Q. Please recommend a treatment to get rid of severe acne.

Hello doctor,

For the last seven years, I have very hard round white balls type lesions on my skin. They spread and the area will not heal until the ball is extracted. It has ruined my face. I used to get regular acne whole of my life till about seven years ago. There used to be some cystic acne, but they were soft with pus. Initially, a white ball like cyst came out and after that, it has never been the same. Sometimes, a very thin hair will also come out of it. I have used every acne medication available, including Accutane. Currently, I am using Rituxan, Trazodone, Lexapro and Modafinil.

Thank you doctor,

I took Accutane for three months about six years back. The side effects were too harsh to continue and I had just been diagnosed with MS and put on other drugs to fight that. After Accutane, my skin got worse and continued to scar my skin. The balls were very hard and seemed to have no pore, somewhat like milia. I have tried everything including retinoids, laser, light therapy, dermabrasion and chemical peels. I have not been going out in public much as this is very emotionally difficult for me. I usually cover up these embedded cysts. Some of the things on my skin are like hardened or crystallized peach fuzz hair. They can come out long and hard just like slivers and they hurt like slivers. I just need someone to help me. I will try anything. I have attached a picture from last year when I was able to cover it up. In the last few months, it has become unmanageable and gets extremely inflamed or infected. That is about the time I started Rituxan for MS, but the problem was there long before. The hormones are fine too.