Anyone got any ideas how my 13yo gets rid of spots??

[LostinLondon]

My 13yo son has suddenly developed bad spots around his nose which just never seem to go away. He's washing his face twice a day, has tried anti-bac face washes and spot creams but nothing seems to work. I feel desperate for him because he's a lovely lad and this is beginning to affect his self-confidence at such an early age. I know it's probably hormones but anyone got any ideas how we can control these spots and make my son's life a bit happier?

Is it worth trying to start a facial routine? Would he cleanse and tone morning and night? Clinique for men perhaps?

I don't know, but it's what I'd do for a girl as a first stop before the GP and just because he's a boy doesn't mean he might not give a skin care routine a fair go. Young lads seem to be getting better than they used to be with personal grooming!

And yy to tea tree oil!

DS2 (14) has had terrible blackheads which erupted occasionally mainly on his nose, so i've taught him my secret weapon for a blinking good cleanse..

Fine oatmeal, mix to a paste with warm water, apply to your face in a small circular motion with your fingertips, leave for 5 mins then rinse off with warm water, final rinse with cool.
It's good if you do it after a bath/shower, or after having applied a hot flannel to open up the pores.

Also agree Yy to Tea tree on a cotton bud, a brilliant zit buster!

A few years ago on holiday in usa we stocked up on Terminator spot cream . Only ever had to use it a couple of times. It was the business. Don't know if you can buy it on-line.

Roaccutaine only been mentioned once in these posts and I'm sure it would only be prescribed as a drug of last resort. My dd was given it when all else failed when she was 17 and a just over a year after finishing the last course, started with severe irritable bowel type symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as ulcerative colitis. Her new UC specialist mentioned that roaccutaine has been linked with this condition and in the States there are now a spate of class actions against the drug company by acne sufferers who have taken the drug then gone on to develop UC. Am sure this is very very rare but I wish we had been aware of any link to bowel disease.

DS has acne, tried the face washes and creams from the chemist, then prescribed anti-biotics, finally referred to dermatologist for Roaccutane which did improve things but by no means cured the problem.DS has learnt to cope with his skin which seems to flare up with stress. He's got a lovely girlfriend and is much more confident than he was.

Proactiv - calm his skin down. Sudacrem - to help heal those that already have. Trip to the GP for some proper antibiotics - knock them out now before they become a really awful experience.
All three :)
Don't let it get worse to the point where he will need roaccutane later in life (i've had it twice, it's awful)

(from a 37 yr old expert spot sufferer!)

Actually I have just remembered that when I was ttc and on clomid, I suffered from really bad hormonal spit on my chin, neck and hairline. What helped work for me was Dr Hauscka facial oil. You only use it at night, and although it seems a bit barmy using oil, it tricks your skin into stopping producing it's own oil which can be a cause of spots. It helped tremendously and once I'd got it under control I started using Liz Earle (as per my previous post)

In fact, a friend of my SILsuffered really bad acne and she also started using Dr H and it transformed her, and she was (and may still be) used in their catalogues as a spokesperson and was photographed too.

Again you can get trial packs to giver a go or it's available in good health food and chemist stores, and John Lewis etc. Some of their stuff is a bit pongy, but it's all natural ingredients.

I'm sure I read on here that sleeping with a clean towel over your pillow every night does wonders for reducing spots.

Spit = spots

Sorry!

My DSS has been on a couple of courses of anti-biotics from the gp - he had v bad skin and it is much better.
DSD also had/has problem skin and is currently on the pill to help it.
Benzoyl peroxide does help - also be aware it bleaches towels!! (mine are ruined) so if your kids use creams with this in, it's a good idea to encourage them to use a separate towel.

Ds suddenly got bad spots last summer when he was 14 - it was starting to affect his confidence so after a few months of trying the over-the-counter route I took him to the GP. He's been prescribed antibiotic gel which also contains benzoyl peroxide - it took about 3 weeks to see the effect but he's now been using it for about 4 months and his spots have almost completely cleared up.

It's ruined his pillow cases, but that's a small price to pay!

I bought dd panoxyl aqua gel 2.5% when she became spotty at the same age. Using this coupled with Simple moisturiser worked a treat and cleared her spots in a matter of days.