Acne in teenagers

[Katie172]

Hi

Has anyone out there got any advice/recommendations for a 15year old boy with acne on his face and back please? It started about 18months ago and he is clearly losing confidence. Our GP prescribed drugs for it three months ago but it hasn't worked .A review with the GP is due at the end of March but I wondered in the meantime if anyone out there has been in the same position and found something that works could you let me know? many thanks Katie xx

I'm sure somebody with knowledge/experience will be along, but my sister had bad facial acne and putting a clean towel over her pillow every night made a big difference. People don't realise how oily pillowcases get.

I would push for a dermatologist referral, especially if scarring is occurring.
Was he given antibiotics?
IME gps often don't take acne and its psychological effects seriously enough.
Are the spots big?
Acne is graded I think so if it is more serious he may need a course of roaccutane. It's an amazing drug for clearing up acne, but involves blood tests to check liver function, and is expensive so reserved for more serious cases that don't respond to other treatments. It can only be prescribed by a consultant hence need for referral.
I suffered for years with acne, had 2 courses of roaccutane. No side effects. Cleared it up completely

Quinoderm is the best over the counter cream IME but only sold online now I think on amazon as I think they're stopping making it for some reason. Might help as a stop gap.
Neutrogena visibly clear exfoliating facewash twice a day is excellent too and doesn't exacerbate symptoms. Plus an oil free moisturiser.
Sunshine always helped my skin too

My children have both suffered terribly with acne , my son had roaccutane at 16 ,one course ,fantastic results ,no side effects and no recurrence ( he's 20 now) . My 13 yr old daughter is on roaccutane now , also has no noticeable side effects ,and we are already seeing a massive improvement . Get a dermatology referral from your GP .

Quinoderm - Yes

it has benzoic (?) acid in it - any product with that ingredient

good luck, it's tough enough being a teenager without that

Oh please please be his advocate and get him a dermatologist referral. Acne is such a cruel condition and so treatable.

Don't mess around wirh OTC stuff like benzoyl peroxide - only suitable for really mild zits.

There are a number of things a GP can prescribe. I think a GP has to prescribe for a year before they can then refer to a dermatologist, but a faster referral might be possible. DD2 had a successful course of roaccutane. Unfortunately, her acne seems to be making a bit of a comeback although so far is not as bad. We have a GP appointment next week. We will probably ask for some oral antibiotics from the GP while waiting for a referral. We did go privately last time but will probably wait for NHS referral this time as she is likely to prefer a course of stronger ABs from dermatologist or possibly a course of contraceptive pill (not obviously an option for your DS) only because she has GCSEs coming up and she knows how she felt on roaccutane last time. Also, it's best taken in winter as it makes the skin very susceptible to sun burn and DD is very pale skinned.

Thank you everyone for all your help. GP wont refer to a dermatologist so I am going to take him to another GP in the practice next week to see if they will agree. He has had antibiotics but when I asked about roaccutane we were told that it was not appropriate in his case and there were possible bad side affects. He has GCSEs coming up too...it is a lot to deal with isn't it.I was hoping that there would be an improvement by now but if anything it seems worse and is now really affecting his confidence very badly so I will push a lot harder. Thank you again- I am very grateful xx

Our GP said that you have to have tried 3 different topical / oral treatments before you can have a dermatology referral ,which we had . I don't know if that's a national or local agreement . Also roaccutane can have nasty side effects but they are quite rare ( the worst ones) .

I find freederm helps a lot.