Acne medication?

[enitnelav]

Hi! My teen showers daily, has used several facial cleansers and moisturizers including the proactiv he's using right now for two months. Although the proactiv has helped the most he's still having large breakouts but it's about half as bad as it once was. So we were considering acne medication to subdue overactive glands. Just was wondering if anyone else had thoughts and experience with this? I'm a little concerned of course in just medicating my child, yuck.

[karne]

My dd uses a very low dose,prescription, topical treatment that works quite well, with no side effects.

[Marsupialmom]

For some kids doctor intervention is needed. My son was having hug break outs. We were going to set up a dermatologist appointment but another medical situation arouse and he ended up doing several rounds of some serious antibiotics before a lymph node biopsy then after. The positive side affects was his acne virtually disappeared. Antibiotics can be a treatment for some cases of acne. My son just by chance got that treatment, for what turned out to be a benign issue.

[SusanElizabeth]

I am totally a believer in going to the dermatologist.  

My kids skin was terrible when they were actively using Proactiv.

[Monkeypants]

I just read this in the Huffington Post- it might be helpful to you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/do-milk-and-sugar-cause-a_b_822163.html

Doctors don't tend to know a lot about diet.  Cutting out milk and going low sugar, coupled with good fat (omega 3's and 6's) supplimentation could be the way to go and help you avoid medication. Honestly, I don't think all the acne products on the market really do anything, and they can be really harsh on the skin. Good luck!!

[nictome]

My doc prescribed Erythromycin Cream for my daughter.  It worked really well!  She puts it on at night.  Also, the doc said that too frequent washings strip the natural oils and that her body would actually produce more than normal oil if she washed too frequently.  She washes in the morning and night, now, and after sports. Something worked because she looks much, much better.  (Good luck.)

[enitnelav]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions! The article was also very interesting and thought provoking. I'm willing to try altering our diets as well.

[csue]

My oldest son had terrible acne. He saw a dermatologist and took two rounds of Accutane. It worked wonders, but it is no longer on the market. I started earlier with my second son, and he has been taking azithromycen and using topical creams-Retin A and Duac (clindamycin & benzoyl peroxide) from the dermatologist. When my third son is ready I won't hesitate to see a dermatologist. I strongly recommend that you get an evaluation. They have alot of treatments available.

[SuburbanHippie]

After doing every single natural remedy I could possibly google, I went to a dermatologist and got put on clindamycin.  It has worked wonders on my face.  I also did a long round of antibiotics too at the beginning, but I'm not entirely sure that did anything. 

[chfriend]

My 10 year old has had forehead acne (not just a few pimples) for a few months. She's taken benadryl at night for 3 nights for something unrelated and the acne is almost gone. Oh goody, a new allergy manifestation. I wonder what this reation is to!

[karne]

Originally Posted by chfriend 

My 10 year old has had forehead acne (not just a few pimples) for a few months. She's taken benadryl at night for 3 nights for something unrelated and the acne is almost gone. Oh goody, a new allergy manifestation. I wonder what this reation is to!

Do you think the benedryl acted as a sort of anti-inflammatory for her and reduced the acne that way?

[chfriend]

karne, you know, it's possible. She had a wheat sensitivity that lasted until almost 8, then disappeared. For right now, we're doing 25 mg of benadryl and 200 mg ibuprofen at night and a generic claritin during the day. 4 days in and the relief is amazing.

So far, we haven't started eliminating, I think because we're not quite sure where to start and eliminations are a complete pain.

[NikonMama]

My son doesn't have acne yet (hopefully he gets his father's perfect skin) but I have had terrible acne since 5th grade.  I have been to the dermatologist countless times throughout my life, and nothing they have done has worked.  I've also tried everything, without results.  In the past couple years I started getting bad cystic acne, which I never did before, and got fed up with it all so I stopped using everything and only rinse my face well with water and use no moisturizers.  I still break out during my period (always in the same spots), but otherwise my skin is almost clear for the first time in my life...from not doing anything.  I put my face under the water during my shower, and rub my face with the pads of my fingers like I would if I were putting a soap on or something. 

I guess I can't really say that I haven't done anything, though.  I did do the diet change, thing, getting rid of a lot of carbs and adding more good fats, as Monkeypants said.  Diet really does play a big part in what happens in our bodies. 

[QueenOfTheMeadow]

Originally Posted by Monkeypants 

I just read this in the Huffington Post- it might be helpful to you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/do-milk-and-sugar-cause-a_b_822163.html

Doctors don't tend to know a lot about diet.  Cutting out milk and going low sugar, coupled with good fat (omega 3's and 6's) supplimentation could be the way to go and help you avoid medication. Honestly, I don't think all the acne products on the market really do anything, and they can be really harsh on the skin. Good luck!!

This would be my first suggestion as well. I work at Whole Foods iin the whole body department, and we get a whole bunch of requests for anti acne body care products. But for the people who come in and nothing works, I usually advise checking out their diet first.

[kellkell]

Originally Posted by Monkeypants 

I just read this in the Huffington Post- it might be helpful to you.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/do-milk-and-sugar-cause-a_b_822163.html

Doctors don't tend to know a lot about diet.  Cutting out milk and going low sugar, coupled with good fat (omega 3's and 6's) supplimentation could be the way to go and help you avoid medication. Honestly, I don't think all the acne products on the market really do anything, and they can be really harsh on the skin. Good luck!!

Thanks for the link!

My dd12 is using Proactiv and it seems to keep things under control at this point.