My name is Matt and I am 25 years old. I have always had pretty much flawless skin throughout my life (besides the normal minor facial outbreaks through puberty). Since I was 19 I had been getting my legs, arms and chest waxed monthly with no trauma on my skin whatsoever.

Before going overseas last July into a hot northern hemisphere summer I got them waxed like usual however the girl also waxed my upper arms and shoulders. A couple of days into being in Greece my upper arms and shoulders broke out horrendously in red spots and little yellow pustules. I was away for a further 2 months and after trying over the counter creams and what not there was no improvement by the time I returned home to Perth. It always seemed to get much worse whenever I exercised and sweated, but would go back to being just average red marks once I had cooled down.

Since then I have been to my doctor, a couple of dermatologists and tried numerous methods such as akamin tablets, Bactroban cream, salicylic acid, clindatech applied twice daily, anti fungal creams in case of it being a fungus overgrowth on the skin.

None of these methods have worked and the dermatologist I am seeing now (who thinks it is a form of acne caused by the waxing) has put me on Bactrim tablets twice per day and also a lotion containing salicylic acid among other ingredients which I wash off after 10 minutes once per day. I am about 2 and a half months through this. New yellow head and white head pustules have stopped forming since being on this and my skin has gotten back to being smooth and not bumpy.

However, the marks are still there and they still get predominantly worse and more visible whenever my body is cold or I am exercising and sweating. The derm has said that it would take around 4 months to be gone but other than the absence of fresh whiteheads I can't see it improving much.

I know it sounds silly but it has really knocked my confidence and it is in the back of my mind every single day. I am absolutely petrified that it won't go away and at times it just gets me really down. It's really made me appreciate nice skin and i hate that in some ways I took it for granted prior to this happening.

I was wondering if you guys had heard of or seen similar stories to this and can offer me any sort of hope that my skin will get back to being really clear and basically flawless like what it was prior to July last year?

Thankyou for taking the time to read and I would really appreciate any feedback