can you help my dd please...spotty chin

[Gatekeeper]

My beautiful daughter (17) is very down at the minute about her spotty chin. Her skin is sensitive and has an oily t-panel - although not on her chin which is more or less the only place they are. She has a very good diet and drinks plenty of water and green tea

Can anyone help please and suggest cleaner/treatment

thank you

When does she normally get them? I think chin is normally hormonal.

Aside from the standard - only touch face when necessary, clean hands (beware phones get v mucky!), Do Not squeeze.

• can get something off the shelf with salicylic acid in to dry them out a bit, and use a facial wash for problem skin. Foam it up and lather into skin for 60s. (no flannel).

If sensitive skin on the rest of her face just use wash etc on the affected area, and whatever sensitive-suitable product you normally use on the rest of the face.

Repeat - Do Not Pick

Look into Mario Badescu 'drying lotion' it's the best for spots

A good skincare routine that is done every day should help too.

I used to have this as a teen, early 20s.

Its hormonal. Try getting her some Agnus Castus from health food shop, it's meant to regulate hormones.

There's also a cream that Clearasil do, if I have a really big spot I put that on then stick a plaster on it overnight, in the morning it's shrunk usually.

I'm in by 30s and I get a "hormonal chin" every period, then spend the rest of the month with them slowly fading away. I finally get an ok chin and then I get a period again.

I've started going for once monthly facials, after talking to a beautician friend. She focuses on getting all the grim out of my skin.

I can't really recommend as I've only just started them, but your daughter isn't alone!

My son found that the only thing that worked was clearasil 5 in one multi action cream. The harsher ones worked but then made his skin really sore and dry so we're a.bit counter productive. Obviously his acne isn't period related though!

I would concentrate on building a good, easy to maintain skincare routine using gentle products. Avoid products designed for oily skin, as they tend to be drying which can make the problem worse. She needs gentle, hydrating, ideally non-fragranced and (unfortunately) very boring products.

In her shoes I would cleanse twice a day with a gentle, non-foaming cleanser, and in the morning follow with a moisturiser and an spf (very important as many spot/acne treatments actually make the skin more sensitive to the sun, and anyway it’s a great habit to get into) and in the evening with a benzoyl peroxide spot treatment (available over the counter at a pharmacy) and a moisturiser.

I don’t know what your budget is but Clarins have recently launched a range of products aimed at teenagers and young adults that I’ve heard good things about. There’s some more suggestions here:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/dec/10/beauty-best-skincare-teens-sali-hughes

If the acne is doesn’t clear up after a couple of months using benzoyl peroxide then I would go to see the GP. Spots tend to be viewed as a cosmetic problem, but it’s a medical condition and needs medical treatment. Salicylic acid can be helpful but the only proven treatments that we have a good evidence base for are benzoyl peroxide and vitamin A derivatives.

Retin-A (not retinol based product). I used it for pigmentation marks but everywhere I read says it is a treatment for acne.

My DD13 has stubborn spots on her chest and back. She is a bridesmaid this summer so we're on a mission to get rid of them. Doctore prescribed antibiotics (Lymecycline) but it hasn' really made any difference. We have used lots of over the counter creams and also Duac which the doctor prescribed.

I remembered my Retin-A gel and thought I would try it just on a small area on her back first. No irritation so I applied it very sparingly over the larger area and honestly within a couple of days you could see the difference. She has had no new spots form and it is a matter of the marks fading now.

It can make the skin dry and flaky and obviously if you were going to try it on her chin use it VERY sparingly and she must wear a high SPF every day as the skin will be very sensitive to the sun. It works by speeding up the cell turnover which is almost like magic, you can tell the next day the spot is like it would be maybe a couple of days later normally iyswim! If the spots aren't quite coming out, the gel will probably bring them out and then heal them quickly.

