topic Re: Acne/blackhead help in Beauty

Acne/blackhead help

tiggery — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 04:14:51 GMT

I'm looking for a tough acne and blackhead treatment for my 13 year old son. He's starting to hit puberty and is being riddled with acne. He also has done very large blackheads in the crease of his nose that we can't get out. I've been looking at Proactive, but am not sure. My sister uses that and it bleaches her bed pillows. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

Re: Acne/blackhead help

Grandma 4 — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 05:02:36 GMT

Good idea to take him to a dermatologist! Doctor will suggest the right treatment,before you waste money and time on stuff that doesn't work,or even makes his skin worse.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

ECBG — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 05:11:11 GMT

If you don't take him to a dermatologist you can risk adult acne and other problems such as bad scarring. The right treatment can keep him from having large holes in his face.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

panda1234 — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 06:53:22 GMT

I have heard very good things about Proactive products. I have just started using Glamglow for the same problem with very good results. As people have said here, going to a dermatologist, not a primary care is a good idea.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

Bellabutterfly — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 07:11:01 GMT

The best advice I can give you is to make an appointment with a really good Dertamalogist. There is so much that they have out now to help kids.

A few years ago we were having some yard work. The contractor brought his son with him and he just turned 14 yrs old. It was summertime and he worked with his dad during the summer months.

He was so shy and was very self concious and struggling...All because of his severe acne. The poor kid was loaded...Not just a breakout here or there on his face, it was very severe and even on his shoulders and back area.

After a few days of getting to know him he started to confide in me. He was Russian right from Russia...He said all my family said I will grow out of it? They don't understand how hurtful kids my age can be? I hate it! I hate the names if get called...

I spoke to both he and his dad and gave them the name of a wonderful Dertamologists. I told the father this doctor can help your son skin. And I left it at that...

Three months later on a Saturday my doorbell rang and to my surprize it was the boy with his Mother thanking me for the name of the dertamologists.

The boy's face looked amazing and he hugged me and started crying. He said, school started 3 weeks ago and already a girl likes me...And I just smiled. Both the mother and the son hugged me again and said from the bottom of their heart "Thank You".

This is a very rough world we are living in...Kids bulling...Kids dying for being bullied...Our society is in such a sad state.

Anything you or anyone can do to help a kid...Weather it is advise or just providing a listening ear...Be there for them...Many partent do not know what goes on at school after they drop off their child....It is sad, but it is true!

Re: Acne/blackhead help

NativeJax — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 07:57:50 GMT

My son had severe acne, cystic acne....I took him to dermatologist and his face at 22 has zero scars. My son did have to have procedure where they would stick needles in his face to remove the pus, sometimes up to 100 times per visit. It was an ordeal but he has a beautiful face and skin now. Do not waste precious time trying over the counter products, get him to the doctor:-)

Re: Acne/blackhead help

henderson — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 15:02:04 GMT

I suggest trying Paula's Choice -- they have a skin care line for acne. He needs benzoyl peroxide & salicylic acid which is in her 2 week trial kit if you want to sample it before purchasing larger bottles. You can read reviews of customers who've tried these products. I've been using PC since 1995 -- fragrance free, no animal testing, color free and products guaranteed for 90 days. The salicylic acid (which is BHA) will help with blackheads, whiteheads.

Then after that suggestion, if your son's acne is so bad and he is self conscious, please get him to a dermatolgist. Our sons were on accutane (that was back in the 90's). It really cleared up their skin, but it does have side effects.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

YorkieonmyPillow — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:00:45 GMT

My daughter used those Biore strips for blackheads & said they worked very well.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

YorkieonmyPillow — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:02:46 GMT

@Bellabutterfly That was awfully nice of you.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

TTerri — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 16:11:04 GMT

Go right to Walmart and buy their brand, Equate, of Proactiv. It's a three piece kit and costs under $12.

There are also a few other brands of Proactive-type kits there for under $20.

You'll need to purchase a few white washcloths and white hand towels and yes, the peroxide in the products can slightly bleach your pillowcases.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

CatLoverDogsToo — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 17:51:08 GMT

I agree with the previous posters. Take him to a dermatologist. I had cystic acne as a teenager and my parents did not take me to a dermatologist. I don't have scarring, but I have incredibly large pores on my nose, that you could drive a truck through. I tried a benzyle peroxide product and found out I was extremely allergic to that. I am in my late 50's now, and am still self-conscious about my nose.

My daughter used Proactive. She initially had good results with it, but she was also on minocyline at the same time, so we weren't sure what actually helped. She went off the minocycline and about 6 months after that the acne was back much worse, to the point where she had enlarged lymph nodes. The Proactive did nothing and now she is sensitive to benzoyl peroxide.

