Spots on a 10yr old - what to do??

[Lafaminute]

My just 10 year old is obviously starting puberty. Despite washing her face morning and evening with a clean, warm facecloth (no soap as she has sensitive skin) she tends to nearly always have small spots on her nose and her previously beautiful skin just doesn't look great. Her diet is good and she drinks GALLONS of water. She is terribly self conscious of these as no-one else in her class is at this stage. Sometimes I dab a bit of tea tree oil on them but don't want to do that every night for fear of irritating the skin. What else can/should I be doing???Her father and I both suffered with spots in our teens and I'd like to help her avoid same - is that possible or is it inevitable that she will suffer same and I'm fighting a losing battle here???

Perhaps try a gentle face wash - Simple do a good one that my DS1 has used from the same age. It will give just a little extra boost to her cleansing routine without any harsh ingredients.

Perhaps also try their cleansing mask once a week just on her nose?

I had acne from the age of 9, it's hard because many other children had amazing skin at the same age. I would recommend a gentle cleanser like Lush Ultrabland and maybe a clay mask. It's important that she doesn't pick them as that can make things so much worse.

Acne is nothing to do with cleanliness or diet.

Take her to your GP. A wee course of antibiotics might be all she needs. I've heard good things about dermalogica products too, especially with regards to sensitive skin - find a salon nearby that does dermalogica skin analysis and take her there.

Clarisonic with the sensitive head attachment with a very mild face wash, maybe Cetaphil.

Efaclar by La Roche Posay is a good range for sensitive and acne prone skin. With both parents having had acne, I'd say there's quite a chance she's on the same road. Visit your GP. A topical preparation from your GP might be enough to control it.

V little to do with diet or water, and she's v young to be eliminating foods. Take it easy on fruits. Dairy products have been implicated but really, at the age of 10, it's hard to eliminate dairy.

I hear good things about the la Roche posay range and the amie ranges, I really like the liz Earle cleanser, what ever you do don't get the harsh acne products they just strip the skin, wish I had known that when I was younger.

You could try dabbing Origins Spot Remover in them. Works a charm for me and DH

Dermalogica or lush ultrabland. Monthly facials if you can afford it. For bigger spots dab toothpaste on overnight. Maybe try exfoliating gently once or twice a week. I use boots botanicals microdermabrasion stuff. There could be a build up of serum around her t zone clogging her pores.

I wouldn't propagate the myth that she can 'control' her acne through diet/cleansing/facials. take her to the GP and they are likely to give her something like panoxyl and/ or topical antibiotic, depending on the severity of her acne.

Sudocreme over night works well

Is it definitely acne though or just an oily T-zone? I started to get little spots and so on on my forehead, chin and nose at this age. The only thing that worked was an astringent so dabbing tea tree oil is probably a good course of action. I also would avoid exfoliating her nose as the skin will break and she will have spots plus flaky dry skin on her nose.

Neutrogena visibly clear treatment overnight is super for toning down redness and reducing size. If they become really obv, could some concealer help?