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! :eek ) 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 :D

Chanley do you have a link to your soap, can you email me?
mydbmen@netscape.net 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. :love

[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." :thumb 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]

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!

[Xenogenesis]

Was it accutane or Retin A they say to watch out for *teenage depression*? And what are the ingredients in Proactiv?

[applejuice]

I grew up in a household that used only natural products. I was a vegetarian/vegan for most of my early life, and I was blessed with -yes- adolescent acne from age nine until I was thirty-eight! The only time I did not have acne was during my four pregnancies. Therefore, it may have been horomone related. I NEVER was on the birth control pill.

I broke out on my face, my arms, my chest, my back, even my legs! Nothing seemed to help. When I went to college, I got antibiotic treatment and Retina-A and still little relief!

I kept my skin pristinely clean and disinfected w/ peroxide, isopropyl alcohol, witch hazel, and OTC products that basically just cost money and did nothing else.

Through it all, I did take lots of Vitamins, especially A, C, and E, and minerals as zinc and calcium. I never did scar, and I have few wrinkles since I do have still lots of moisture in my skin.

I guess, a blessing finally.

Post Script:

None of my beautiful children have suffered as badly as I did with acne. They had alittle, but not much.

[MysticHealerMom]

I think diet playings a big role. Sugar is a nasty culprit. During puberty with everything going on, dietary sugar makes things go haywire. Cutting out dairy was good, too, but I wanted to re-opt the sugar suggestion. I was a sugar fiend as a kid. My acne never went away just because I outgrew it - I mean, I didn't outgrow it - but when I cut sugar in my diet WAY down, my skin cleared up very well. I was able to enlist a breakout, on accident, with a huge box of candy that I had to eat - gar, sugar is a harsh mistress, and so often we're pointed away from it as a culprit.

Best wishes,

Lori

[granolamom]

Pro active truly worked on my thirteen year old DD.

I researched every agent in the product before I placed my first order. I found 'Nothing" which could causelong term harm.

After 2 weeks on Proactive, Kaci's face completely cleared up.

It may be worth trying.

Good luck to you and your son,
Granolamom

[DharmaDisciple]

My dd is like me ( I still get spots at 30) We are vegan and have hardly any sugar...might try the nettle tea though.

Dd has skin like me in that it is oily but very sensitive- I have tried everything for her from tea tree to neutrogena, to dead sea soap olive oil soap to pH balanced and they all make her face blotchy and strip her skin- just like mine. She is getting spots and it's getting her down. What can I do.....I used to make a cleanser using 100ml mineral water with lavender, bergamot and a bit of tea tree, which you wipe on with a cotton wool- this is all I have left to try. I have spent a fortune on products only to find them no use- I really feel for her.

[anythingelse]

Hi! Since posting my 13 yr old has turned 14 now and had a huge growth spurt. He is still really suffering with acne. So far we have tried
*limited certain foods and adding vitamin supplements
*tried the proactiv products which caused his face to not only still break out but be dry and flaky sore
* tried an erythromicin clear topical solution which did nothing
* also He spent 3 months on tetracycline and his skin really cleared up great, I thought he could maintain it with the tea tree soap use also, but since stopping the oral med it got back to lots of infected pimples.
SO he is trying the tetracycline again and using a product called Differin for topical use. He has no acne on his cheeks it is only on his forehead and nose, really made me wonder if it was related to shampoos or if the way he wears his hair but the dermatologist says he thinks that ds touches his face rubs forhead and nose maybe a lot. Very frustrating! I have watched him and he wears glasses and does have a nervous habit of rubbing his forehead & resting his forehead on fingers when reading etc. Dermatologist blames this on hormones 'testostrone surge' and told ds the only sure way to get rid of this type of acne is castration (my dh and ds did not laugh):eek So anyway :D I will let you know how the differin product works out and post again. This seems to be one of those frustrating things for parents to watch their kids go through, I would take all his zits and stick them on me to have if I knew how:(

[Marg of Arabia]

"Was it accutane or Retin A they say to watch out for *teenage depression*? And what are the ingredients in Proactiv?