She has recently seen a dermatologist again and a generic accutane was recommended. She decided against doing that, so she is back on the minocycline. Accutane has been banned in the US, but a generic form is ok. That really made no sense to my daughter. She has eczema, so the side effect of very dry skin concerned her, as she already has dry skin.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

Kachina624 — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 18:59:26 GMT

@Grandma 4 wrote:
Good idea to take him to a dermatologist! Doctor will suggest the right treatment,before you waste money and time on stuff that doesn't work,or even makes his skin worse.

I too would bite the bullet and get him to a dermatologist before he has scarring and pock marks. I've found these commercial preparations have little effect and can actually make the condition worse.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

3suwm5 — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 23:07:52 GMT

Our son went to a dermatologist early 2000's and she recommended accutane. He did take it for 4 months and didn't suffer too much from any side-effects. His skin looks very good and I'm happy he decided to go that route. His face would have been just full of scars had he not had a successful treatment plan.

She also said that proactive has a 50% success rate, so it may work, it may work for a bit or it may not work at all.

I suggest you take him to the dermatologist as soon as possible. They can give him options and he can decide which one he'd like to try. If you disagree with his choice, maybe a gentle nudge toward your choice would be in order. If you wait too long, his face may never recover from the scarring.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

wildcat fan — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 23:21:25 GMT

I took my son to four different dermatologists starting in 4th grade. Everything they prescribed did not work (Differin, Retin A, ....). They lessened the degree of acne, but never completely cleared it up. I didn't want to go with Accutane. When he was in 7th grade, I ordered a ProActiv kit from QVC. He could've been a candidate for one of their infomercials because it completely cleared up within a few weeks and he's not had any problems since.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

tiggery — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 02:31:20 GMT

I appreciate all the suggestions! I plan on looking into dermatologists as soon as I'm off next week. I did pick up the try me of different face care items that even had a gray cleansing scrub that QVC offers for like $17 for him to try until I can get him in.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

Margo Channing — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 22:16:53 GMT

@YorkieonmyPillow wrote:
My daughter used those Biore strips for blackheads & said they worked very well.
**************************************************
Yorkie--I have two Biore products I like and recommend: Biore Baking Soda Cleanser and Biore Deep Pore Charcoal Cleanser. I use the former daily and the charcoal about once a week. Inexpensive and effective.

I believe both of them together came to under $20. This is the first product that wasn't an Isomers product. I find a need a stronger cleanser and their Australian Harvest irritated my eyes.

hth.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

HangingTen — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 22:34:10 GMT

I'm grateful that 30+ years ago, my parents took me to a dermatologist. Back then I was prescribed tetracycline orally. In addition, I washed with Purpose soap and used Persa-gel peroxide as a spot treatment. The persa-gel is now OTC. I recommend the wash and peroxide to co-workers with kids going through what I did. And of course, get in to a dermatologist.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

Katmary — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 23:30:15 GMT

I went through pretty severe acne as a teen and even now at 44, I still deal with hormonal acne along the chin mostly (Paula's Choce BHA 2% is helping) and have a few pimples going at a time despite having "normal" skin so it's a pain finding moisturizers for anti-aging that don't break me out from clogging my pores.. I won't even get into the name-calling I went through! I used a bunch of different topical and oral medications, until finally after a discussion with my Mom and doctor, we decided on Accutane. That lessened my cystic acne, thank goodness! My dermatologist used to also use a freezing technique on my face, not sure what it is, but it was a machine that she'd wipe over my face that supposedly lessened oil production (pre-laser in office, for sure!). After that, I still used topicals and still had spot treatment products on hand for pimples. I really need to get back on Retin A to help it.

On the bright side, your son will be less likely to wrinkle when he's older, which doesn't mean much when you hate how you look in the moment, plus adulthood is a gazillion years away!

I feel for anyone dealing with acne, "pizza face" and all the ridiculous comments come back. Concealer doesn't cover it for real, and it's worse that way for boys as they don't normally use concealer. The one good thing is he's young and you're being pro-active (no pun intented!) about it and helping him. I do think a dermatologist can steer you in the right direction, as I know pre-dermatologist I was using everything drying I could and that wasn't the right thing to do. For the longest time I thought my face SHOULD be tight post-cleasing! Best of luck to your son, he's lucky to have you in his corner! Oh, and as far as pillowcases which you may still need, you may want to get white cotton so the others aren't ruined, as well as white washcloths as another poster stated.

Re: Acne/blackhead help

NativeJax — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 02:20:01 GMT

@Katmary:

My son went thru that, it was horrible on his self esteem. I tried everything to help with the exception of the accutane, which he did not want to do because of the side effects. We would go and have a procedure done that required needles with a vacuum that went down inside and removed the pus, he would sit on the table and shake and sweat but it did work and he has no scars and no acne now. I am sorry that your peers put you thru that, I remember my son crying over it. Glad those days are over for anyone that went thru that!