Ways You Can Assist Your Teenager In Dealing With The Often Catastrophic Problem Of Acne

It may very well seem fairly trivial to most people but to a teenager the onset of acne can often seem to be the end of the world. Almost all teenagers will get acne at some time and, in many cases, it is reasonably mild and nothing more than irritating. In other cases however acne can prove to be severe and cause a poor body image and even serious depression. In every case however there are several steps which you can take to help your teenager in dealing with the problems of acne.

A major problem with acne is that there are several myths about acne which your child is likely to hear at school or to pick up on things like the Internet. You need to therefore begin by arming yourself with the facts and here are a few the principle facts about exactly what causes acne and what sort of things can actually make an attack of acne worse:

* Genetics – some kids are quite simply more susceptible to acne no matter what they do.

* Too much scrubbing – a lot of teenagers believe than cleaning their skin well will help in getting rid of acne. While cleanliness is undoubtedly important, scrubbing the skin too hard can both cause problems for existing spots and also result in their spread.

* Squeezing spots – most kids cannot resist the temptation to pop their pimples and this is something which I think we can all understand. Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that this may appear to help things look better in the short term, it is only going to make things worse in the longer term.

* Diet – the precise link between diet and acne is not well understood at the moment but there can be little doubt diet has an effect on acne.

* Stress – whenever we find ourselves under stress the chemical balance in our bodies becomes unbalanced and this can add to the problems of teenage acne.

* Makeup – a lot of children, of both sexes, will attempt to use makeup to cover their acne. However, this can cause problems both in terms of the skin's ability to breathe properly and of acne reacting to the chemicals contained within the makeup chosen.

The first thing which your teenagers have to understand is that acne is a natural part of the process of growing up and, particularly, of the hormonal changes which are going on within their bodies. They also have to understand that some children will be affected more than others and that, whether they are one of the lucky ones or not, this is merely a phase that will pass in time.

Next, your children need to be taught proper skin care and it is best to start this from an early age, and before acne appears if at all possible. However, if acne has already reared its ugly head it is still not too late and this is something which they must learn and practice.

Kids should wash their face in the morning and again in the evening with a mild soap and, once acne arrives, with a specially formulated acne soap which can be bought over-the counter at most supermarkets or drug stores. One important point here is that washing two times daily is quite sufficient and that, desite the fact that they might be tempted to wash more often this can actually dry the skin and make matters worse.

Washing with acne soap will often be enough, although this is not an instant cure and your kids will need to be patient and persistent. Where this does not do the trick however you should talk to your doctor or dermatologist. Your doctor or dermatologist will be able to suggest the best acne medication which your teenager will again need to use for quite some time before it produces results.

Without question, the most important step which you can take in assisting your child to deal with acne is to begin early. Your teenager might well be embarrassed by the appearance of acne and you may be reluctant to step in and assist if they have only a spot or two. However, beginning treatment early can often knock the problem on the head and stop it from growing into a serious problem. Parenting teens is not always simple but with the right preparation it does not have to be all that hard either.