It was accutane. I took it twice and never had any trouble......

[Lucky Charm]

Marg,
The ingredients in Proactiv include benzoyl peroxide (2.5%....5-10% are in products like stridex), gycolic acid, aloe vera, and i think witch hazel.

i have bought these items at the store to use, but it never quite works as well as the procativ! i cannot tell you why!

:coffee

[*~*SewHappyNow*~*]

They claim the benzoyl peroxide in the Proactiv products is finely milled. Maybe that's why it works so much better. I tried it and it works great, but I have sensitive skin and ended up with hives all over my neck and chest :( even though I was only using it every other day or every 3rd day. Now I do not use the cleanser, only the lotion occasionally, and the toner daily.

[Lucky Charm]

Lea...i think it being finely milled is the reason why it works so well also.

I have sensitive skin....no hives, but after 3 days of using the system twice daily, my skin was red and irritated. (but also clearer!). now i use the cleanser every morning in the shower, and skip the lotion and toner. i only use the toner if pimples start coming back, which is rare.

[Golden]

Another proactiv praiser here!
I will say that when I first started using it over a year ago though, I had a VERY long adjustment period with it. It had all of those things others here have mentioned: dry, painful, red, burned looking, skin. They tell you to use all three products 2x a day. I did that initially til i couldn't handle it anymore (3 or 4 days maybe). Backed off for a week, let it calm down, and VERY slowly eased back into it. It took about 3 months, I would say. On average, now, I use all 3 products once a day and the astringents/clarifying/toner stuff a second time. Total success.

Nothing else has worked.

I called couple of times in the beginning, and they told me to do what I did above. And to save all the bottles, empty or full, and if I wasn't happy with it, to send the bottles back for a refund (minus shipping).

The one major drawback though to this stuff is that it makes your skin very sensitive to the sun. Then again, I think tetracycline does too.

Here is a link to their key ingredients:
proactiv ingredients (http://proactiv.com/products/products.php)

No I don't sell the stuff. Just someone who would avoid eye contact and social interactions with people from the painful, unsightly zits.

:D Golden

[anythingelse]

If you don't mind sharing- Marg- how long did you take the accutane and how long did it take for your skin to show signs of clearing up? Thanks,
Mary

[Seeking Refuge]

I agree that diet plays an important role but you can't always control what a teenager eats.

You might try these two treatments in conjunction use the astingent after you wash facial area and the mask a cuple of times a week.

Blemished Skin Mask:

1 ripe tomato chop
1 tsp Lemon juice
1 tb Instant style oatmeal or old
-fashioned rolled oats

Blend all until just combined. Apply to skin,making sure the mixture is thick enough to stay on blemished areas:
cheeks, forehead, or chin. Add a bit more oatmeal to thicken the
mask, if necessary. Leave on 10 mins, then scrub off with a clean
washcloth dipped in warm water.

Herbal Astringent for Oily Skin


1 ounce Chamomile
3 tablespoons Witch hazel
1/2 teaspoon Cider vinegar
1 ounce Peppermint extract
8 ounces Water
Few drops of peppermint essential oil 1/4 teaspoon
Boric acid -- optional

Boil chamomile, witch hazel, vinegar, peppermint and water. Cool and strain. Add remaining ingredients in a spray bottle and shake. Keep refrigerated

Good Luck,

Steph

[Natashka]

Vanna's Mom: if you believe that the breakouts ARE related to shampoos/conditioners, check out Paula begoun's books or her website www.cosmteticscop.com. -- she explains what ingredients in hair products are pore-clogging and how to try to avoid those ingredients to see if the skin gets better.

[Alexander]

gently rub all effected areas with pure olive oil for 2-3 minures a day.

works like magic.


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