Archives: Answers

Hair loss from Roaccutane / Accutane is very unusual and fortunately is temporary; the hair regrows in a few months. I am not aware of any side effects from Accutane / Roaccutane that are irreversible except of course birth defects that always occur in a developing fetus if a pregnant female takes it during pregnancy.

Persistent raised scars over the site of an injury (e.g., staph boil, deep scrape, surgery site) are easily treated with tiny (almost painless!) cortisone injections, repeated every three to four weeks, until the scar lump flattens out. It’s very unusual to need surgery to fix it.

For persistently chapped lips one can use vasoline, or even an antibiotic ointment like bacitracin alternating with (over the counter) 1% hydrocortisone ointment every couple of hours. In addition, if you are continually licking your (chapped) lips, you should stop; the saliva makes the problem much worse. In addition, you should not use limp plumpers as it can usually make the problem worst, and this most likely also isn’t a hormone issue. If all of this doesn’t help within a week, then one should see a dermatologist.

The manufacturer does not claim that the Clarisonic is an exfoliator. It’s just a cleanser, but since there are brushes you might get ever so slight physical exfoliation. But that slight physical exfoliation won’t be anywhere as effective as if you used a chemical exfoliator like glycolic or salicylic acid or a physical exfoliator like microdermabrasion.

Enlarged pores on your cheeks are treated the same as they are in the T-zone, except you may need to be gentler with exfoliation and use a water based moisturizer once or twice each day. See What Causes and Minimizes Enlarged Pores for explanation and possible treatments.

It sounds like you are describing a viral rash related to actual warts called, “Molluscum Contagiosum.” While many topical treatments are recommended, they rarely work and sometimes cause darkening of the skin around the bumps without curing them. Unfortunately, the method that works best to cure this is having each one scraped off with a special instrument (a curette) by a dermatologist. Topical anesthetic cream can be used to make it completely painless. While it is true that they ultimately go away by themselves, it is frustrating and worrisome to wait for that to happen while they continue to spread because they are very contagious.

Thank you for the very detailed information. Clearly your type of cysts require internal treatment as they are triggered by your hormones. When hormonally caused cysts fail to respond completely to antibiotics then the two treatments available are: (1) Birth control pills (even thought one doesn’t need them for contraception), and (2) Accutane. In the situation where one doesn’t need contraception, I recommend Accutane. For more information, see our episodes on Accutane and Treating Cystic Acne.

A persistent raised scar at a surgery site is easily treated with tiny (almost painless!) cortisone injections, repeated every three to four weeks until the scar lump flattens out. Very easy to fix it.

In most circumstances, shaving after swimming is not as preferable to shaving after you shower. The reason comes down to heat (I’m assuming your pool water is lukewarm at best). When things are cold, they tend to harden, and when things are warm, they tend to soften. So, if your hair (beard or underarm) is continually being warmed by not only warm water but also by the steam in the shower, it will soften. When your hair is softer, it’s more easily shaved, and as a result, you experience less irritation. So in fact, while shaving after a pool wouldn’t be as beneficial, shaving after sitting in a hot tub would be. On the other hand, if your hair is not warm, it won’t be as soft, and it’s easier for your skin to be irritated while shaving. Similarly, longer hair is also better to shave than shorter. Long hair tends to be soft and short hair tends to be bristly. So the overarching theme is that when it comes to shaving, the softer your hair the better!

While tea bags may help with reducing swelling, they won’t help with darkening. The treatment to alleviate under-eye darkening (i.e., dark circles) is complicated because it depends on which of the seven different causes of dark circles produces yours. For more information on identifying the cause and understanding the treatment, see How to Eliminate Under Eye Dark Circles.