Adult acne, teen acne and hormonal acne · Milton Keynes and online
Acne treatment that starts with why your skin is breaking out: oil, blocked pores, bacteria, inflammation, and for many women, hormones. Your skin assessed in clinic in Milton Keynes, then a plan we decide together, with follow-up online.
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In clinic in Milton Keynes, with follow-up online. Hormonal acne in women · Treatments
You plan your day around your face. Make-up first, mirror avoided, photos declined.
You've tried the washes, the toners, the thing a friend swore by. It calms for a week, then comes back along the jaw, right on time. Somebody told you you'd grow out of it. You're well past your teens.
Acne isn't a hygiene problem and it isn't your fault. It's a skin condition with known causes, and it usually responds when the treatment matches the cause and is given long enough to work.
Nod at a few of these and this consultation is for you.
Blackheads, whiteheads, red spots, every week, whatever you use.
Deep, sore spots along the jaw, often worse before a period.
Clear as a teenager, breaking out now. Or it never really stopped.
Your skin changed when you stopped or switched contraception.
The spots settle and leave dark marks or dents behind.
Your skin affects how you feel, what you wear and whether you go out.
4 things happen together in the skin. Glands make more oil. Dead skin cells block the pore. Bacteria that live on everyone's skin multiply in the blocked pore. Inflammation turns it red, sore and deep.
On top of that sit the things that push it along:
Follows the NICE acne guideline (NG198), then built around you.
Your skin assessed in clinic in Milton Keynes: the type of acne, how severe, any scarring, your history, your cycle, your medicines and what you've tried.
A home routine and, if a treatment is right for you, we decide on it together. Women with signs of hormonal acne can start treatment before any blood results.
Blood tests where hormones or PCOS might be part of it, read with your symptoms.
Online follow-up. A treatment course is judged at 12 weeks: what's working, what isn't, and what changes next.
12 weeks is how long a course needs before it can be judged. The first weeks can look like nothing is happening; stay with it, and we'll adjust if it isn't working.
From the routine you do at home to tablets and in-clinic treatment. Which ones suit you, we decide together.
A gentle, non-comedogenic routine, plus actives you can buy: benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid and niacinamide. Azelaic acid is in some skincare at low strength; higher strengths need a prescription. We tell you which, how often and in what order, so they help rather than irritate.
Topical retinoids, which unblock pores and calm inflammation, and combination gels that pair a retinoid with benzoyl peroxide or an antibiotic, or benzoyl peroxide with an antibiotic. These are the first-line treatments in the NICE guideline.
For moderate to severe acne, an antibiotic tablet alongside a cream, never on its own, for a set course and then stopped while the cream carries on.
It can only be started by a consultant dermatologist's team in the UK, under MHRA safety rules. If you need it, we write to your GP the same day and tell you exactly what to ask for, and we keep working on your skin meanwhile.
In clinic in Milton Keynes. Peels and a deep cleansing facial for congested skin and blackheads, alongside your treatment.
Once active acne is settled, microneedling and peels in clinic in Milton Keynes can improve the texture of scars and the dark marks spots leave behind.
Deep spots on the jaw and chin, flares before your period, acne that arrived in your 30s or 40s, or came with irregular periods or extra hair. That's worth testing.
Acne with irregular periods, extra hair or weight that's hard to shift can point to polycystic ovary syndrome. It needs checking with bloods and your history together, and treatment can work on the skin and on the hormones behind it.
As oestrogen falls, the balance tips towards androgens and acne can return in your 40s. If skin is one of several changes, the Menopause Consultation looks at all of them.
Some pills hold acne down. When you stop, it can come back within months. We plan for it rather than wait.
A combined pill (synthetic oestrogen and progestogen) alongside a cream is in the NICE guideline. An anti-androgen tablet, used off-label, is another option backed by evidence, decided together after the consultation, with the checks it needs.
If your skin goes with other symptoms, like your cycle, energy, weight or mood, the Women's Health Consultation looks at all of it together, online, anywhere in the UK.
