Stubborn acne-Need Product Suggestions

Some people get it really bad.
I knew someone who had zits all over his face, neck, scalp, upper arms and back.
It took some work but the dermatologist worked with him till they found the right combination of medications to help him.
My son doesn't have it bad at all but there are times when he breaks out.
What seems to help him the most is washing his face with baking soda.
He takes a little and adds a little water to make a paste of it.
Then he scrubs his face with it and rinses.
It seems to help control the oil, it makes the skin less red and irritated, and the very fine grit of it seems to help keep his pores open so fewer pimples start up.
Try it and see if it helps.

Sometimes, there just is no miracle :( My older brother had HORRIBLE acne, after a few years, my parents put him on accutane - while I'm not sure I would make that choice with my kids(that drug has some serious potential side effects, I would be 100% opposed for my daughter, I'd have to do some intense research with my sons), I have to say it DID help. Good luck, I know that's no fun :(

I used to have terrible acne, also the cystic type. A couple of years ago I caved in and bought the Clarisonic face scrubber. I had looked at it for a long time, but couldn't bring myself to spend the $$. I'm so glad I finally bought it. I'd say from the time I bought it to my face being completely clear took about a year. I immediately saw benefits from it, though for a while my face looked terrible. I went through a period where everything was working its way out of my pours and I looked even more broken out than normal. There are cheaper brands of face scrubbers that have come out since I bought mine, but with the results I've had with the Clarisonic I'll always stick with this brand. If you do look at it, contrary to what you might think, you need to use a delicate or sensitive brush head on a faces prone to breakouts. They carry them at Sephora and they are very helpful there. Also, based on my dermatologists recommendation, I just use Neutrogena mild face scrub with the scrub brush.

You need to take out DAIRY for 2 weeks in his diet & see what happens. I had HORRIBLE acne from 12-28yrs. Only one in immediate family & was on Retin A & Tetracycline off/on. Found out I was "reactive" to dairy thru a food allergy test & stopped eating it. Within 2 weeks I had porcelain clear skin. It's better than meds & chemicals for sure.

I have a friend that had terrible acne. She was put on Accutane and now has beautiful skin!

Go back to the dermatologist. There are lots of medicines to try. You certainly do not want him to have scars that would last a life time.

Change his diet. Make sure he is eating very healthy foods. It might be a way his body is releasing toxic foods or an allergy. It might be that he is 12. I would take him back to the dermatologist and see if he has something else. Also try all natural remadies (grape seed something another??). My face would swell when I used proactive...no fun!

i had horrible cyst-like acne on my face that came out of nowhere.. i tried every single over the counter facewash/cream you can find and nothing worked.. i got lucky in that i finally decided, ok im going to order the proactive, if it doesnt work im going to a dermatologist. Well proactive worked for me, thankfully, although i will say it was not the instant fix i thought it would be.. it wasnt until 3 weeks after starting it that my face starte to clear up and then it took another couple weeks after that to completely clear it up.. once my face cleared i cut it down to once a day because it was drying my face out so much.. as long as i use it everyday im fine but even if i miss one day i can see a pimple start to form... how long did your son use the proactiv?? because honestly i was ready to throw it out when it didnt work in a week
also my fiance had such horrible acne when he was that age that literally nothing the dermatologist gave him worked.. they finally got down to the last resort which was accutane and it worked only to have him have to go on it again 2 years later after the acne came back.. i know the stuffs really bad for you but he hasnt had a pimple since then
my fiances brother had the same issue.. horrible acne.. the doctor had to keep switching it up until he finally found a combo of a pill he takes and a perscription cream for his face that finally worked
i guess my advice is keep telling the dermatologist that what hes on isnt working.. keep trying different things, eventually you will find the answer

Hi E.,
It really is so frustrating trying to find the right product that will made headway for each individual. I started getting acne at 21 and have been dealing with it for two decades, although now at 43, it's much less frequent, thankfully. The thing with each product is that you need to give it 3 months to see if it works for you or not. That is hard to do, I know, when you just want it all to go away. But I'm sure you've heard that from your derm, too. I personally have been on doxycycline, minocycline, tetracycline, cleocin and a few others that I've forgotten the names of. So both topical and oral. I haven't taken the oral prescriptions in years, but that is what my derm started me out with in my early 20s.

I personally would be very, very leary of starting your son on accutane. I know that there are some who say it saved their lives, but I think the risks are far too great.

