Bad skin, won't discuss it.

[Danthe4th]

My 14 year old daughters skin is really spotty, her forehead, cheeks and chin are covered in small spots, not big acne spots. But she won't discuss it, I bought her various spot creams to try but really think the doctor would be able to prescibe something to help.She is always scratching her skin and she is going to have scars. Is there a wonder cure for spots that I can buy.
Whenever I mention it she just walks out the door.

If she's really sensitive about it, then even if you buy her stuff she's likely not to use it.

And the more you go on about it to her, the worse it will be!

Have you tried waiting till she's in bed, and then going in to have a quiet conversation with her about it?

Ultimately though, if she doesn't want to talk about it there's nothing you can do.

But you can make sure that she's eating (at least the meals she has at home!) plenty of fresh food - fruit and veg especially - and drinking lots of water.

Good luck.

I had the same problem with DS (now aged almost 16) last year - wouldn't use the washes, creams etc that I bought for him.

He's got to have a shoulder arthroscopy (spelling??) to rectify a rugby injury, but the consultant can't carry out the procedure until the acne on his shoulders is cleared up.

I had a long talk with DS about this, and he admitted that he is not happy with his skin, but the creams don't work, so we went of to our GP who prescribed antibiotics (oxytetracycline) that worked within 2 weeks - his skin is not completely clear, but massively improved.

He's since discovered that several of his male and female friends are also following a similar course of treatment with good results.

It's not a substitute for a good cleansing routine and plenty of fresh fruit, veg & water, but it DOES help..

all the above.

with my daughter, recently, and sons, several years ago, i suggested i would give them a beauty treatment.

I did the full process for them..cleansed, exfoliated, face mask, toner and most importantly applying a light moisturiser. I talked them through it, about diet, hygiene etc at the same time. it was great having one to one time and surprisingly they enjoyed being pampered. when they lapse and the wrteched plukes raise their heads in abundance i do it again.

My eldest did and does need to take Tetracyclines for acne breakouts especially around stress times like exams but touch wood the other two have not needed them yet.

If I were you, I wouldn't make a big thing of it. My mum and grandmother made a HUGE fuss about my bad skin when I was a teenager - they'd say things like "Oh, I just want to cry when I see the state of your skin" and they tried to make me take roaccutane (despite the fact that, at the time, there were concerns that it might be linked to a spate of suicides). Basically, they made a really big deal about it. Don't get me wrong, I didn't like having bad skin, but the fuss they made about it was worse than the spots! I knew I was never going to have great skin, I knew that acne in teens was pretty normal, so I just accepted it and didn't focus on it - and it annoyed me when they made out it was a really big thing. So, I'd say that if your daughter doesn't want to talk about it right now then I would leave it (but, like others have said, make sure she gets plenty of fruit and water in her diet). If you don't press the issue now, she'll be more likely to raise it with you in the future if she becomes more concerned about it.