12 yr old daughter & spots

[maldivemoment]

My daughter turns 12 in June. She’s had a few sots/pimples for a while now but tonight she got quite teary about them.
I’ve told/shown her the importance of keeping your face clean, & she does this, but that’s not helping her day-to-day concerns of having spots.

they are mostly on her forehead/hairline . A fee on her nose. Definitely getting worse.

Wondering if anyone here has similar experience & willing to share your thoughts. At the moment I’m reluctant to take her to the GP but will do so if folks reckon that’s the best option.

Many thanks

As they’re bothering her, I would take her to your GP. There’s a few prescription creams/gels that often work well for mild/moderate spots/acne. Our GP was very sympathetic and said kids don’t have to suffer with acne, said we were right to go in and see him and not to waste too much time with over the counter products.

Once she’s got something from the GP, if they get worse, which they often do at 14/15, she’ll be able to try other prescription things sooner if necessary.

Not to make her feel self conscious, but you could get her some concealer if that might help her not to feel so bothered by them.

@HighHopesAndHearts
Thank you for your kind & considered response.

Has she got a fringe? If so use a soft hairband to keep off face at night.

I suffered badly with spots ubtil my 20s and only one prescription worked for me. It took 4 years to find it. My friend's parents went to a private dermatologist and got it sorted within weeks. I'm taking my daughter to a dermatologist when she needs one.

My 14 year old dd suffers from spots and uses an acneside cream (not sure if that's what it's called or what it is) which we get over the counter at the pharmacy.

It's really cleared her face up so may be worth trying that before going down the gp route?

I'd take to GP if getting worse. Both DS had mild acne & getting treated early with zinc/erythromycin sorted them both out & meant avoiding stronger therapies. Edit - this was a topical lotion

I’d see a go too, spots are hormone driven in the main.They can issue acnecide for her or antibiotic lotions.

few people with spots aren’t cleaning their face properly.

It's not cleaning that gets rid of spots its treatment.

Effaclar Duo is good or honestly just go straight to GP.

Hi OP, my acne as a teen was definitely hormonal, not from lack of cleansing.
In fact I probably over-cleansed!
If you can pay to see a private dermatologist that's probably the best way forward - some GPs are quite clueless.
Otherwise go to the GP and hope for good advice!
Quite random but this weird hot stick is recommended for coldsore prevention and this very similar hot stick is recommended by Sali Hughes for treating insect bites in her article here.
I've used my weird hot stick successfully for both bites and coldsores AND for zapping zits when you can feel one coming but it's not 'come to head' yet - the stick works for those too! Which I guess makes sense - promotes skin healing and prevents infection worsening? Why wouldn't it do it for spots too?
So in a nutshell, buying her one of the German hot sticks might also be worthwhile.
Wish her and you all the best.