11 year old’s spotty pores on nose and forehead?

[Bluebluered]

Dd is 11.5 and has tiny little white heads and bumps on her nose and forehead. They’ve been there for months now and I’m not sure what to do about them. She had amazing smooth clear skin and I’m worried the ones on her nose will leave large open pores. She’s very conscious of them, even though I’ve never mentioned it to her.

I exfoliate her skin once every few weeks.

Is there anything to help combat these spots that isn’t so harsh for 11 year olds? She’s already taking zinc supplements.

My 11 year old DS gets similar, so he's been using a nip & fab pad for teenage skin at night. It's made a real difference. I buy them in Superdrug, they're in a pot with pink packaging, they do daytime ones and nighttime ones and it's the nighttime ones he uses. Quick and easy.

Is she washing her face every day with a clean wash cloth and warm water ,not just a splash in the shower? Makes such a difference and gently sloughs off all the 'nasties.'

Exfoliating can make them worse, nothing breaks me out like scrubs.

Is she cleansing properly with a clean flannel?.

Stop exfoliating. Wet skin with warm water and use a not-too-astringent face wash twice a day - massage it into wet skin for 60 seconds, then rinse off.
Care if using flannel/face cloth - be gentle with it and replace regularly.

I would go and buy a big stack of wash cloths, they're 33p in Wilkos and straight in the wash after use. I keep mine in a small storage basket on the bathroom. No scrubbing just hold it to the face and gently wipe.

If you buy a face wash make sure it's not a foaming one.

She does wash her face morning and night (when she remembers) but not sure how well.

Will try the warm wash cloths and stop exfoliating.

The nip and fab pads sound interesting, will check those out.

If you're at all concerned about any long-term scarring from spots, take her to your GP or practice nurse.

I took DC and was given a mild anti-biotic lotion which really cleared them up. The nurse told me it's a real shame more people don't get their DC's teenage skin problems treated properly as it could save them scarring.

That’s helpful, thanks badtaste. I would’ve thought they wouldn’t want to know about teenage skin problems, as it happens to everyone.

My gp says she often hopes patients will ask about their skin but they don’t. She was very helpful when I went at 41!.

It’s something they can fix if nothing else.

My dd is the same. She is 12 and they have just appeared. I have tried to encourage her to wash with a bit of Clearasil. Its seems to be getting a bit better.

I’m worried about her using things like clearasil, as I’ve heard it’s quite harsh.

Is there anything to dry the spots out? I’ve heard sudocreme works.

My DD has the same. I recommend La Roche Posay Serozinc. It's really gentle and effective. I'd be cautious about exfoliating tbh.

I would personally say take a gentle approach as spots etc can be caused by the skin being aggravated and dried out. My son is starting to get little dots/black marks and the odd bump/spot on his nose. His dad had bad acne as a teenager, I've got really good skin except it can be dry and sensitive so I'm aware of both of these issues. What I do is use a damp cotton wool pad, with a tiny bit of micelle water for sensitive skin on it (Bioderma) if it persists I may get the micelle water for problem skin. I think you are right op to not want to use clearasil.

He's 10 btw.

Spots are inflammation and infection, there’s nothing to dry out.

Yes Fluffycloudland77 but if you dry the skin out then it produces more oil which then causes spots. So drying the skin out = more oil to compensate = spots. That's what I'm led to believe anyway.

My daughter only uses clearasil facial wash, rubbing it into her nose. I have used it for years now and it totally helps prevent break outs. She only uses it once a day. ( when she remembers) I dont think its harsh at all. Just anti bacterial.

It’s really hard to dry skin out anyway, I’m on accutane which works a treat but is not a first line treatment.

It’s hormones, the dr can help and it will pass.

I was going to mention the nip+fab teenage skin wipes, I use them and they're great

Fluffycloudland77 my skin dries out just using a face wash! I can only use cream cleaners that you wipe off, even the Body Shop Cleasing Butter that everyone loves dried my skin out and cause blemishes and eczema. Some people do suffer from dry skin and spots, my husbands one of them. He just uses a gentle soap as faces washes are terrible for him too.

I’ve looked up the teenage nip and fab pads, and I think she’d probably remember to use them rather than warm face cloths, if they’re in her bedroom. I think we’ll give them a go and see how it goes.

With the spots, some of them are tiny hard white heads and some are just bumps on the skin. It could be dry skin.

Bluebluered my DS keeps the tub by his bed and just uses a pad over his forehead and nose before he gets into bed. That's all he does, when he showers he just washes his face with water (he showers every other day because more than that aggravates his eczema).