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I wrote this a few years back now but thought it could be of use.... Enjoy
---FINALLY BEATING ACNE---
Written By: Crankin'steiN (AKA Crank)
MOD @ Superiormuscle.com
I am writing this article in the hopes of informing and helping some people in the bodybuilding community who are having problems with acne. As everyone knows, acne is a very common side effect from the usage of steroids. This can be a very hard battle and can be very stressful emotionally.... I know guys with great physiques who refuse to take their shirt off at the beach because of acne. Now obviously if you have worked hard for your physique, it would be nice to show it off sometimes without worrying about acne.
I will start from the beginning.... Everyone knows that while we are going through puberty we will most likely get some acne. The severity of this will vary person to person, but most will get some. Why is this important you may be asking?? Well, for guys that get their acne later in their teens (say 17 or 18), it may last until their early 20's.This is an important thing to take note of, because for those guys it is crutial that they deal with the acne before ever taking any steroids. I have seen many cases where a young person has started steroids before taking care of the acne problem and it becomes much much worse.... So if you have acne naturally, you need to take care of it before using steroids!
Now on to everyone else who develops acne from steroids. There is a few things to keep in mind about your steroid usage and cycling that may help you contain your acne. The first thing is that the having numerous high androgenic steroids, or high dose androgenic steroids in your cycle will be very hard on your acne situation. Highly androgenic steroids are well known for being a big cause of the acne people get while on cycle. So try to minimize the number of different highly androgenic compounds, or limit the dosages... The second thing is that keeping your hormone levels as steady as humanly possible will help greatly in reducing your acne. You can do this by splitting dosages into numerous shots through out the week I.E. If my dosage of test for the week is 500, I can split that into 2 equal shots of 250mg twice per week. Mon, and fri would be fine.
Now on to ways to treat the acne once it has started to show itself....
First I will go over the simple things you can do daily to try and reduce your breakouts:
- Shower 2 times a day, and immediately after sweating (after your workout) if possible
- If a shirt your wearing gets sweaty, change it as soon as possible
- Wash with a very gentle clenser, I recommend Cetaphil! Use a shower puff for scrubbing
- Drink plenty of water
- Tan regularly
- Do not use harsh soaps, or soaps that are scented.
Second is over the counter (OTC) remedies, everyone will respond to these differently...
There is no way to tell if it will work for you unless you try it, so generally I recommend that people try the OTC remedies before moving on to the prescription stuff...
- High intake of B5 (pantothenic acid) daily. This is a remedy that is really hit or miss with people. I have talked to many people about it, and it really has mixed reviews. You must take between 3-5 grams of B5 per day spread out as evenly as possible through out the day. The capsule are usually 500mg per cap. So you would have to take 6-10 capsules a day. If this remedy works, it should slow down oil production and you should notice your skin is not so oily.
- OTC acne creams. You can purchase acne creams at any pharmacy and there will be one of two active ingredients in it. Salicylic acid, or Benzoyl Peroxide. Depending on the severity of the persons acne, these creams may work very well at fighting outbreaks and getting rid of acne that is currently there. Put a little bit of this cream on trouble spots every night before bed. This cream will stain sheets and pillow cases so be aware
of that.....
Third is prescription remedies, this should only be taken to this level if the acne does not respond to the other OTC treatments. A doctor should be involved in the prescribing and obtaining of these prescriptions. I would never recommend someone take a drug without consulting their doctor first!
- Anti-biotics. There is many different anti-biotics that can be prescribed to help rid someone of their acne. Tetracycline is a common one which has worked well for many. It should be known that this will make the user sensitive to light and tanning should be out of the question. Using anti-biotics for acne usually means taking them for 3 months or more at a time. Anti-biotics are also noted to have an anti-anabolic effect, so although taking steroids while using this drug will not have adverse side effects, the effects of your cycle may not be as good as they should have....
- Topical creams. There is also many different kinds of acne creams. Retin-A is one of them and usually works very well for most people. It helps clear the area, and fade old scars. It is also light sensitive and tanning should not be considered while using it...
Clindoxyl is also a topical gel and works VERY well in my opinion. Neo-Medrol is the name of another drug that can be used. It is used for shoulder and back acne, and tends to dry out the area pretty bad. It does work fairly quickly and also helps to fade old scars. There is several other topicals to consider, but I won't list them. The main thing to remember is that there is more then one choice, so if one doesn't work for you, then you can try something else. Some of these creams work faster then others, for instance retin-a can take a month or two to start working, but the other two I mentioned seem to work fairly quickly. What might be of interest to bodybuilders about all these topical creams is that you can use steroids while on them without adverse side effects.
- Accutane. This should be the absolute last resort.... No not skip everything else and go right to this because it will work. The reason being, it is very harsh on your body and your liver in particular. You can't drink while on it, you can't use steroids while on it, and you must use it for at least 3 months, sometimes longer for it to clear up the acne. The good news is, that many users of this have reported that the acne was gone for good. It never came back even when they used steroids again.
* It is important to remember that even though I mentoined some remedies that can be used while on a steroid cycle, you should keep in mind that if you were not on steroids during your treatment, the success rate and speed of success would be quicker. Also, though several treatments can be combined at once (i.e. OTC products and anti-biotics), we must keep in mind that if we over do it the we may actually worsen the acne. In many cases that is exactly the problem. The person is over doing it trying to get rid of their acne, and they are worsening the situation!
