Mystery Skin Condition – Ask Pamela Series

December 6, 2024

I am 48. And when I tell you my body is changing, I am not exaggerating.

Strange body aches just from sleeping. Waking up feeling hung over without having drank alcohol. Sagging skin…. oh the sagging skin. Thinning hair. CHIN HAIR. Good lord. It is not pretty.

But the one thing I could always count on is that my skin has been fairly clear since I was in high school. Sure, I will get a random pimple here and there but with consistent skincare, which I not only preach but practice, those are even becoming more and more scarce.

Then recently, that changed. But what was strange was that the “flare up” on my chin was 1/ not going away and 2/ not really even pimples. It was more like a series of raised red bumps that didn’t itch but looked incredibly ugly.

So what do I do? I amped up my skincare. I went from Salicylic 1 to Salicylic 3. I started flaking – yay.  I began using the Sulfur Mask every evening. I washed morning and night and I increased my water consumption. All the things I know will work. But did it work? No. It did not.

My next step was my most consistent and reliable go-to for the last 30 years – I called Pamela. I sent her this picture with the caption “WHAT THE HELL????” I explained what was going on and begged for help. To say I was surprised is putting it mildly. She did not seem surprised by this development but could personally relate to it. Clearly, my situation was not unique.

Here is her response:

It’s either bacterial, fungal or inflammatory- at least those seem like the 3 most likely options.

I had something similar, it did not itch, but it was red with small raised bumps.

I tried antibiotic and anti fungal creams first and they didn’t touch it so then I put hydrocortisone cream on it and it got a little better. I did hydrocortisone every day for 7 days and then weaned myself off slowly. Like every other day for a week or so I think. Can’t remember it’s been awhile – like 4 years ago.

I continued to use my salicylic and bpo every night on it and it didn’t seem to matter. I don’t think it was bacterial because I put so much benzoyl on my face each night. 

My sister has a reoccurring rash that she uses a heavy duty steroid cream on when it flares up. I think hers is from allergies or something – can’t remember. But it flares up with stress and also there was a bacterial component too – so she took antibiotics for awhile to get ahead of it.

An answer. An answer that will not only help me get rid of this yuck but also will save me a trip to the dermatologist. It just happens that I have a young daughter with severe excema. We have to apply steroid cream to her legs nightly to avoid serious flare ups. So I grabbed her cream and have, for the last 5 days, been applying it to my chin after I wash my face at night and I go to bed with only that on my chin. The good, yet not surprising news? Pamela was right. The steroids are working. This lady knows her stuff.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well for a couple of reasons. The first because I was surprised this was something that was more common than I thought. So perhaps one or more of you is also going through this as we approach (gasp) menopause). Grab some prescription cream and see if it works before heading off to the dermatologist.  Secondly, I wanted to remind you that we are always here for you – specifically, Pamela is always available to answer any and all skin questions you may have. She is extremely knowledgable and also incredibility willing to share her opinions. 🙂 So throw it out there to her. If she doesn’t know, she will point you in the right direction.

Call/text/email today!

Email: clearskin@ninjaskincare.com

Call/Text: 925.933.8425