For women where hormonal acne or PCOS is suspected. If you already have recent results, bring them. If not, these are the ones that help.
Your cycle hormones, testosterone, prolactin and full thyroid. About this test
Testosterone and how much of it your body can actually use. About this test
HbA1c and fasting glucose. Insulin resistance often travels with PCOS. About this test
Hormones, thyroid, blood sugar, cholesterol, liver, kidneys, iron and vitamins in one sample. About this test
Start here · 30 minutes · in clinic
Your acne assessed and a plan we decide together.
First visit with treatment · 80 minutes · in clinic
A full skin check, then a treatment chosen for your skin on the day.
Medicines and tests are extra; if you need them, the costs are explained before anything goes ahead.
More skin and hair services are on the Skin and Hair page.
If we agree on a treatment, your medicine can be posted to your home through Healistic, our home delivery partner. Skincare and supplements we recommend can come the same way.
Debora Tentis, Women's Health Pharmacist Prescriber. Seeing skin in clinic in Milton Keynes, with follow-up online across the UK.
I spent over a decade in community pharmacy listening to people describe their skin, their cycles, their stress and their sleep, and watching each of those get sent somewhere different. Debora Tentis Clinic exists to join it up. Registration and qualifications
Your skin is assessed in clinic in Milton Keynes. After that, prescription treatment can be managed online, anywhere in the UK.
The Skin & Skincare Consultation if you want your acne assessed and a plan. The New Client Skin Check & First Treatment if you also want an in-clinic treatment on the same visit.
No. You book online yourself.
Come without it if you can, so your skin can be seen as it is. Bring photos if your skin looks different on other days.
Adult acne is common, especially in women. Hormones, stress, some medicines, cosmetics and coming off the pill can all play a part, and the consultation looks at which apply to you.
Deep spots on the jaw and chin, flares before a period, irregular periods or extra hair point that way. Blood tests and your history together give the answer.
Food isn't the main cause. Small trials suggest fewer high glycaemic load foods may help, and dairy, especially skimmed milk, is linked with acne, but NICE says the evidence isn't strong enough to recommend a specific diet.
Only if hormones or PCOS might be part of it. Book the consultation first, and we'll decide which tests you need.
Give it 12 weeks. That's when a course is judged, and if it isn't working, we change it.
An antibiotic tablet can be part of treatment for moderate to severe acne, always alongside a cream, for a set course. It isn't used on its own, so bacteria are less likely to become resistant.
In the UK it can only be started by a consultant dermatologist's team. If you need it, we write to your GP the same day and tell you exactly what to ask for, and we keep treating your skin meanwhile.
Yes, once active acne has settled. Microneedling and peels in clinic in Milton Keynes can improve scar texture and dark marks.
A combined pill, alongside a cream, is one of the options in the NICE guideline for women. Whether it suits you depends on your health and what you want from contraception, and we decide together.
If we agree on a treatment, it can be posted to your home through Healistic, our home delivery partner.
Sudden, painful, bleeding or crusting lumps with a fever, aching joints or feeling unwell need help the same day: go to A&E or call 111, and ask for the hospital's on-call dermatology team. New acne with fast-growing facial or body hair, or a deepening voice, in a woman needs checking urgently: ask your GP for an urgent appointment and say these symptoms by name. If you're under the clinic's care, the clinic writes to your GP the same day.
Tell us at your appointment, because how you feel is part of the treatment plan. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, call 111, or 999 if you are in danger. Samaritans are there any time on 116 123.
Bring your questions, a list of what you've tried, and any results you already have. We'll go through all of it.
Book a Skin & Skincare ConsultationBook a Skin Check
In clinic in Milton Keynes, with follow-up online.
Debora Tentis, Women's Health Pharmacist Prescriber, Debora Tentis Clinic. Registration and qualifications are on the About page.
Individual results vary and no outcome is guaranteed.
