Zits and what to do HELP

[anythingelse]

Hi all,
My 13 year old son has very sensitive skin. His face has started to break out really bad on his forhead and where his glasses hit his nose. What kinds of good products do you reccomend and any ideas??? cause he is feeling really bad about it and I am at a loss. He is good about washing his face and eats right. We went to the dermatologist and they gave me 3 prescriptions for some creams and oral antiboitics. I don't want him to take a daily pill, but don't know an alternative.
Thanks!!
Mary

[Chanley]

The biggest source of skin problems is dairy in the diet.

This is a bummer for teens because most easy quick foods are loaded with cheese.

I would highly suggest trying the elimination diet. The reason dairy effects the skin is because the sugars are very hard for the body to digest, thus they become toxic to the system and the only way the body can eliminate them is through the skin.

Also a good tea tree soap would be helpful for his skin. PM if you need a source of that, i make a great skin soap.

But if he is willing to cut out the dairy, I would bet his skin would clear up.

[Lindy]

I agree with Chanley, when my teenage son stopped eating dairy and sugar, his face cleared up.

[blueridgewoman]

I completely agree with Chanley and Lindy. Somehow, though I am well past adolescence, I have been blessed with adult acne. The elimination diet- mainly eliminating dairy!- really helped for me.

Another thing that I do everyday is wash with a diluted Tea Tree Oil solution. I get an organic cotton ball, swipe it through some warm water so the edge gets wet, and then put a few drops of oil on it (it HURTS to use the oil straight! ) Then in the morning, I wash with a tea tree soap. Makes a huge difference!

[Sierra]

You know, I recall Mothering having a really good article about natural and effective teenage skin care some time back. It would be worth a search.

[anythingelse]

One of my son's favorite books is No Milk by Daniel Twogood, so he already doesn't get dairy in his diet by his choice. It helped get rid of headaches he was having. I will try Tea Tree oil, we use that during head lice season as a preventive but never thought about for acne.
Any other ideas please

Chanley do you have a link to your soap, can you email me?
[e-mail] Thanks!

[Chanley]

The link is on my sig,
bean tree soap

The particular bar is the Tree Hugger Hemp soap.

[saige]

Diet has alot to do with it.So does stress and a thousand other factors!! Mary Kay has a really good cleansing bar that works wonders.

[Elphaba]

as an acne survivor, i'd like to tell you about my experiences.
i have taken the antibiotics, and they are most unpleasant. lots of gas, and even vomiting with some of them. the creams -- retin A, benzamycin, etc. have the lovely side effext of increased photosensitivity. i would get severe sunburn walking from my car into a building. and, my last resort, accutane. a truly horrific drug. but after over a decade of feeling ugly and gross, i wanted it.
i hope your son is able to eliminate it by changing his diet, but some people are just going to have acne, regardless of dietary habits. i would definitely encourage you to exhaust all non-toxic remedies before resorting to what i went through. i would even turn to chiropractic and acupuncture before i'd go to antibiotics.
also, don't overwash the face as this just stimulates the sebaceous glands. i believe origins makes a lotion that absorbs excess oil, and i had good results with that. and marykay's moisturizer for oily skin holds oil at bay. i wore it for my wedding and was the only one not shining in the pictures!

[barbara]

We have always used witchazel, it was what my mom had me use for my acne and in combination with diet has been great.

I never heard of tea tree oil for a head lice preventive....do you wash the hair with it....do you dilute it? We have had some battles with it being passed around our church, and the school my dh teaches at. I would love to have some preventive so I can feel free to love on the kids there.

[Keiko]

This is kind of an expensive method, but have you ever tried allergy testing? It involves blood tests, costs about $150-$200 (I don't think it's covered by insurance). My little brother had horrendous skin problems, and it turns out he was severely allergic to eggs. When he stopped eating them, his skin cleared right up.

I also recommend Noxzema for daily cleansing. It doesn't overly dry the skin, and it unclogs pores really well.

