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How To Help Your Teenager To Cope With The Often Catastrophic Problem Of Teen Acne

It may well seem fairly trivial to many people however to a teenager the arrival of acne can often seem to be the end of the world. Most teenagers will get acne at some time and, in a lot of cases, it is relatively mild and more of an inconvenience than anything else. However, in other cases acne can prove to be severe and cause a poor body image and occasionally even serious depression. In all cases however there are a number of steps that you can take to assist your teenager to cope with the problems posed by acne.

A major problem with acne is the fact that there are many myths about acne which your child is likely to hear in school or to pick up on such things as the Internet. You must therefore begin by arming yourself with the facts and here are a few the principle facts about precisely what causes acne and what sort of things can make an attack of acne worse:

* Genetics � some kids are simply more prone to acne than others no matter what they do.

* Too much scrubbing � a lot of kids believe than cleaning their skin thoroughly will help to rid them of acne. While cleanliness is undoubtedly important, scrubbing the skin too vigorously can both cause problems for existing spots and also cause them to spread.

* Squeezing pimples � almost all teenagers cannot resist the temptation to pop their pimples and this is something which I think we can all understand. However, despite the fact that this may seem to make things look better in the short term, it will only make things worse in the long term.

* Diet � the exact link between acne and diet is not terribly well understood just at the moment but there is little doubt diet has a part to play when I comes to acne.

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

* Makeup � many children, both girls and boys, will try to use makeup to cover their acne. This can however cause problems both in terms of the skin's ability to breathe adequately and of acne reacting to the chemicals contained within the makeup chosen.

The first thing that your teenagers have to understand is that acne is a normal part of the process of growing up and, especially, of the hormonal changes which their bodies are undergoing. They must also understand that some kids will be affected more than others and that, whether or not they are one of the lucky ones, this is simply a phase that will pass given time.

Next, you kids need to be taught proper skin care and it is best to begin this from an early age, and before the arrival of acne if at all possible. However, if acne is already present it is not too late and skin care is one thing that they must both learn and practice.

Children need to wash their face in the morning and again in the evening with a mild soap and, once acne appears, with a special acne soap that can be purchased over-the counter at most supermarkets or drug stores. One important point to remember here is that washing two times a day is sufficient and that, desite the fact that they might be tempted to wash more frequently this can dry the skin and make their acne worse.

Washing with acne soap will often be enough, although this is not an instant cure and your kids will need to be both patient and persistent. When this does not work however you should talk to your doctor or consult a dermatologist. Your doctor or dermatologist might well suggest some form of prescription medication which your child will again need to use for some time before it does the trick.

Without question, the most important step which you can take towards helping your child to deal with acne is to begin early. Your child might well be embarrassed by the arrival of acne and you might be reluctant to step in and assist if they have only a spot or two. However, beginning treatment early can often stop the problem in its tracks and prevent it from growing into a surprisingly serious problem.