any relationship b/t acne and facial hair?

I was wondering if there was any direct relationship b/t your facial hair coming in and acne? The only place I get acne is where my beard would be. Is this common? I heard that the natural supplement "vitex" can help males with acne...is there any truth to this? Also...I had mono a few years back and I still have an lymphnode that is imflamed. It is right under my chin and the doctor said I could remove it. My question is if I removed the lymphnode would it cause my acne to become worse? Are there any other negative effects that could happen if I removed the lymphnode? Thanks, Johnny

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Johnny:

There's no relation, unless it isn't really acne, but ingrown hairs from shaving.  You ought to have a doctor check this out.  If possible, don't shave for a period of time.  If the acne doesn't go away, then the condition is actual acne, and needs to be treated accordingly.  I am not familiar with Vitex.

In general, lymph nodes shouldn't be removed unless they're suspicious.  In young people, removals don't look so great, even if plastic surgeons do them.  This has nothing to do with acne.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[James A.]

This has nothing to do with Johnny's question, but my computer has never allowed me to post my own question as long as I've been on this forum...so I'd greatly appreciate any feedback  the Doc could provide.  Here goes....

About 6 months ago the head of my penis began getting a bit blotchy (light spots), and I thought it was due to masturbation or something....anyway, never having seen this before, it kinda freaked me out (granted, i'm a fairly obsessive type).  I didn't want to see a doctor about it (pretty much out of embarassment), but then when the very tip of my penis got what appeared to get a bit darker and wouldn't go return to its normal colour, i finally decided to go to a dermatologist...

When I asked about the blotches (which aren't always present), he basically said it was nothing to worry about, and when i pointed out the dark patch, he said he wasn't sure but didn't seem at all concerned...he told me to look up those "pearly papules" on the net, which I'd already read about....anywho, its been a few more months, and i just noticed another dark fleck also on the glans (glands) area....so i figured i'd give posting here one more try...basically, i'm just wondering what these marks are and what is causing them...since i have no idea how a bruised penis looks, i don't know what to think about this....any help would be great!  thank you..

[Bev]

Actually Johnny, as someone who has suffered from acne for over 20 years, I do believe there is a strong link between acne and facial hair in that, as a female, 90% of my acne blemishes appear in the area where a man would normally grow a beard. So I believe the link to be a hormonal one.  Woman suffering from acne and/or excess and embarrassing facial hair are often prescribed a birth control pill called Dianette which is designed (and usually works very well) to clear up acne and/or embarrassing facial hair.  I have seen women with beards which is due to a hormonal imbalance (as with acne) and I have often thought that it is better to have acne than a beard !!!