I would start your son on a Salicylic acid face wash. There are many over-the-counter products out there. And then I would try a glycolic product (alpha hydroxy). They treat acne by helping to remove dead skin cells and helping to reduce inflammation. Alpha hydroxy acids also stimulate the growth of new, smoother skin, which helps reduce the appearance of acne scars. This is my all-time favorite product with this ingredient and it is well worth the money spent. You only use a large pea size for your entire face, so my bottle lasts me a good 6-8 months.
http://www.neostrata.com/product/neostrata+oily+skin+solu...

Finally, he'll need an effective spot treatment. Honestly, there is nothing better than good old benzoyl peroxide. Your derm can prescribe a higher dose than is available over-the-counter. Do not have him apply this product liberally, just dot it onto cysts.

Also, I used to go to the doctor who created benzoyl peroxide, Dr. Fulton. Dr. Fulton often used ice cube therapy on cystic acne (those are the deep, painful lesions that typically do not have a white head). Have your son hold the ice cube on each lesion for 2-3 min. (or the doctor use to freeze ice into styrofoam cups and then you can peel the cup down as the ice melts and you can cover more area of the face this way faster). I like using the ice cube method right after I cleanse my face and before I use any other product. The ice cubes reduce the acne inflammation and then you apply the glycolic product, then the benzoyl peroxide.

Of course with use of the glycolic and benzoyl products, he will need to stay out of the sun and use a sunscreen on his face. I personally use Blue Lizard Face and I never have any problems with it making the acne worse:
http://www.drugstore.com/blue-lizard-australian-sunscreen...

You may also want to do a little research on food items that can cause and inflame acne. There's a lot of info on the internet. Dairy, glutens and food products w/ iodine (shrimp, etc.) can cause flare-ups.

Good luck. Finding the right products for your son's skin will be trial and error; the above has worked for me.

Only oral medicine will make it not appear. To make it go away, ask your doctor about benzamycin. Don't give up. If the doctor does not work with you, find another.

Take him to the dermatologist. If it is bad this early, he needs some help. My son's didn't better until we got some real medicine to help treat it. He is on an antibiotic and retin A. It has really helped a lot.
Our derm has my son taking 2 pills per day.
It may also be diet related. Have him cut back on milk and dairy. Increase the vit e.

Ugh, I feel for him (and you). I have run the gamut of things in my life. I'm sure it's different with boys, but here's what I've done.

Accutane- though I would never do it again and would never let my kids do it. Way too risky- I was in my early 20s and just desperate. Didn't let it worry me that I had to go in every month for a blood test to see if it was doing liver damage. It did work, but I think my digestive issues are a negative result. Please make this a last resort- also they say it may cause suicidal ideation in teens, just fyi.

Epiduo- maybe this is the gel you already got? doesn't help a ton in preventing acne, but seems to keep it from getting terrible.

Evoclin- it's a foam antibiotic that spreads over the face. Instead of oral antibiotics, it's topical.

Burt's Bees Acne scrub/mask- this works WAY better than I thought it would. I use it maybe twice a week and I really like it. It seems to leave a film, though, so I still wash with soap after I use it.

IPL- this would be my top pick for you to try. The dermatologist puts ultrasound gel on his face, and then 'zaps' around with a laser or light. It feels like a rubber band snap, uncomfortable but not awful. This really keeps big problems at bay. Not cheap, I think I pay $300 each time I go, not sure how often they would recommend your son go. But this really did help me a lot. And there's no side effects.

Good luck, I hate acne, such a frustrating problem. Your son is lucky you are trying so hard to help him.

My son started getting bad acne at 12. We also tried OTC product to no avail, and then took him to a dermatologist. It took trying several different products before he began to get results, but now he looks good, and has for a long time (he's 15yo).

He's currently using Retin-A at night, and something else in the mornings (I don't remember what), and he takes Solydyn (a pill) once a day. He's always been good about keeping his face clean, and uses a Target brand cleanser.

What works for one person may not work for another, so I agree with others; take him back to the dermatologist. I hope you find something that helps. My husband and I both struggled with bad acne when we were younger, but we have good skin now. Acne is so awful to have to deal with. Good luck to you and your son!

ETA: I was on Accutane, and it was a miracle drug for me. We discussed it with our son's dermatologist, but she said she didn't like using it for teen boys unless parents insisted because it can cause them to stop growing. That's why we decided not to use it for our son. It was a lifesaver for me, though.

ETA again: Sorry, I keep thinking of more. :) Solydyn is extremely expensive, even with insurance, but the doctor gives us coupons every 3 months to make it affordable.