Best products for (nearly) teenage spots

[WeAllHaveWings]

ds(11) isn't a teenager yet, but thought this would be the best place for advice as you have probably been there done that.

ds is starting to get a spotty chin. Has a HUGE white head now which I've squeezed twice and keeps coming back. He hates it and doesn't want to go to school tomorrow as no one else in class has spots yet. I can deal with that.

I've bought him Clearasil 12hr gel stuff, only reason for this choice is its a name I remember from 25+ years ago! and also a load of face cloths so he can have a clean one each day to wash his face. He has been good and using it morning and night for a week, but don't see any real improvement.

Is Clearasil good nowadays? or can you recommend a different face wash. Also can you recommend a spot treatment to put onto HUGE big white heads to clear them?

Whiteheads must be extracted otherwise they take ages to go down!

Buy an extractor tool from the body shop (and disinfect after each use, I use TCP :D) and Freederm gel from Boots.

Both are, IMO, miracle workers

I would recommend witch hazel, you can buy it in boots and it is natural but deep cleaning.

Had a look at his skin and the Clearsil facewash is drying it out and making it a bit flaky, so when I was in Tesco today bought another facewash (clean & clear) to try which has oil free moisturers in it. Have also picked up Freederm Gel in tescos to zone in on the actual spot so good to hear you recommend it.

Just watched the extractor tool on youtube and feel a bit now, but it will work better than my finger nails!! Nearest BodyShop is 20 miles away so will order this off Amazon. Will need to remember some TCP.

Miley I did see a Witch Hazel branded product in Tesco today too, will add it list of things to try next, if the ones I got today don't work.

Expensive business these spots! (£4.50 on Clearasil, £5.00 on Freederm, £4.50 on Clean & Clear Face wash, £2.00 on an oil free moisturiser for his now dry skin, and now £7.95 on spot extractor tools!!)

Freederm gel gets my vote. I would go easy on astringent cleansers as the more oil stripped the more gets churned out. Clearasil used to do a cleansing milk which is less harsh and worth a try?

These clearasil pads really work. That and an antihistamine and no more picking! What is he washing his face with?

clearasil

Sudocreme works for us overnight or gone v quickly anyway. but skin is so individual it may take a while to find what suits him

Cotton bud dipped in surgical spirit disinfects and dries the spot out. Very cheap but effective method.

He has been washing his face for the last week with this Clearasil Ultra but it must be too drying for him. Have shown him to use warm water when washing/rinsing off then a rinse with cold water.

Take the point that stripping too much oil can cause more to be produced.

Never saw a Clearasil milk, nearly picked this up Clearasil Daily Wash as it looked less harsh, but went for Clean & Clear Foaming Wash instead.

Saw the Clearasil pads, but ds didn't like the idea of them, preferred a face wash. Never thought of using Sudocreme, have a tub which we still use regularly for any little dry patches or rashes.

All this and shower gel not to dry his skin and deodorant too at just 11! I cant remember doing anything other than having a weekly bath with a bar of soap and a quick nightly wash with a facecloth and soap when I was 11 years old 30+ years ago!!!!

DD (16) has bad spots and has tried creams and antibiotics from GP over the last year or so plus lots of the spot creams you can buy. Nothing has worked and she is on waiting list for a derma appointment at hospital.

So meantime this is what we are doing about it and I will happily update if it works to lessen the spots in any way.

Fish oil tablets supplement - high dose daily and we are just about to try effaclar duo by La Roche Posay as it seems to have good reviews. The fish oil has been taken for about 2 weeks and does appear to be helping a bit so we will continue as it needs a while to show. I found the fish oil advice while looking online in desperation to help DD - the website is by Caroline Hirons (I don't know her back story but the website seemed quite good and I am willing to give things a try - fish oil also seems fairly harmless unless anyone can put me right)

DH had roaccutane as a youth but I am hoping to avoid this if at all possible DD has not yet tried the pill as a method of controling her acne but we might try this in future.

The spots thing is just horrible - poor DD has put up with it for years now and really gets down at times.

DD's spots have got really bad in the past few months. I took her to GP who talked through options - we are trying antibiotic gel first, then if that fails she will take oral meds. They are on her back so harder to wash with stuff, but she has tried witch hazel etc and nothing really worked. DH had terrible back acne as a teen and I don't want her to end up with skin like him, so you have to keep an eye. Freederm is supposed to be good initally.

I've got DD1 (13) on Anne French cleansing milk. I think it's soooo important not to strip the skin whilst keeping it clean as can be. Otherwise, I'm not sure that it's just a matter of patience.

Ds uses a hot flannel and witch hazel.

I used to have a lot of success with this neutrogena gel that came in a tiny tube, 24 hour or 48 hour spot treatment or something? It stings like hell but it worked better than anything else for me.

Avoid any products with "scrub" in the name always.

For the dry skin: use a gel moisturiser rather than a cream if you can. They work much better. I have a bit of eczema and I swear by a gel called doublebase. If you don't want or can't get that, then anything with tea tree oil or patchouli should work ok. Pure facial oils actually work quite well too!

In general for skin stuff, what's worked best for me is a daily vitamin tablet and loads of water. At least 2l through the day but aiming at 3 makes my skin feel amazing and I just feel good in general. Vitamin E is especially important for skin.

I watched a programme not long ago about medicines and they talked about over the counter products for spotty skin.
My ds was quite spotty at the time so I watched in earnest!
Products containing Benzoyl peroxide or Salicydix acid were found to be the most beneficial. They sound really harsh don't they?!
I do realise of course that spots are hormonal and and that some kids will get them worse than others and some not at all.
I worried about putting this type of stuff on my ds's skin as they are so young still. You might have to try a few products before you find the one that suits him.

updating here - it's about 6 weeks from when I posted. DD has been using effaclar duo twice daily and high dose of fish oil tablets (7 per day rather than 2 ) There has been a significant improvement. At first her spots got worse but I had read this might be the case so we persevered and after 6 weeks I can see a real difference. There are still a few individual small spots and some residual redness where she had the acne but her skin is much smoother and just much less spotty.

She had a dermatologist appointment (NHS) but basically the consultant didn't look closely and just said DD was a candidate for roaccutane so could start that once she had been put on the pill and done blood tests - I am hopeful that if her skin carries on improving without this med then maybe we can avoid taking it as I am not keen. We are waiting til end of summer hols to make up our mind about the roaccutane so will see how it goes. She has not been prescribed the pill yet but I have heard that there are a couple that can improve acne so that is a possibility.

I thought I would share as bad spots and acne have been the cause of much misery for DD. We tried the GP multiple times with creams & tablets for years and they didn't work at all. I can only pass on that this regime does seem to be making progress and maybe it will help other people's DCs.

I have looked into treatments at a SkN clinic (a chain) but the consultation was £150 because she was under 18 and I can't afford that. Has anyone had experience of the acne scarring treatments to reduce redness?

Sorry OP I meant to say I hope your DS has got his spots under control - my DD had acne on sides of cheeks forehead and chin so worse than the odd breakout. I would be interested to hear if you had success with any of the over the counters you tried.

I have read that pro-biotics can be beneficial as the gut can have an effect on skin so might be worth looking into?

My daughter had a completly spotty forhead but not greasy skin sowashes for sensitive skin ,wectried lots of creams but it was clearderm gel worked in the end and all the spots are gone and the marks are gradully fading.

Sorry forgot to say that she was 11,now 12.

I'm one of those sorry adults that never grew out of teenage spots. As a pp mentioned, Freederm gel is the only thing that works for me.