Any skin specialist here please? What is this on my child face?

[Novemberrainn]

My teen 14yr daughter had bad acne about 2 years ago, she got antibiotics long term and creams from GP, it was typical black and red heads and it all went all away after about 4 -5 months, her face was lovely.
Fast forward this September when some spots started creeping back, but looked manageable.
Now she has this and I’m not convinced it’s actually an acne.
She has seen a GPs nurse last week , who said it’s Acne and gave her a similar antibiotic for few months and adapalene gel.
It’s just got worse.
she refuses to go school now.
It’s raw red, she said it burns upon touch.
I contacted Dr surgery again, I sent photos - today and I was offered 6 weeks away appointment only.
I can not afford to go private etc.
I don’t know if this is just a flare up of acne?

I am myself a atopic, suffer from an atopic eczema my whole life, so I actually thought it’s eczema, we tried some steroids creams I have for myself like Trimovate and also later Elocon. None did any good , making me think it can’t be eczema.
anyone can advice kindly please?
it’s only on her face, nowhere else.. she was allergies tested before earlier this year and no allergies.
Tries to eat healthy, drinks lots of clear water daily.

There's no picture yet

Says in review.

Maybe fungal acne
use head and shoulder shampoo on it or ask them to swab it

I mentioned that and I was told it’s not, I even mentioned mrsa.

To rule out mrsa they need to swab nose etc. its common to develop mrsa after long use of antibiotics which u mentioned she used it previously. I think demand for nasal swab. Don’t let them fob u off. It’s nothing invasive it’s just a swab

But I would recommend to try head and shoulder shampoo to use as a wash once a day. Read more about it I am not medic. Lot of people found it helpful if the acne was fungal origin and being fobbed off by docs
also I would recommend to go private especially if it’s stopping her go school

Looks like acne to me, my brother had acne just like that. He ended up on meds which had lots of side effects, couldn’t drink alcohol etc whereas mine wasn’t quite as bad and the pill sorted it out

Definitely agree try anti fungal treatments - you can get quite a few anti fungal creams and shampoos over the counter. Should see quite quickly if it makes a difference

Try to get a product which is just anti fungal and not also anti inflammatory, otherwise you won’t know if it’s the anti fungal working or just the inflammation going down.

Milia? I have eczema and have areas like this at times.

To add that the Milia spots appear often after I have used topical steroid cream.

I would stop using the steroids and try something like Cerave in that area, they do a cleanser with a slight exfoliant. I will try to find the one I mean.

https://www.cerave.co.uk/skincare/rough-and-bumpy

Mine are not red and they don't burn, though. Just crazy-itchy.

I hope you find out what it is. x

she doesn’t use steroid creams now, this was before we went to see the nurse.
Only has the Adapalene and taking doxycycline since Thursday.
So do you think Clotrimazole creamto try?
I shall I buy Nizoral shampoo to try ?
It’s mainly the lower cheeks what are raw red bumpy angry looking.

And also the previous antibiotics she had, she finished them last years summer, it should not cause any fungal infection as too long time ago.

This is acne

So she had acne, was prescribed antibiotics and it improved? Then stopped the antibiotics and it had returned? Is that right?

Can you get a dermatology referral? Or go to a dermatology clinic

Instead of shampoo I'd highly, highly recommend this https://amzn.eu/d/2AewCHt
Much more gentler than shampoo and aimed at acne - it has Piroctone olamine in it which fights acne. Use it after washing but before any moisturiser.

Yes, she had it for the first time in the spring of 2024, got antibiotics for apprx 5 month and it all cleared.
They removed it from her repeated prescription and said it’s ok to stop.
Also she had stomach issues from taking them, was sick on them, they were large capsules and she couldn’t swallow them, so kept opening them, this badly irritated her stomach, she couldn’t even eat the very last month on them, lost weight, was taking lots of probiotics but didn’t help much.
This new rash started apprx in September 2025, started like a couple of spots, which she just thought it’s hormonal, periods etc.
It got worse during October. She went away for 10 days to her grandparents for half term and came back with terrible red bumpy rash all over.

They said last week she would be referred but said referrals will take apprx a year or more.. They said it will clear by then but to keep the appointment just for advice for next time when it comes again or mentioned Acutane?