I don’t mean to poo poo salicylic acid by the way, it’s great for oily skin, but for the acne she needs targeted treatments. An alternative to the benzoyl peroxide that is similarly easy to get hold of could be differin, you can get it from the boots online acne clinic by filling in a questionnaire, or via the GP.

Poor thing, I’ve had acne since I was 12 some 20 odd years now. Benzoyl peroxide usually clears my outbreak up really well, I know doctors can prescribe it. The one treatment that has cleared my skin up is a treatment from the doctor called zineryt, it’s a roll on antibiotic spit treatment. X

Neat TCP, morning and night.

Try Differin. Ds2 uses it along with lymecycline and it works on spots without causing irritation unlike Benzoyl Peroxide or Salicyclic acid .
Also use a simple non irritating cleanser like Cerave to clean the skin.
Differin can be ordered online. You definitely don’t need Antibiotics for a small patch of spots.

Try la Roche posts effaclar duo face wash, lotion and cream. It has worked miracles on my hormonal spots and even got rid of nasty under skin ones. Can't recommend it highly enough. They do a starter kit www.laroche-posay.co.uk/effaclar-3-step-anti-blemish-system-new

• Posay

Yes, differin gel is good.

Elizabeth Arden eight hour cream works for us. Slather it on overnight.

It might not be hormonal. It could be bacterial. I had that. They remained unaffected throughout my cycle. A prescription of Zynaret (might be spelt wrong) from the doctor sorted it right out.

Acnecide works best on my teen DD. I use it too, it really does work.

When I’ve had bad chin spots I've found cutting down on dairy has helped as well as skin products. Dermalogica antibac wash was my go to.

I used to get a hormonal, headless lumpy spot every month - is it hormonal, OP?

What also helped was not resting my chin in my hand, tbh - not applicable to everyone but a beauty consultant on a Clinique counter pointed this one out to me!

I would make an appointment with the GP and they will prescribe a cream that will clear it up. If that fails she will likely be given the choice to go on either an antibiotic or a contraceptive pill. I had mild Acne when I was younger that nothing would clear up until I went to the doctors.

I also found vichy skincare helped reduce it as did la Roche Posay effaclear skincare but as everyone's skin is different that might not work for your daughter.

Good luck I hope she finds something that works for her!

thanks everyone
I think it hormonal as they are not there all the time but not helped that she rests her chin on her hand all the time! She is aware of that now and is also cleaning her phone each day with an alcohol wipe

She gets marks left by previous spots so we are going to try Laroche Posay and take a photo each day for a couple of months to compare!!
thanks for everyones recommendations- much appreciated

@Gatekeeper let us know how you get on

I had the same problem from my teens until last year (late 20s). I understand how frustrating it can be!

I found that a really basic skincare routine was better than overloading it with products. I'll list mine below and you may find a product or two that she'd like to try:

In the morning I wash my face with simple bar soap (£1) and rinse then I apply nspa gel moisturiser (approx £5).

In the evening I remove my make up with Garnier 2 in 1 make up remover (£3) on cotton pads then wash my face with the simple soap again to clean and a tiny bit of moisturiser.

Once a week or, if I have a flare up, I use another bar soap in the evening which is Carbon Theory charcoal (£6).

Exfoliating made mine much worse and anything too drying made my skin produce even more oil which also made it worse.

I had very red and painful chin spots in my 20s. Hormonal. The doctor prescribed a topical antibacterial cream which really helped.

See how she gets on with the LRP effaclar stuff, some people find it quite harsh and drying though if she’s not particularly sensitive it may be alright. If you’re going for the three step kit then there’s not much in the way of hydration in there, so I would also add in a moisturiser, personally.

Also La Roche Posay do have some nice products, but their marketing very much focuses on how it’s recommended by dermatologists, and what isn’t necessarily clear is that they have a huge marketing budget which they use to essentially target/lobby dermatologists with, inviting them to symposia with the purpose of persuading them how wonderful their products are, so I would always take those claims with a pinch of salt!

Some of the products are very good though, and hopefully they will work for her!