Teenage acne

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My son is 14 he’s quite studious and quiet so I guess yes a little bit geeky 😬 he has recently developed quite bad acne and it’s not helping what little self confidence he already had as being teased.
the Gp prescribed Epiduo and we saw improvement in 24 hours but now he says his skin burns, it has gone very red and sore looking.
I looked on line for advice and came up with Cetaphil moisturiser to help it. Just applied and he’s screaming saying get it off it’s burning and his face is even redder.
I realise you’re not doctors but would really appreciate any advice or experience you may have.
feeling like a rotten mum as not helping 😬

The moisturiser will be burning as the acne cream will be drying everything out and affecting the acid barrier of his skin.

Options are to persevere through the horrible redness and flakiness and his skin will adapt (and keep at it with the cerave as it has ceramides in it that help). Could also add the cerave first, let it sink in, then acne cream 15 minutes later. Make sure he is only applying a thin layer of the cream as well.

Or - go slower with the acne management and buy some products off the shelf with salicylic acid in it and again continue to use something like cerave to help with redness.

Thank you so much for your quick response, it looks so sore not sure I’m brave enough to continue 😩I was using Acnecide before the Epiduo but didn’t really help.
maybe applying every other day like you say may help if I can summon up the courage 😊

Unfortunately all prescription acne treatments will cause redness and irritation at first. You're supposed to build up daily use gradually to get your skin used to it. Have you read the enclosed booklet? Is he using the products correctly? Can your GP prescribe oral antibiotics instead?

I have adult acne and have tried loads of different things. The best was Differin gel and Zineryt which is a topical antibiotic. Both are prescription only. Now I have a simple cleaning routine of The Ordinary face wash, hyaluronic acid then simple moisturiser. I wouldn't use Cetaphil because of its paraben content. A gentle aqueous cream or something like Aveeno would be better. I like The Ordinary moisturiser, it's very gentle, fragrance & paraben free.

I would test different moisturizer .

Also Vaseline on flaky bits will help . I use Vaseline on the whole face

Our GP prescribed a six month course of antibiotics for DS at 14. It sounds drastic but it worked. The acne gradually disappeared and never came back after stopping treatment. He had topical benzoyl peroxide too, but only needed to use it sparingly.

Antibiotics did not work for me but Epiduo did. The first 12 weeks were the worst but after that my skin adapted and the flaking stopped.
I used Dermalogica barrier repair, which was the only thing I could tolerate, until my skin settled, and I also used petroleum jelly (Vaseline) at night. I can now use most non-perfumed, non lanolin moisturisers. I cannot some though, such as E45 or Aveeno, as these make my skin feel like it is burning. I use the Epiduo 2-3 times a week now and it's enough to keep my skin clear. I use sun screen everyday, as my skin is now more sensitive to the sun. I have read upping your water intake and fatty acids (avocado and oily fish) helps. Acnes is utterly miserable, I hope the Epiduo works for you son.

Thank you that is reassuring that it took a while for Epiduo to work for you. Your gut instinct is that if your skin feels like it’s burning then stop. I think it’s worse feeling responsible for doing that to your child 😬