Teen daughter acne

[M48294Y]

Hello, have name changed for this to protect dd's privacy.

She is 15 and has quite bad acne. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say she is about a 7. Her skin is bumpy and she has loads of whiteheads and blackheads, and a few big red spots. It gets worse when she is premenstrual but atm doesn't really clear up between periods either.

She washes her face twice a day with a witch hazel foaming wash, then uses a deep pore cleansing toner on cotton wool, and uses a scrub wash every couple of days. She uses a facepack once pw. We have tried steaming her face and a blackhead remover to extract the blackheads, but some of them are very deep!

What else could she do? I am loathe to take her to the GP for a prescription because a) she has to take quite a lot of medication for another chronic health condition and b) a teen I know fairly well has developed jaundice from her acne medication!

We are comfortably off and I would be happy to pay for deep cleansing facials for her, whilst at the same time not wanting to give the message that her skin is a problem that needs to be solved and that beauty is anything more than skin deep.

Sorry that was absolutely epic! Thanks for reading and wwyd?

Yes. I agree. Dd is totally non judgmental about appearance

I don't know if it has made you a more compassionate/understanding person VulcanWoman. You've been pretty unpleasant to me.

Thanks for ALL contributions, though, it has been so helpful. Thank you.

She hasn't been in the slightest bit unpleasant. Hopefully this thread has made you feel less stressed by your dds spots.

Oh I don't know parissont but I find this post to be unpleasant:

poster VulcanWoman Sat 09-Apr-16 22:15:59
So OP your daughter has a few spots not acne at all. Unbelievable.

You must have a different take on it to me.

Tbh I think we all felt a bit like that. You started the thread saying one thing and shut it down with another. But I am glad for your dds sake that she doesn't have bad acne.

Sorry if you thought my post was unpleasant OP. I get so annoyed with the ingnorance regarding this subject though.

Completely disagree Vulcan has been unpleasant!

I took DS to a dermatologist who recommended roaccutane but spent about 30 minutes explaining all the side effects. After that I did some more research and decided not to fill the prescription. The side effects are far worse than the acne. It's even banned in the USA and some other countries.

With very mild acne like it sounds like your daughter is suffering from (I don't mean that offensively, any spots can cause people to feel uncomfortable and embarrassed, but I'd imagine that would be what the doctor would say) the gp would provide creams to try which might be worth a shot.

I sufferered moderate acne as a teen and they made me try at least 3 different creams and then gave me some miraculous antibiotic (I wish I could remember what it's called but I can't) which you could only take in 6 month bursts which did wonders for me for a few years.

I have PCOS which causes cystic acne and it's something I've struggled with now I'm a bit older. I am currently under a dermatologist at the hospital for both cystic acne and a severe from which causes accesses to form.

The consultant just had me undertake a 8 month course of isotretinoin (the version of roaccutane they will currently prescribe) and on a low dosage I have had very positive results. However, she originally tried me on a full dosage for 6 months and I had an awful time. As well as the persistently dry and itchy skin (and nothing I put on it would stop it being so dry) I became very down and one of the listed side effects is more severe aching after exercise - however I found this manifested in permanently being in pain. By the end of each day I could barely walk. I also couldn't sleep. At all. I ended up on sleeping tablets and cocodamol to manage the symptoms before my consultant agreed to drop the dosage.

It is a miracle drug in terms of acne - my skin has never been so clear (although it didn't help with the more severe problem) but people on here are right when they say to be mindful of side effects.

However it is unlikely that they'd even think of offering that until they'd tried lots of other things first.

Good luck OP and however severe/mild your dd's acne is, I hope you manage to get it sorted. It's horrible when you're young

DD1 (14) is currently on a course of antibiotics from the GP for her acne. Seems to be working really well.

I had awful acne into my 20s which affected my confidence. Face wash etc all made it worse. The pill was helpful. I ended up on roaccutane several times which was amazing for me but not something everyone wants to try. My brother also took roaccutane and I wished I'd been offered it earlier. Now I'm in my 30s, two children and pregnant. My skin isn't perfect but I find benzoyl peroxide quite effective now

You could try Proactiv - it's a simple routine and really worked on my relatively mild acne. I'd avoid putting your daughter on the pill if possible.

This is what I would consider quite bad, 7 out of 10 acne.

Until now I would have though that was 10 out of 10 acne because I've never come accross cyctic acne before.

That's what my dds skin was like.

Benzoyl peroxide can cause damage not apparent until further down the line. Silver? Hmm, anti-bac properties, but check out argyria.

I'm an oldie so modern treatments weren't available when I was a kid. I was also not that badly affected. If anything, I have more spots now I'm menopausal than as a teen. I was given hot water and lemon juice and sulphur tablets as a kid when I first started sprouting spots. My biggest problem was keeping my fingers away from them as I have a disgusting popping habit. I also check out the videos on popthatzit.com on a regular basis.

My neighbour had really bad acne. Luckily, pizzas weren't around then or he'd have been known as Pizza Face instead of the just-as-bad Crater Face he's still known as. And he's a GP now.

He always says that if medication, even topicals had been around and given to him as a kid, he would feel a lot better about himself now. The scarring is pretty bad, despite laser treatment. His children have followed him and were treated sharpish by a derm with medications. He always says he'd rather his kids thank him for confidence than good skin, but it's the same result in the end.

Go to the GP. If her acne is hormonal, like mine was/is, she can still get topicals. I'm using Dalacin-T for my period spots. Works like a charm. There's no need for any child (or adult) to suffer through bad skin these days. Buying astringent stuff with witch hazel and alcohol in it really isn't taking a more natural route, just a more damaging one over the long term .

Once again, thank you for all the really helpful suggestions on this thread. I had no idea that the products you can buy in the "spotty skin" section of Superdrug would be so ineffective, so we'll stop with that and then see.

I do not see how I "shut down the thread" or changed my story at all. You'll just have to forgive my ignorance if my 7/10 isn't exactly your interpretation of 7/10. My dd's skin is not as bad as the second picture on the thread.

Also, she has never said to me "Mum, I'm really unhappy about my spots". Usually she makes a joke about the big ones and gives them a name. I don't think she has been bullied or undermined by any of her friends at school. This is why I am slightly reluctant to usher her off to the GP because then it gives the message that her skin is awful and needs treatment. A bit like I wouldn't put her on a 1000 calorie a day diet if I thought she was getting chubby.

Hope I have now finally explained myself sufficiently!

Yes. She has a few spots that she's not bothered about. Stop comparing her to her friends and perhaps buy a nice expensive French cleanser. Job done.

I suffered horrendous acne and the only thing that cured it was something from my GP. It was a topical thing that I had to rub on my face everyday. Cured it in a week. After that I stopped using chemicals on my face. Take makeup off with a baby wipe not makeup wipes (as makeup wipes contain chemicals which dry out your face making your body produce more oil, hence more spots). Skip on toners etc. Boots botanical range is fab, all natural no parabens. Only thing that keeps my spots away. Apart from what the GP gave me avoid any chemicals!!

Hey, even my daughter's skin is oily and acne prone. She washes her face two times daily using a facewash. But her acne is getting worse and she says she would like to undergo an acne laser treatment in Toronto ( www.fairviewcosmeticsurgery.com/procedures/laser-procedures/laser-acne-scar-treatment-toronto/ ) but I am not sure whether it is recommended at this age. She is only 13 years old. She tried many home remedies but no effective results. I am really confused about what to do.