Acne

[Piscesmumma1978]

15yo dd has had acne for years. It normally comes and goes but for the last few months it’s stayed. She has a bit of scarring as well.

Does anyone have any recommendations of things I can buy or is a gp going to be her best option?

Thanks x

Go to the GP.

Thank you. I thought so but she’s not keen x

My dd had awful acne and she used la Roche posay effaclar duo, it made such a difference, she doesn’t have any acne at all now. If you go to a GP the first thing they’ll likely suggest (as per NICE guidelines) is benzoyl peroxide cream for 12 weeks which you can buy OTC (Acnecide) just be careful as it stains pillow cases etc so you could try that before the GP then you’re one step ahead already.

Blood tests and start on the acne treatment pathway asap. Best not to delay especially if she is scarring now. It gets better with treatment.

Her diet will have an impact, skin is linked to gut. Does she eat a lot of sugar etc?

Agree diet is important too.

Go to the GP, they will likely try your DD on the topical and/or oral tablets within their scope of practice to prescribe. If they don't seem to work they can then look at referring to a Dermatologist, who have more (stronger) options within their scope to explore.
It is all trial and error with acne meds and as such it all takes a bit of time to find what works. Some of the stuff on the shelves in shops is OK and will likely complement the medication, but in my opinion none of them are as good as.
I say all of this as somebody who's struggled with acne since the day puberty hit me all those years ago! There isn't much I haven't tried 😂 Finally found a drug that works for me (via the Dermatologist route).
Everybody is different, so definitely go to the GP and get the ball rolling to see what works best for your DD xx

Thanks everyone. Her diet isn’t something I’d thought about. She’s the only one who doesn’t have a multi vitamin so I’ll start that end suggest she tries to cut down on sugar.

I’ll message the gp on Monday with some photos x