How bad does your acne have to be?

I know a lot of posts get made about acne as its such a common annoying thing but i was wondering how bad your acne has to be to want & need to see a specialist?

I have been going to my GP for around 4 years now due to acne on my face, back, chest, sometimes i get them on my arms but my GPs keep telling me different things and my last one said it was my testosterone levels without even doing tests or looking at me and i feel i'm just being messed around, would also like to point out that i have been on three antibiotic courses in a row with not even a few days apart and currently using differin gel only. My acne has calmed down a lot as i have had to cut out ALL junk food, exercise, certain food, eat loads of fruit which are all triggers and even if i go gym just once during the week my acne flares up massively and soon as i eat a pizza for example my acne flares and i'm in a position where i'm being expected to live a certain way just to keep my acne under control, my question comes down to basically how bad does your acne need to be to see a specialist without being laughed at and told its not so bad?

Info

I have acne on my back and chest but not a lot anymore and don't have loads together on my face but around 20 small spots all over my face but some are these weird red marks with no head or anything. Should i see a specialist and should i go nhs or private? i just want my acne/scars gone but i feel like if i go in like this il be laughed at but to me its more than just a few spots like they see and i know as soon as i stop following this acne life avoiding gym and junk food my acne will break out.

Questions

I know this post is long so sorry but if someone could be kind enough to answer all of those or ones you know i would highly appreciate it!

Thanks

I should probably add i have took three antibiotics but two of some so i have actually been on 4.


^^Not one did anything but left me with eye sensitivity.

Creams i can remember trying
^^ these are the main from GP but have been on over the counter too.

And yeah i have spent probably £600 on stuff for acne so far and got no where lol, i just feel if i went to my GPs now they'd deny me a specialist as my acne isn't that bad right now.

Thanks for the replies guys i will also add that every time i see my GP he's never once mentioned referral or anything to suggest he's going to pass me on to a specialist and every time i have been back to see him he's put me on another antibiotic, he's the GP who put me on x2 antibiotics in a row after already seeing i had previously took lymecycline twice, my friend said he's not wasting time with GPs and NHS and gone private and just got accutane just from asking for it within 3 days...he went yesterday and they said sure do a blood test same day and then in 2 days we'll have accutane ready to pickup...but its cost him £2,000 which is a lot of money for treating acne which is why i want to go NHS but his acne isn't as bad as me and he's tried no other treatments first so i find it so annoying that if you NHS route you can get easily denied and it takes so long when private it takes not even a week...

Can someone explain how i could get to see a GP or get a referral during times like this and if i was to be told yes to a referral would it be delayed months due to corona still? also what do they check for in blood tests? i don't do drugs or drink.

Thanks.

Okay i'm going to probably ring my doctors tomorrow and ask but i have heard they may ask for a video call? my acne doesn't look that bad on a screen compared to in person which is why i'm worried i'll be told no, i don't mind waiting longer even though i have wasted months on antibiotics and stuff and currently its costing me around £35 a month for creams that are just holding my acne at its current state.

They may do, especially for something like this. It might be worth taking pictures as well. If they say no, then wait until you can see someone in person I'd say. You'll be waiting a while regardless, so waiting a little extra time if this doctor is useless isn't gonna really make a whole lot of difference.

Ask your pharmacist about a pre paid certificate. That should help.

Okay, i'm going to phone them in morning and hopefully ask to see/talk to my GP instead of the others there as no offence but they're so useless, half the stuff they've told me i already knew from google or they straight up don't know anything, i'll see how it goes in the morning, thanks!.

That's unfortunate - I imagine it's hard for GPs to know about everything though lol. I hope you are able to. At my GP surgery you can request to speak to specific people (I only see one person there tbh bc the others get stressed at me).

Good luck with dermatology - I'm under dermatology for a different reason but they are super knowledgeable about everything skin related and incredibly kind/understanding, so hopefully it'll go well for you. If I can help at all just drop a PM.

The others i have seen there have told me all sorts like the last one told me it was my testosterone levels without even doing a test or even looking at me and said to just wait it out and wouldn't give me anything and then another GP checked and my levels were fine etc so its a little bit of them not really knowing but mostly just running on a tight schedule and quickly wanting you gone, at least thats what if feels like at my doctors and its rated on google 2.5 stars out of 5 lmao so yeah, and thank you! hopefully i get allowed to see one at some point, got any advice on how to idk the word i guess 'force' my GP to refer me etc? i have tried the polite way of asking but he always ignores my question and answers with something else, do i just tell him i have had enough and nothing is working and i kindly request to see a specialist?

Might be worth changing surgery if the current one isn't good enough.

I'm unsure. Usually it's just a case of putting your point across (like you did in your OP). I've not really had to force them to give me referrals, usually my GP or whoever just refers me anyway? But then I'm not exactly an easy patient to deal with due to a genetic condition I have, so usually my GP/other specialist refers to those who are more knowledgeable to manage whatever is going on at that time. Dermatology was a joint referral with immunology/allergy for me, that's the only reason I occasionally see dermatologists! All you can do is advocate for yourself, explain what you've tried previously, what you're currently doing and what is/isn't helping, that you don't think another round of xyz antibiotic will help etc., and then ask can you be referred.

Will do thank you! we'll see tomorrow morning lol.