Good luck!

[Mamabear]

Barbara--30 drops tea tree oil to about 4 cups of warm water, rinse and saturate hair throughly and leave in. Two or three times a day. I have used this in conjuction with mayonaise wraps and nit-picking with great success. Also, keeping a few drops mixed in with shampoo and/or cream rinse can be a helpful preventative.

[Moss's Mommy]

I suffered with acne my whole life and tried everything!!!!! This is kind of unbelievable, but somebody suggested Proactive-off tv, so finally I gave it a try and the results are really unbelievable. I do get one or two here and there, but for the most part---it's gone

[myrrhmaid]

I heard about taking raw egg yolk and 'painting' it on the affected areas until it dries, then wash off.
Do this everyday for a month & then once a week when there is significant clearing. It has something to do with the vit. E in the yolk.
Also when you wash your face, use a nice natural lotion. The oils in the lotion help moisturize skin and helps with excessive oil secretion. When you wash all the oil off the face the skin works extra hard to rehydrate by over producing oils.

Does anyone know what the active ingredients in the pro-active stuff is?

[Jazmommie]

My 14 year old son & I have been having nettle tea(hot water & 1 or 2 nettle tea bags)-every day in the morning & at night.

He is impressed & I have only 1 or 2 at certain times of the month.

Simple & effective .

[Marg of Arabia]

I do not believe that diet has a lot to do with my acne. I have always struggled with it and I think it is genetic. My mom and dad both had it and my 14 year old is struggling too. We use retin-A every other day for her acne. She is responding beautifully. I am lucky because I spent the last several years overseas in countries where I could get a nice big supply of retin-A over the counter. I think my current supply will last a couple of more years. As far as the sensitivity to sun goes, my dd seems fine. But, her and I both have darker(olive) skin so, I think that has a lot to do with it.

Otherwise, I had some success with a combo of tea tree oil and clearisil.

Good luck!

[EnviroBecca]

I had a lot of zits from age 10-12, and the thing that helped most was cleaning my whole face with witch-hazel on a cotton ball every morning and night.

Also, my grandma had a good strategy: Rather than nagging me not to pick at pimples, she told me (just once!) that if you pick them they're more likely to scar, "It's up to you to decide whether the relief of draining the pimple is worth the risk of a scar. Remember, whenever you are going to touch broken skin, it's important to clean the area and your fingers, especially under your nails, with alcohol so that you don't get an infection." I really appreciated feeling in charge of my own face! I never had an infection and have no acne scars, despite doing a lot of picking.

[AdinaL]

I still break out at 28. I started using Neutrogena Pore Refining Cleanser in the shower in the morning and it works really well. Has just enough stuff in it to dry out any zits you have, and works pretty well at keeping the new ones from showing up. And the ones I have gotten are a lot less obnoxious. In the evening I use Burt's bees Orange Essence Facial cleanser. Followed by a cotton ball with Burt's Tomato Toner. The combo seems to be working so far. The Neutrogena keeps things nice and dry and the Burt's stuff moisturizes a bit so no scaly skin.
Just a thought.

[alsoSarah]

Each night, after washing your face, mix a single drop of tea tree oil with a dab of oil-free moisturizer in the palm of your hand. Apply to your face while it's still wet from washing, so that the tea tree oil gets diluted/spread thoroughly over your whole face.

Even for very oily skin, use GENTLE soap/cleansers when you wash! Try formulations for sensitive skin.
Good luck!

[Lucky Charm]

ProActiv really works!

I was blessed with adult acne, mostly because of my job in the ICU. "nurses skin" is what the doctor called it. i tried everything, including tea tree oils, msm cream, etc. nothing, except big cyst like pimples all over my face and chest. Finally in desperation, i tried Proactiv, i figured what the heck, i could return it right? well, three years later i am still using it, and not a pimple in sight! i get it auto shipped every 12 weeks and love it!