Teen daughter acne

[M48294Y]

Hello, have name changed for this to protect dd's privacy.

She is 15 and has quite bad acne. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say she is about a 7. Her skin is bumpy and she has loads of whiteheads and blackheads, and a few big red spots. It gets worse when she is premenstrual but atm doesn't really clear up between periods either.

She washes her face twice a day with a witch hazel foaming wash, then uses a deep pore cleansing toner on cotton wool, and uses a scrub wash every couple of days. She uses a facepack once pw. We have tried steaming her face and a blackhead remover to extract the blackheads, but some of them are very deep!

What else could she do? I am loathe to take her to the GP for a prescription because a) she has to take quite a lot of medication for another chronic health condition and b) a teen I know fairly well has developed jaundice from her acne medication!

We are comfortably off and I would be happy to pay for deep cleansing facials for her, whilst at the same time not wanting to give the message that her skin is a problem that needs to be solved and that beauty is anything more than skin deep.

Sorry that was absolutely epic! Thanks for reading and wwyd?

[ChocolateRaisin]

I definitely wouldn't rule out the gp, their first port of call should be something topical that she can apply to her face before anything too extreme. I was on antibiotics for many years as a teen which did help a bit but never cleared my skin.

What is her diet like? I have struggled with my skin since I was 13 and I have found a strong link between what I eat and my flare ups. Milk chocolate, processed food and greasy food are terrible for me, if I eat either I break out. Before I realised and cleaned my diet up I had numerous black heads on my cheeks and nose and awful deep cystular spots on my chin which were incredibly painful and plentiful.
A 90% clean diet has helped me so much.

I also have had laser therapy which helped a lot. I had 3 lots of n-lite treatment at a Harley st clinic which was good and definitely helped.

I think the products she is using may not be helping much, I used similar as a teen and they didn't do anything. I use Jan marini products now and although expensive they do work. I use a 4 step system which costs about £170 to start up and then I just replace each product as and when I need to. I started off using them twice a day religiously and then once my skin showed improvement I cut it down a bit to once a day and then 3-4 times a week and I just use simple face wipes the rest of the time. The key ingredient is glycolic acid.

I have also found that the shampoo I use can negatively impact on my skin. When I was using Pantene recently I noticed that my skin was really awful even though my diet was good and was using Jan marini regularly. I changed my shampoo to something else and within 2 weeks my skin had cleared up.

As a final thought, does she wear make up to cover up? If yes, I've found that mineral make up is the best for my skin, I use bare minerals. I find when I wear it regularly it actually improves my skin. Other brands of normal make up just clogged my skin and caused more break outs.

Sorry for the essay- I hope some of it is helpful. I have found so many things affect my skin, unfortunately I didn't grow out of my acne from a teen so I've spent a lot of time trying to remedy it.

[MamaLazarou]

Witch hazel foaming wash sounds way too harsh for acne-prone skin. I would suggest using a non-foaming gel like La Roche Posay or Una Brennan. The SLS in a foaming wash will strip her skin of its natural oils, which in turn may exacerbate oil production.

I would also hesitate to use a scrub, depending on the size and material of the grains/beads - this could also contain harsh SLS.

Anything containing alcohol will be very harsh and drying, too: I would suggest using a salicylic acid-based toner once a day after cleansing.

Don't forget to moisturise!

I wish her luck: I suffered greatly with acne until my mid-twenties and remember how upsetting it can be. Quitting dairy had a big effect on me, but I am not sure why.

You sound like a kind, caring mum

[midnightmoomoo]

My DS1 is at the start of teenage skin troubles and his does improve if he cuts way down on milk.

[cathyandclaire]

I would go to the GP or try the nutritional route, there is more evidence that either low sugar or dairy free can help. I had acne for years before having Roaccutane at 40, it changed my life I so wish I'd taken it as a teenager. DD2 took it at 13, DD1 has had good results on the Yasmin pill. She doesn't have to put up with spots.
Good luck!

