What I want to say is: absolutely. absolutely. absolutely. Do not pop your acne. Of course don't squeeze it at home with your hands, and don't do extractions with cotton swabs or at a dermatology clinic either.
You might think, “As long as no scars are left, isn't it fine?” No. Extraction only removes sebum and inflammation from acne; it cannot be a long-term way to get rid of acne.
Are you going to squeeze them every time you break out? If you want to wreck your skin, go ahead and do that.
If you've already squeezed them, then please stop from now on. I'm begging you.
In the case of pustular acne, because it is inflammation, antibiotics can reduce the size of that inflammation. If it is non-inflamed whitehead acne, antibiotics do not help.
On the contrary, for whiteheads, a sebum-suppressing drug like isotretinoin is more effective in the short term. I think this much is so obvious that everyone already knows it.
Then I want to explain how I changed from a face full of pustules and whiteheads to skin that no longer breaks out at all in just 6 months.
I was also extremely sensitive to isotretinoin, antibiotics, and fucidin ointment. I even deliberately asked for a strong antibiotic prescription when I didn't actually have a cold.
Method 1. **Absolutely do not wash your face often or take long showers.**
Our skin has something called the skin barrier. It helps prevent moisture from evaporating. There is something our friends keep misunderstanding: some people think that if you wash your face often, the grease disappears and your skin becomes dry-like, so acne stops. That is a very stupid idea. The exact opposite is true.
The more often you wash your face, or the more aggressively you scrub it, the more moisture is lost. To prevent that moisture loss, our skin produces more grease (sebum). Also, when the skin barrier weakens, dead skin becomes visible in winter, moisture cannot be retained in the skin, more grease is produced, and in the end it can even lead to seborrheic dermatitis, with a red face.
Method 1 is the most important. Remember that. More follows.
Method 2. Take isotretinoin.
It is a very famous medicine, but it also has side effects. You have to adjust the dose yourself. I took one pill every 3 to 5 days, and in winter I took one pill every 7 days. If I took one pill a day, I got flaky skin, nosebleeds, and more whiteheads.
Taking one pill a day is absolutely not recommended. I also had pretty severe pustular acne and was an oily type, but one pill every 3 to 5 days was enough.
And the important thing is that while taking isotretinoin, you should wash your face with water only. When I compared using a foam cleanser while taking isotretinoin versus washing with water only, my skin was noticeably different beyond imagination. (That mildly acidic foam cleanser marketing stuff is crap. It means nothing. Except for medicine and lifestyle habits, don't believe anything.)