i knew puberty was coming, but didn't see this one coming......

[jetcat32]

My 12 yr old DD1 awoke this morning to find a gigantic spot on her neck - you know - the one that looks desparate to be squeezed.

She was mightily distressed at that idea (sensory issues) and so left it, even though she said it was uncomfortable (a lot of pressure building there IYSWIM).

She went swimming with my friend, and apparantly saw a classmate from school, who said "wow, thats some spot. Can i pop it?" That has really upset her, and now she is terrified of going to school tomorrow. She gets herself so worked up at the idea of any kind of (perceived?) pain - ie. what i think isnt going to hurt, hurts her tremendously. I dont think she thinks this boy is actually going to do it, but the mere mention of anyone touching her gets her distressed.

She has been washing said spot all day, well, gently dabbing the cloth near it, and it looks a little less red. But, i have told her that it wont be the last one she gets, and that we will need to find a way to deal with them.

We are actually seeing her consultant on Tuesday, as trying to arrange an assessment for her, as she only has a dx of sensory processing disorder, which is a few years old, and much more problems have come to light.

Does anyone have any ideas on how i can
1 - get her to school tomorrow without being upset, and
2 - get her not to panic the next time she gets one!

Would she cope with dabbing tea tree oil on? Maybe not, if she has a sensitive sense of smell - but it would dry the spot up and take away the 'throbbing' feeling.

If it did work she could keep a little bottle in the bathroom, which might make her less anxious?

I sympathise, I was actually wondering about how we are going to deal with this very issue the other day, DH and I were both spotty youths and DS1 is coming up for all that but has a majorly low pain threshold and very low tolerance for imperfection (he is very upset about a tiny lump on his arm left by a tick bite recently).
I also find spots and blackheads very hard to resist, even on other people, its going to be tough.
Sorry, dont have any really good ideas except to say that I read a study in one of my Dad's medical journals once where they put headphones playing music on children getting injections and the children perceived much less pain. I would numb it with an ice cube if she could stand that feeling, put the headphones on then pop it with a sterilised pin. (I do come after a long line of thick- skinned doctors and nurses though, my DF used to sneak up on us when we were watching Blue Peter to give us our jabs!)

i have stocked up, ready for her coming in from school. Got the tea tree (lord knows if she will let me near her enough to put it on - she hasnt got enough of an aim to do it herself) and some clearisil (sp?) daily face wash.

Am bracing myself for her coming home - has been on the news there is a confirmed case of swine flu at her school, the year above her.

Let us know how it goes - will keep fingers crossed for you.

good news - spot is defintitely retreating! The tea tree oil is a roll on type, like a lip gloss, so am just about managing with that - she still gets upset though

as predicted, she came home very worried over the swine flu - not helped by all the predictable gossip and rumours at school. Took me hours to reassure her that

1 - no she did not need an injection
2 - the woman in Scotland who died had other health problems, which were not the same as DD1's health problems
3 - school would only close as last resort!

School have actually just rang me this morning, to say that DD1 is looking very distracted and withdrawn this morning

Baby powder. It dries the spot out, doesn't hurt when you put it on, doesn't sting if the spot is open/has bled, and smells heavenly! I used it a lot when my spots got very bad. Do it at night before bed, and the redness goes away and the spot shrinks.