Beauty

[CatLoverDogsToo]

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.

[Kachina624]

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@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.

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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.

[3suwm5]

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.

[wildcat fan]

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.

[tiggery]

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.

[Margo Channing]

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@YorkieonmyPillow wrote:

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

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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.

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[HangingTen]

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.

[Katmary]

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. 

[NativeJax]

@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!