't sweating supposed to be good for the skin? I meant that perhaps the hair wax that I was using could have been the culprit.

It could be the wax, but why do people wear sweatbands? Its not because they are comfortable, it because sweat dripping down your face can irritate you skin.

IWJ

Howard Roark wrote: »

I was in a similar enough position to you where spots came out of nowhere even though I usually have perfect skin, I found the over the counter face washes to be a waste of money for the most part, though if you want to try one I like the morning burst from clearasil followed up by any face moisturizer.

And did you find that the tips you have given me worked for yourself? How are your spots now?

chickenlicken2 wrote: »

Spots on the forehead (I think if I recall from a skin mapping facial years ago) can be related to diet.

It could be your shampoo. I had something similar except it was a patch on my chest and the only thing I could rule it down to was was certain brands of shampoo. Just the way the shampoo was rinsing out it affected one zone.
Do they follow a pattern of appearing or appearing more prominent after you wash your hair.
Try a different shampoo. Maybe a natural or tea tree based one.
Another mate had something similar but side of face and was recommended to use clear non coloured shampoo

Ya I saw a similar face mapping diagram and read the same thing. Its just that I can't pin point what exactly in my diet is causing this? I've tried cutting out eggs, just egg yolks, nuts, green tea, regular tea. Still unsure. Could it be the iron/ vit. D supplements that I'm taking?

I've been using H&S as far back as I can remember but like I've mentioned, these spots only started to appear in August of last year when I increased my exercise levels.

Lux23 wrote: »

It could be the wax, but why do people wear sweatbands? Its not because they are comfortable, it because sweat dripping down your face can irritate you skin.

Ya got myself a few sweatbands there. They're pretty comfortable too! Look like a bit of a douche wearing them though!

chickenlicken2

IWJ wrote: »

And did you find that the tips you have given me worked for yourself? How are your spots now?

I've been using H&S as far back as I can remember but like I've mentioned, these spots only started to appear in August of last year when I increased my exercise levels.

You can try products with salicylic acid which is good for drying out spots. You can get zit zapper products from the pharmacy which have a high concentration of SA you just dab it on the affected spot.

Ya mine was the same. Using this brand of shampoo for absolutely years and all of a sudden just a crop of angry red spots.

Could be a combination of all different things. No idea on the food or vits unfortunately.

Howard Roark

IWJ wrote: »

And did you find that the tips you have given me worked for yourself? How are your spots now?

Yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have shared them!

You sound similar enough to me, you don't have 'bad' skin but something is triggering outbreaks and in my case if I'm not careful with hair washing out hair products or if I sweat a lot during the day without wiping my forehead clear I'll break out.

IWJ

I'm also reading on doing a juicing cleanse pretty soon.

Worked wonders for friends.