[Emochild]

Take her to the GP

Dd got some cream that you put on at night and wash off in the morning -worked wonders

[MamaLazarou]

Oh yes, the contraceptive pill Cilest had a great effect on my skin. Definitely try the GP.

[whattodoforthebest2]

DD took Roaccutane for 3 months last year when she was 15. It sorted out her spots once and for all. Acne is an awful thing to have to put up with. I used all sorts of harsh "acne treatments" in my teens and didn't use Roaccutane until in my 40's. I should have tried it years before that.

Take her back to your GP.

[Donge13]

Dd1 ended up getting the pill of the go. It cleared her skin in 6 weeks

[MrsT2007]

Look at moogoo skincare. They do an oily skin oil cleanser. Couple that with their acne cream which is very moisturising and caring on the skin. It's fabulous stuff.

I spent years treating spots harshly before I realised it just overstimulated my skin to produce more oil.

Gentle is the way to go.

Make up buy good quality and endure thoroughly cleansed every night, and change pillowcase 3 times a week, especially if she uses hair products.

[VulcanWoman]

One word Roaccutane, end of.

[midnightmoomoo]

Make sure any make up brushes are washed regularly too

[23jumpstreet]

Duac cream from gp, worked wonders for my ds.

[IvyLeaf]

Please take her to the GP, it's absolutely horrendous having such bad acne at that age. Honestly, roaccutane saved my life.

[Elisheva]

Roaccutane is miraculous but can have some devastating side effects - be very careful before she takes that.
Have you tried talking to any of the counter staff in Boots or John Lewis? They can give samples of their products to try so you don't have to keep buying stuff. There are loads of different things a GP can prescribe so must be worth giving it a go, or they can refer on to a dermatologist.

[theclick]

I use a serum called silver serum which I can only get online. Apparently silver is antibacterial. I have mild hormonal breakouts and it does really help.

[Rainbowlou1]

I'm a b airy therapist with a dd suffering with serious acne...I have helped her by using products/microdermabrasion etc but these tablets have been a godsend!! She takes them religiously and the difference is amazing!!xx

[Rainbowlou1]

B airy....beauty!!!

[Emochild]

Duac is what dd uses -thanks for the reminder 23

[Eminado]

GP

Please just take her.

I suffered terribly with acne and it really battered my confidence. My skin only cleared up in my late 20s.

Just take her please and get it sorted.

[RabbitRabbit1]

I know first hand how acne can cripple your self confidence, especially if you're a teenage girl. I think it's really important you see a GP who may or may not refer her to a dermatologist.
I saw countless people over the course of 15 years and tried everything bar roaccutane (which granted has miraculous results but not without side effects). in the end I found a really gentle cleanser (avene good, or just simple) worked in combination with duac and isotrexin gel.
My skin not perfect but much much improved - the thing I wish people told me as a teenager was not to strip your skin which just exacerbates sebum production...
Best of luck to you both getting it sorted.

[RabbitRabbit1]

When I say strip it, I mean using alcohol based harsh cleaners like clearasil/clean and clear (
does that even exist still or am I showing my age!)

One other thing I found this to be amazing on localised breakouts - in fact the whole range great.

http://m.boots.com/h5/cathub?unCountry=uk&path=/en/La-Roche-Posay-Effaclar-A-I-Targeted-Breakout-Corrector-15mll_865644/

[Lurleene]

I second the tablets Rainbowlou1 mentioned - the difference they have made to my DD is nothing short of miraculous.

[Ferrerotoffeemint]

Roaccutane works miracles and clears acne forever saving years of trauma and upset.

[Ferrerotoffeemint]

I took roaccutane 30 years when it first came out. My mum took me to a dermatologist after getting fed up with the GP giving me the pill and antibiotics etc and taking me to the beauticians for facials all a complete waste of time.

My confidence had already taken a huge tumble by then, roaccutane worked miracles and I wish I'd been offered it sooner but it was new and no one new anything about it back then. To be able to get it easily these days from a GP is just brilliant.

[Ferrerotoffeemint]

*knew