Also recommending the dermatologist route–I wish I had gone when I was younger. The Pill is the only thing that has slowed (but not stopped) the problem. I use Olay Daily Facials, follow up with Neutrogena Clear Pore astrinigent.
Acne sucks–and it sucks even more that I’m over 30 and still have it!
I was on Accutane as a teen.
It worked like a fucking miracle. My face cleared up in just a month or two.
That said, I never felt “right” when I was on it. I was glad to drop it. Sure, it did wonders for my complexion. But I still never felt quite right.
This was long before I read any of the literature linking it to depression and suicide.
I just remember, as a teen - “yeah, this medicine works pretty well. But I’m happy to be off it. I think acne might be better than staying on this stuff.”
It was reinforced when I learned that drinking even a little while on Accutane could kill you.
His face could be incredibly oily though. If I only wash once a day I will look like a glazed doughnut by the time I go to sleep. So I have to wash twice.
It could work though. The thing with acne is that different things work for different people. Some people can get better with over-the-counter creams, and some can’t.
I broke down and went to a dermatologist eight months ago. My face is a lot better, but it is getting better at a snails pace. Right now I use Tazorac every other day and Clindamycin lotion twice every day. As a result my face is always oily and I have to wipe it down every few hours. But it is getting clearer, so I’ll put up with the wiping until I stop seeing improvements.
Dermatologist+1.
The acne may be caused by many different things, really; most OTC stuff does nothing for me and even less for Lilbro (who needed a course of hormones in order to reduce his acne to manageable levels), Middlebro has never had more than three zits at a time and he seems to get them exclusively on his left shoulder.
Id be willing to bet he sleeps on his left side …
Also, skin on skin contact can cause issues. I shifted to long sleeves for a while and it helped [I sleep frequently with one arm cradling my face, and it would cause acne where the skin rested on other skin, trapping the oils and dirt between them I would imagine]
Frequent changing of the pillow case as mentioned above works, also try a buckwheat pillow - I hate a warm pillow and buckwheat seems to stay cooler.
I am going through hot flash hell right now, and I have to wear 100% cotton bras 24 hours a day to absorb any under the breast in the crease sweat, otherwise I get black and whiteheads from hell. I cant wait for that to stop.
Ya missed my point…washing twice a day is not bad, washing twice a day with soap is what’s bad. I was recommending that he stop using whatever soap he’s using and switch to Cetaphil, not recommending that he stop washing so much.
Please please PLEASE take him to a dermatologist. If you lack healthcare, take him to a Minute Clinic (which is CVS’s), but Walgreens and other drug stores have these small clinics run by nurses and Physician’s assistants. For $60, he will get advice and recommendations for what to use. It will save him a LIFETIME of scarring, which he’ll get from popping his pimples. There are generic drugs to treat acne now, it may seem like a lot of money to plunk down right now, but in the long run it will pay off - and quickly.
Let us know how it turns out.
+1 on lindsaybluth’s comments.
I had moderate acne through my teenage years. Spent tons of money on OTC, tried a dermatologist that wasn’t helpful (he just kept throwing random things at me and not really helping). Finally at 24 tried another dermatologist (actually a Phys assistant) recommended accutaine. I took it, with no side effects or problems, and now 5 years later I get maybe 2 little pimples a year.
Spend the $$ now regardless of health insurance. It’ll save soo much money in the future to figure out the proper way to handle it, and the developmental disadvantages that come from acne and will be avoided with your kid. Now is the time to do it before he’s interested in girls, and girls are interested in him – as you are aware, and probably why you are seeking the advice.
Or, you could realize that there may not be a darn thing he can do about it without the help of a doctor. If I had a nickel for every time I heard a parent incorrectly blame their child’s acne on bad hygiene, I’d have a whole lot of nickels.
Please keep an open mind and take him to the dermatologist. If you don’t, the physical acne scars could be with him for life.
Like others suggested, all the face washing and OTC products in the world won’t help some people. It takes a dermatologist to sort it out. My skin wasn’t all that bad as a teenager but I wouldn’t respond to anything other than the highest dose of Accutane. That stuff really is the nuclear bomb of skin medication and can be described more as a cure than an ongoing treatment. It does have some severe side-effects though and I became suicidal on it as well but it fixed the problem for good.
Seriously, especially if he actually has cystic acne (from your description, I expect he does). Aside from looking terrible and leaving scars, it’s very painful. And washing with “soap” twice a day is going to do absolutely zip for it, or most kinds of acne, for that matter. Also, none of the acne pads I’ve ever tried did anything, either.
Many treatments work, but they work differently for different people - a lot of people here recommended Cetaphil. You don’t wanna see what that stuff does to my face! ProActive only worked OK for me, and not all that well on cystic pimples.
Which is why I won’t recommend a specific regimine for him here - aside from what he may get prescribed, it’s a lot of trial & error, and what works will change as he gets older, too.
Just a side note that I’m sure everyone learns the hard way: Benzoyl Peroxide bleaches out your clothes. And your sheets. And your towels. He might want to switch to white shirts for a while.
Heh. Yeah, I never had a problem with my towels but I remember some of my sheets having lighter splotches on them from it.
Why can’t you just leave the kid alone and let him have acne like everyone else? What’s the big deal?
Well, because people don’t always like having acne especially since by the OP’s own (granted, insensitive) description, his son’s acne isn’t limited to the occasional pimple, but seems to be very severe in nature. And not everyone’s acne just clears up or goes away on its own. And, as others have pointed out, it can leave lasting scars if not treated.
Get him henceforth to a dermatologist. They have access to products you can’t get OTC. They know which OTC product will work for your son. Mine recommended Cetaphil Oily skin wash and prescribed a cream that has PB and Clindomycin, an antibiotic. At age 41, ti’s the first time I had totally clear skin since puberty.
It seemed like the OP’s son didn’t mind, and that only the OP did. I vote for “leave him alone.”
I’m still not convinced, but as I’m clearly in the minority here, I suppose I’ll have to leave it at that.
You can’t honestly tell me that you have never seen someone with permanent acne scars on their face and sometimes severe ones. There is no reason for any parent to take that lightly because they are usually permanent. If you have medical insurance, there is no reason not to talk to a dermatologist. They specialize in skin which is the bodies largest organ. We aren’t talking about plastic surgery. It is a medical condition that can be treated.
Here is an article on actors with acne scars:
http://videotyme.com/2009/03/03/actors-with-acne-scars/
The accutane is what was responsible for me NOT scarring, and it is a miracle drug, for real.
If it is really bad enough to warrant ‘pizzaface’, then it is worth a try. It does have possibilities for side effects, but it is the only thing I ever tried that 100% worked and immediately.
I still think it is a cosmetic condition, not a medical one.