You can't do anything to help prevent spots, can you?

[ImASecretTwigletNibbler]

DD is getting really obsessed about spots and worrying that she's going to get them. I said to her that all you can do is eat healthily, drink lots of water and keep your face clean and the rest of it is just down to luck. But is that correct?! That's what I've always thought but it suddenly ocurred to me that I really know nothing about it!

Does washing make any difference? Obviously they shouldn't use soap but should they use a mild cleanser or is plain water better?

I should add that she doesn't really have any spots at the moment so it's more of a preventative issue rather than how to deal with them once you've got them.

I've given my dd a gentle exfoliating cloth to replace old flannel

Otherwise yes to water etc

Unfortunately a lot of the reasons teens get pimples are due to hormones, but there are some things she can do to prevent them.

-Keep sugary food out of her diet as much as possible
-I'm sure you do this anyway, but make sure she gets plenty of vitamins through fruit and veg and make sure she drinks lots of water
-Keep the skin clean, it definitely does make a difference. Since her skin is oily then soap isn't such a problem as it is with dry skin, but you should get gentle face soaps for her to use before/after bed.
-Here is a tip... Change her pillow case more often than the rest of her bedding, sleeping with your face rubbing against a grubby pillow (which it will become quickly if she has oily skin) can give you spots.
-If she wears make up (I don't know her age, so maybe this is just something to bare in mind for later!) then she should make sure that it's ALL cleansed off at the end of the day and that she takes breaks to let her skin breathe, and she should also make sure she keeps brushes etc. clean.

It doesn't actually sound like she has acne so far so I don't know how necessary taking extra measures would be, but maybe making some extra changes like this would help her to stop worrying!

Sulphur soap is fab - look on amazon. Wash twice a day. Not touching skin. Balanced diet with no crap.

Zinc

When she is a little older if it's an actual problem there are a couple of brands of the pill that are very effective in managing the hormonal effects that can cause break outs.

But I think it's generally genetic whether or not you will get spots, I'm afraid

Never heard of sulphur soap before, will check it out - thanks!

Once gently daily washing; remove the bacteria & sweat they feed on, but not much else I don't think that isn't prescription.

Swimming in chlorinated water helps. You don't see many spotty teen keen swimmers. Daily anti-bacterial baths help.

My dd is a spotty teen swimmer

Nothing helps. It's genetic. If it was as easy as water and a good diet then noone would have spots

Today dd has eaten: porridge made with Apple juice (she hates milk), wholemeal toast with peanut butter, wholemeal noodles with stir fry veg (peppers, broccoli, spinach, garlic, cashew nuts), piece of homemade carrot cake, bowl of homemade veg soup

She has gone out for the Eve so no idea what she's eaten

But she has bad spots

Diet is NOT a factor

Craggy, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that a good diet would stop you getting spots - just that a bad diet might GIVE you spots. Though I do admit to playing up the diet thing with DD in the hopes that it might encourage her to eat better :)

I know sorry

I am a bit over sensitive

Dd told me that at a sleepover a mum asked her if she should be eating the sugary cereal as sugar is bad for skin
I am sure low sugar and lots of water is a good thing generally though

kids are so much less spotty than the kids I grew up with in California. I know very spotty kids get antibiotics nowadays, too, which distorts comparisons. But English friends insist that teens are spottier now than in their (1970s) youth.

I can only make sense of this by blaming temperature. Warmer temps = more sweat = more food for the bacteria. Higher indoor temps nowadays (more Central heating) compared to the 1970s. It all fits.

DS barely left his (overheated) room over the Xmas break and became a lot more spotty; back to school, cooler rooms, more time in cool outdoors, his skin is looking much better in the space of just a week.

Teen track cyclists are a lot spottier than teen swimmers on the telly, whisking that sweat away in an anti-bactieral bath is better than the sweaty track conditions.

I've taught secondary for 12 years and often wonder what happened to all the spotty kids! I had terrible skin, so did a lot of my friends. I've probably taught 5 kids with acne ever.

OR, I noticed it and cared about it more when I was a teenager, OR the amount of makeup kids wear now disguises it!

So it's bacteria that causes spots then? I thought it was a hormonal thing.

It is hormonal

Kids with acne and spots are not dirty sweaty creatures who spend all their time indoors

And the idea that a swimming pool is like swimming in dettol and cures spots is a bit silly imo

If bacteria weren't involved then antibiotics wouldn't get prescribed and benzoyl peroxide wouldn't be sold (also anti-bacterial), sigh.

If hormonal changes weren't involved in skin changes then retinoids wouldn't be prescribed and it wouldn't be so especially bad in adolescence.

"Dried sweat becomes a food source for the bacteria that cause acne (Propionibacterium acnes)"

I'm never saying any of this is cure, it's all reduction measures. I had dried ice treatments in my teens (for acne) to try to dry my skin out (that was the fashion and sort of makes sense, too).

Yes of course bacteria is involved but as I understand it, the bacteria is normal ie there is no more bacteria on the skin of an acne sufferer than of an non acne sufferer, the oil production triggered by hormones stops the bacteria escaping from pores hence spots

I suppose I'm confusing "prevent" with "minimise" or "reduce". Can't prevent all acne, but can prevent some, which otherwise means ways to minimise it.

I imagine all the anti-bacterials aren't good for the skin in that they also destroy "good" bacteria on the skin. So if there's a way to encourage those good microbes at expense of the bacteria that causes pimples, that could be another winning strategy for preventing some spots (I have no idea høw to encourage good bacteria beyond usual pro-biotic advice, quick google didn't help, does anyone know?).

visit the caroline hirons website. she is a skincare guru and there is tons of information on there.

There is some discussion about probiotics being good for acne

Am giving to dd to minimise damage caused by antibs

Ds is nearly 12 and getting spots on his cheeks. I put a smear of sudocrem on them at night. Is this a good idea?

I'm nearing 50 and can confidently say,having tried every remedy over the past nearly four decades, no there's nothing that helps .

I think if you have a child motivated to keep her skin clear you have something to be pleased about - you have ammunition to encourage a healthy life style , exercise ( GP told my DS this would help regulate hormones) , drinking water not sugary drinks etc.

What I wonder is though, perhaps prevention is easier than cure? My DS 16 had ok skin until last summer, when it erupted and he now has bad acne. I discovered he has been using drugs ( like ecstasy) and going to hot sweaty raves over the summer when his skin got bad. Now it seems very hard to get rid of even with prescription lotion. He also smokes weed - use this is deter your DC!
This is just my observation - but it would be IMO worth telling your DC that drugs and alcohol put a strain on your liver ( true ) and can cause complexion problems.

Your son's drug use probably doesn't help his skin but it is not the sole cause

Not everyone who develops acne is unhealthy and on drugs

I would tell your dd that there is nothing she can do, spots are mainly hereditary, but taking care of your skin is important whatever