Managing acne in 12 year old

[Iwantthesummersun]

My DD has had breakouts for almost 3 years now. She was using prescribed cream from the GP which helped initially then stopped working. She’s been prescribed Epiduo which she started on Friday. Her skin is so broken out just now and she has just had covid which hasn’t helped. The Epiduo was okay initially but yesterday and tonight she’s been in tears when she put it on as it burns so much. Her skin looks so sore now. I have ordered La Roche Posey Cicaplast balm as I read it can help as a moisturiser when using Epiduo. Any advice about managing this? Wisdom online seems to be to persevere and the burning will stop but that’s hard going for a 12 year old.

I'd strongly suggest joining Caroline Hirons Skincsre Freaks page on FB, there's tons of recommendations if you search in the bar at the top of the group what you need advice on. Hope it gets sorted for her soon

Thank you. It’s hard as I thought we had it under control and it’s literally gone mad again. I will do that right now.

LRP Cicaplast is amazing, always great to have in. Their toleriane cleanser is super gentle too

The Inkey list salicylic cleanser really helps my DD

I had really bad skin as a teenager and to be honest I think all the medicated creams I was prescribed made it worse. Have you tried the basics, like charcoal soap? Apologies if you've already been down this route!

I've just had a quick search and the consensus seems to be to not use the epiduo every day if it's burning, build it up slowly, and use a mega gentle cleanser eg inkey list oat balm cleanser, if using anything with salicylic acid in start with once a week and build up

Sore and burning sensation on skin is a known adverse side effect for Epiduo. I would honestly stop using the product, let her skin settle and try something else prescribed from the GP or get a referral to a dermatologist due to sensitive skin.

Also have 12 year old who has had very bad acne over past year or so, initially I bought her simple face wash as thought it would be gentle for her skin however it had no impact on the acne. In the past 4 months she started using ceraV cleanser with Salic acid, the transformation has been incredible, I think she uses it every 2-3 days but it has almost completely cleared up her acne.

Hi OP, no idea if you have budget for private advice and no offence intended at all if not - I expect it is expensive (or perhaps you already have sought) but I follow someone called Drajsturnham on insta - she has a clinic in London that I read runs teenage skin clinics... worth checking her out - her insta page offers lots of links and tips. I follow for tips for more mature skin now but I do think she is a leading qualified doctor in this field.

Hope you find the solution you are looking for xx

My 13 year old had bad spots and doctor prescribed an 8, or possibly 12, week course of antibiotics - detra something, or dexa, I can't quite remember. But it worked brilliantly.

Thank you everyone. I will look into all of these. It seems such a harsh treatment as she’s away to bed tonight in tears as it’s burning so much. She’s been using the Effacler stuff previously but again it seems to have stopped having such an impact. The de asked us to try this before anything else in the hope it would work but it’s certainly not winning her over just now. To make it worse it’s making her face red as well as sore and spotty.

Try tea tree oil face wash.

I'd back off everything for now, and start from scratch.

Gentle cleanser
SPF in the morning (50 ideally) for a few days and then start to build up again from there. + a gentle hydrating cream.

You do not use Epiduo every night to start off with. You need to build up, to let your skin get used to it. Stop using it for at least a week, to let the redness settle. Then when your DD starts again, begin with just 2 nights a week to begin with and gradually increase from there.

I had acne as a teen and my teen dd also. Acne is a medical condition and for most people with acne (rather than just a few random spots) just trying different face washes etc does not work.

Go back to the GP if the Epiduo is not working well or causing a bad reaction. It didn’t really work for my dd. In the end dd went in accutane and it was life changing for her. No side effects except dry lips and she now has beautiful skin that people actually comment on!

And yes, try to get a referral to a dermatologist or go private if you can afford it.

We've just got antibiotics from the dr. It's a 12 week course. I see some improvement 3 weeks in.

Is she applying it straight after cleaning her skin? You need to let it dry out 30 mins or things absorb too quickly and it irritates the skin.

If topicals have stopped working escalate it to oral antibiotics as it really is just a bacterial skin infection. It’s not a doing something wrong with skincare issue as the manufacturers would have you believe.

So many tips and helpful ideas. Am really frustrated as I think we have probably been getting the application etc totally wrong. Didn’t know about waiting after cleansing etc. Have orders some creams mentioned on here and they should arrive today. I’m very much of the opinion that acne needs treated medically.

DD (12) uses Nip and Fab Teen and it's the only thing that's ever cleared her face. She has a daily wash for the mornings and a night time wash for bedtime. Whenever she's changed to try another brand, she's always had a breakout and her skin has been sore. This is genuinely the only one that's ever worked for her.

My DD Gp prescribed Lymecycline and her worsening acne went after 3 months. Acnecide was also prescribed but only as an adjunct so the Lymecycline did all the heavy lifting

Go back to her GP and demand Lymecycline

My daughter uses the Acnecide face wash which you leave in for a couple of minute and freederm gel and this seems to be managing her breakouts.

Hello
Epiduo(adapalene and benzoyl peroxide) is a good topical. I agree start one - two nights per week and gradually increase. Some patients leave on for over one to two hours and then wash off( especially found in skin type IV or V).
You can use a Salicylic acid face wash such as Cerave, however as skin is sore I would hold and also Effaclar, hold.
Avoid tea tree and charcoal as no clinical evidence.
Please contact GP as course of antibiotics may be indicated at this stage ( tetracycline 408mg once daily for 3-4 months alongside Epiduo. Ask for referral to NHS dermatology, they take acne seriously and are happy to help.
NICE have just published up to date guidelines for management of acne , you can google and find these.

Carbon Theory soap was recommended on here for DS12. It works very well. Stops the redness from existing spots and stops new ones growing. Takes a couple of weeks to start working though. Definitely worth a try.