Blackhead removal in 7yo

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Hi all,
Oddly my 7yo DD has been getting blackheads for the last few months, mainly on nose and forehead. She has been picking/ scratching them out as she says they're itchy which obviously isn't ideal. Over the last week she has developed 5 or 6 around her lips and bit between nose and mouth. You can really notice them and she's self conscious about them. Trying to resist the urge to squeeze them out though it's really tempting! I don't want to damage her skin, she's so young. Can anyone recommend anything?

We wash her face every morning and night using a foaming face wash and we have also started applying a tea tree gel before bed. Nothing seems to help so far! Her skin is otherwise fine, no red spots just blackheads.

Don’t start putting adult cosmetics on a bloody seven year old. Go to the doctor. I doubt they are actually blackheads. Something is going on that needs medical attention. Seven year olds don’t get blackheads unless she has early onset puberty… which also needs a doctor visit.

Are you using a face cloth or just the face wash? You really need to use a face cloth if not and this will help slough off all the dead skin.

Thanks @MrsPelligrinoPetrichor she uses a flannel in the bath but has been splashing her face with warm water in the sink when washing face at night. We'll use the flannel then too.

Quite a rude reply @Regularsizedrudy, would you speak to someone in real life that way? They are most definitely blackheads. We are not putting 'adult cosmetics ' on her and nowhere have I said that we have done so. We use a kids face wash (scrubbington brand) and the tea tree gel says it is for all ages and skin types - it's an Asda one and I bought it from the in store pharmacy there who knew I was buying it for a 7yo.

She is 8 next month - this actually isn't a very unusual age for these things to start as far as I understand.

Couldn't get a doctor appointment last month when my 4yo was vomiting for 4 days. Would love to try getting one for blackheads! Maybe services are better in your area!

When one of my DDs was around this age she developed a blackhead inside her ear which hung around for ages. In the end I squeezed it using the end of a hair grip and it never re-occurred.

It sounds like you are doing the right things OP. One of mine developed a cluster of blackheads on the bridge of the nose at around the same age. We gradually squeezed them out after softening the skin (sitting in a hot steamy bath then holding a hot flannel on the blackheads before gentle squeezing. We applied tea tree after each squeezing. It took about 4 goes to completely clear the pores and they have not returned.

A girl in my class was having periods at 8, don’t remember her mentioning gp involvement and she developed normally at senior school.

Thanks. Hot flannel in bath a good idea actually, might open everything up a bit!

She doesn't have any other signs of puberty at all but is generally a bit of a greasy child (!) Needs a hair wash every couple of days whereas older sibling can go a week without a hair wash and you wouldn't be able to tell!

Get some Acnecide cream. It contains benzoyl peroxide which will kill the bacteria.
Apply VERY SPARINGLY at night and see how that goes.
You could then apply every couple of days depending on how well her skin tolerates it.
Read the information leaflet carefully.
Better still, google it.
Benzoyl peroxide is AMAZING for blackheads, spots and acne. Also works wonders on ingrown hairs.
Lush do great fresh face masks which are fantastic for cleaning out pores and staff are always very helpful.