13 Year Old with Facial Pimples

ProActiv - best thing I have EVER used on my skin. I started using it when i was 12. Worked almost immediately.

Neutrogena soap and a gentle astringent twice a day should help. Acne is a part of life; we all get it. A clean, healthy body fueled by a clean healthy diet is really the best you can do.

Ahhhh, puberty!

Just make sure he washes his face morning and night and changes his pillowcases every couple of days to keep them to a minimum.

When I was a teen, I used Stridex pads. They are small, fast to use, and don't feel 'creamy'. I was always amazed at what came off my face on the pads, and they worked great.

have him use a facial scrub, such as St. Ives (apricot) it is inexpensive, can be found at Target, Wallmart etc.. follow with a toner (astringent) and a light facial cream, make sure he uses a cotton ball with the astringent to remove excess dirt...hope this helps...J

The main thing for boys and girls this age is to keep their hands off their faces! Boys, especially, get dirty hands and touching their face just transfers the dirt and the bacteria.
Never use anything that is over-drying as that just causes the skin to produce more oil which causes more pimples.
The very best thing to use after washing, or even just a couple of times throughout the day is good old-fashioned with hazel on a cotton ball.
It can be purchased at any drug store, is super cheap, doesn't sting or burn.
Even proactive didn't work for my friend's daughter, so I had her get some with hazel and her skin improved dramatically.

Best wishes!

My girls use proactive, and it works well. Changing the pillow case will also help!

M.

I buy a soap with 5% Salacylic Acid in it for my daughters and they all 3 love it!!! I buy it through the pharmacy where I work, it is not anything that requires a prescription but we order it in as a special order item for our customers. I cannot remember the exact name of it right now but if you want to know please just message me and I can call my work and find out really quickly!!! Don't go with anything too strong unless you talk to a dermatologist because you don't want to damage his skin.

My daughter uses Proactive, it works great... Good luck

My stepdaughter had the same problem.
What helped with her was ensuring she washed her face every day. She wasn't even washing it in the shower (yikes).
She uses Clean & Clear facial cleaser soap on her face, every day washes her face in the shower now and a topical medicine her ped prescribed (betamethasone valerate) to be applied once/twice a day.
All this has done wonders and cleared it up!

It's important that he washes his face twice daily. Stay away from scrubs that contain "sharp" pieces of grit, like apricot scrubs that usually have ground bits of pit in them. They can nick and abrade the skin, leading to irritation or possible infection. Jafra makes a scrub/mask called Malibu Miracle Mask which contains ground almond meat (the actual edible nut, not the shell). Used as a mask, it draws excess sebrum out and clears pimples usually within a day or two. Used as a scrub, it's a great exfoliator. Jafra also carries a line of teen skin care products which are quite effective and a lot less expensive than Proactive, which may work great for awhile, but in most cases becomes ineffective over time (personal experience talking here...I have lots of clients who used the product at one time and switched when it failed to continue working). Contact me directly if you're interested in learning more about the Jafra line of products for teens.

It probably depends on how sensitive he is about them. I started going to the derm at 12 and used various combos of perspription pill and cream for 10 years until I just got tired of doing it. I had on average 4-5 pimples at a time and almost never had a 100% clear face from age 12 to 16. I pretty much just grew out of it, though I still have the occasional adult acne breakout right before my period. I did take accutane at 14 (which at the time it wasn't approved for my age but docs did it anyway and then it was linked to all kinds of awful things in teens and young adults and I believe they generally reserve it for adults now) I would say if you can afford it and are willing, run through all the over the counter soaps, creams, pads, overnight serums till you find one he is happy with (my 30 yr old husband still uses a clearasil overnight product that he swears by). Also make sure you both realize that for most teens, acne is just something to learn to deal with and a completely zit free face all of the time is usually an unattainable ideal.

zap-it acne treatment is fantastic...I can tell you where to get it if you are interested.

Take him to the dermatologist. I started out at that age with just a few pimples here and there, and pretty soon it was full-blown acne. I ended up going on Accutane, which was a life saver! It's a pretty serious drug, but it ends acne completely for a minimum of 10 years.

Your son may not be at that point yet, but the dermatologist has up-to-the-minute information on the best ways to treat acne, and will know at what point to escalate the treatment if necessary. There are oral and topical antibiotics, prescription-strength benzoyl peroxide, and many other treatments. It's better to go that route, in my opinion, than to buy half the items at a drugstore hoping for the best. That can get expensive fast, and can actually make the problem worse.

Hormones are starting to kick in and all of the other things that come along with it like breakouts, I imagine. I would get some facial cleanser for him, something that is not heavily scented and is dermatologist recommended like Basis (bar or gel type) or Cetaphil (comes in a liquid w/pump) made for the face and be sure he is washing in the morning and evening to help clear things up. I have a young teen and she had to start doing this 2 yrs earlier, he is lucky. Hope this helps Mom

Try some home remedies but if they don't work you may need to see a dermatologist. I'd jump on it.

It is a misconception that just washing more will cure the pimples. It won't hurt but try other things. If stridex pads work, great!

You can also try a few different vitamins. I'm a Shaklee Distributor and I find vitamins help more than not with just about everything. There are about 1/2 dozen that are a good idea, but I'm guessing there is no way you will get a 13 year old boy to take that many so I'd start with GLA and Zinc.

I've seen so many "ads" lately and new products in the stores. Ask your Dr. or pharmacist. Some of these new adds are saying it's the change in hormones (duh).....So, I'd check into these products, some say they can clear up a pimple in 4 hours (if I remember correctly). Also, if his face isn't oily (you can tell by buying the oil strips-sold in cosmetics in pharmacies); I'd just have him use a face wash, one not over-drying, and dab some whitch-hazel on the spots that are coming up....My kids actually used to put some on a cotton ball and band-aid it in place overnight, but I think the products they are advertising seem to be much more effective, and less noticeable. Good luck!

Hello YP, With all of our 5 children only 2 had this problem. e lerned from the doctor the following:1. change pillow cases every few days and sheets so body is clean not sweaty. 2. wash with a cloth not just soap and water on the face3. we used stridex - and baby wipes for after sports and things, as well as over the counter cleaners, it seemed the boys thought adding moisture was dumb but the did it from time to time4. we had to limit the amount of soda and oily foods becasue the fat only added to thier problem. With people drinking so much water now its almost a given tht he can get plenty to flush out his system. I know that this can be hard on the self esteem for many so hope the best for your son.

Probably the 3 best things you can do are leave the pimples alone for the most part, and aside from that, use a very gentle facial cleanser and possibly some essential oils, if the cleanser doesn't work.

Ask me if you want info. on therapeutic grade oils for acne. You may want to look into the possibility of the possibility of the pimples actually being a rash as opposed to just pimples, or even an allergic reaction.