Nobody likes acne, but as bodybuilders a lot of the time we have to deal with it. But hopefully with this article you will be able to take some of that information and start helping your acne sitution today! Then you can get out there, and take your shirt off! Se ya at the
beach. ;)
---FINALLY BEATING ACNE---
Written By: Crankin'steiN (AKA Crank)
MOD @ Superiormuscle.com
I am writing this article in the hopes of informing and helping some people in the bodybuilding community who are having problems with acne. As everyone knows, acne is a very common side effect from the usage of steroids. This can be a very hard battle and can be very stressful emotionally.... I know guys with great physiques who refuse to take their shirt off at the beach because of acne. Now obviously if you have worked hard for your physique, it would be nice to show it off sometimes without worrying about acne.
I will start from the beginning.... Everyone knows that while we are going through puberty we will most likely get some acne. The severity of this will vary person to person, but most will get some. Why is this important you may be asking?? Well, for guys that get their acne later in their teens (say 17 or 18), it may last until their early 20's.This is an important thing to take note of, because for those guys it is crutial that they deal with the acne before ever taking any steroids. I have seen many cases where a young person has started steroids before taking care of the acne problem and it becomes much much worse.... So if you have acne naturally, you need to take care of it before using steroids!
Now on to everyone else who develops acne from steroids. There is a few things to keep in mind about your steroid usage and cycling that may help you contain your acne. The first thing is that the having numerous high androgenic steroids, or high dose androgenic steroids in your cycle will be very hard on your acne situation. Highly androgenic steroids are well known for being a big cause of the acne people get while on cycle. So try to minimize the number of different highly androgenic compounds, or limit the dosages... The second thing is that keeping your hormone levels as steady as humanly possible will help greatly in reducing your acne. You can do this by splitting dosages into numerous shots through out the week I.E. If my dosage of test for the week is 500, I can split that into 2 equal shots of 250mg twice per week. Mon, and fri would be fine.
Now on to ways to treat the acne once it has started to show itself....
First I will go over the simple things you can do daily to try and reduce your breakouts:
- Shower 2 times a day, and immediately after sweating (after your workout) if possible
- If a shirt your wearing gets sweaty, change it as soon as possible
- Wash with a very gentle clenser, I recommend Cetaphil! Use a shower puff for scrubbing
- Drink plenty of water
- Tan regularly
- Do not use harsh soaps, or soaps that are scented.
Second is over the counter (OTC) remedies, everyone will respond to these differently...
There is no way to tell if it will work for you unless you try it, so generally I recommend that people try the OTC remedies before moving on to the prescription stuff...
- High intake of B5 (pantothenic acid) daily. This is a remedy that is really hit or miss with people. I have talked to many people about it, and it really has mixed reviews. You must take between 3-5 grams of B5 per day spread out as evenly as possible through out the day. The capsule are usually 500mg per cap. So you would have to take 6-10 capsules a day. If this remedy works, it should slow down oil production and you should notice your skin is not so oily.
- OTC acne creams. You can purchase acne creams at any pharmacy and there will be one of two active ingredients in it. Salicylic acid, or Benzoyl Peroxide. Depending on the severity of the persons acne, these creams may work very well at fighting outbreaks and getting rid of acne that is currently there. Put a little bit of this cream on trouble spots every night before bed. This cream will stain sheets and pillow cases so be aware
of that.....
Third is prescription remedies, this should only be taken to this level if the acne does not respond to the other OTC treatments. A doctor should be involved in the prescribing and obtaining of these prescriptions. I would never recommend someone take a drug without consulting their doctor first!
- Anti-biotics. There is many different anti-biotics that can be prescribed to help rid someone of their acne. Tetracycline is a common one which has worked well for many. It should be known that this will make the user sensitive to light and tanning should be out of the question. Using anti-biotics for acne usually means taking them for 3 months or more at a time. Anti-biotics are also noted to have an anti-anabolic effect, so although taking steroids while using this drug will not have adverse side effects, the effects of your cycle may not be as good as they should have....
- Topical creams. There is also many different kinds of acne creams. Retin-A is one of them and usually works very well for most people. It helps clear the area, and fade old scars. It is also light sensitive and tanning should not be considered while using it...
Clindoxyl is also a topical gel and works VERY well in my opinion. Neo-Medrol is the name of another drug that can be used. It is used for shoulder and back acne, and tends to dry out the area pretty bad. It does work fairly quickly and also helps to fade old scars. There is several other topicals to consider, but I won't list them. The main thing to remember is that there is more then one choice, so if one doesn't work for you, then you can try something else. Some of these creams work faster then others, for instance retin-a can take a month or two to start working, but the other two I mentioned seem to work fairly quickly. What might be of interest to bodybuilders about all these topical creams is that you can use steroids while on them without adverse side effects.
- Accutane. This should be the absolute last resort.... No not skip everything else and go right to this because it will work. The reason being, it is very harsh on your body and your liver in particular. You can't drink while on it, you can't use steroids while on it, and you must use it for at least 3 months, sometimes longer for it to clear up the acne. The good news is, that many users of this have reported that the acne was gone for good. It never came back even when they used steroids again.
* It is important to remember that even though I mentoined some remedies that can be used while on a steroid cycle, you should keep in mind that if you were not on steroids during your treatment, the success rate and speed of success would be quicker. Also, though several treatments can be combined at once (i.e. OTC products and anti-biotics), we must keep in mind that if we over do it the we may actually worsen the acne. In many cases that is exactly the problem. The person is over doing it trying to get rid of their acne, and they are worsening the situation!
Nobody likes acne, but as bodybuilders a lot of the time we have to deal with it. But hopefully with this article you will be able to take some of that information and start helping your acne sitution today! Then you can get out there, and take your shirt off! Se ya at the
beach. ;)
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