Ryan Galiotto

It may well seem fairly trivial to some people but to a teenager the appearance of acne can all too often seem like the end of the world. Almost all teenagers will suffer from acne at some point and, in most cases, it is fairly mild and more of a nuisance than anything else. However, in other cases acne can prove to be severe and result in a poor body image and occasionally even serious depression. In all cases however there are several steps that you can take to assist your teenager to deal with the problems posed by acne.

One significant problem with acne is that there are various myths about acne which your teenager is likely to hear in school or to pick up on such things as the Internet. You need to therefore start by arming yourself with the truth and here are a few the principle facts about precisely what causes acne and what can actually make an attack of acne worse:

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

* Too much scrubbing – a surprising number of children think than cleaning their skin well will help to rid them of acne. Although cleanliness is unquestionable important, scrubbing the skin too hard can both cause problems with existing spots and also result in their spread.

* Popping pimples – many children cannot resist the temptation to pop their pimples and this is one thing which we can all understand. Unfortunately, in spite of the fact that this may appear to help things look better in the short term, it will only cause more problems in the long term.

* Diet – the precise link between acne and diet is not well understood at the moment but it certainly appears that diet has a part to play when I comes to acne.

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

* Makeup – many children, of both sexes, will try to use makeup to cover their acne. However, this can cause problems both in terms of the inability of the skin to breathe adequately and of acne reacting to the makeup used.

The first thing that your teenagers need to understand is that acne is a natural part of the process of growing up and, especially, of the hormonal changes which their bodies are undergoing. They must also understand that some children will be affected more than others and that, whether or not they are lucky, this is just a phase that will pass in time.

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

Teenagers need to wash their face in the morning and again in the evening with a mild soap and, once acne appears, with a specially formulated acne soap that can be bought over-the counter at most supermarkets or drug stores. One important point here is that washing twice a day is sufficient and that, although they may be tempted to wash more often this can actually dry the skin and make matters worse.

Over-the-counter acne soaps and washing will frequently be enough, although this will not work overnight and your children will need to be both patient and persistent. Where this does not do the trick however you will need to talk to your doctor or dermatologist. Your doctor or dermatologist may well suggest some form of prescription medication which your teenager will again need to use for quite some time before it does the trick.

Unquestionably, the most important step you can take towards helping your child to deal with acne is to start early. Your child might well be embarrassed by the appearance of acne and you might be reluctant to step in and try to assist if they have only a spot or two. However, beginning treatment early can frequently knock the problem on the head and prevent it from growing into a surprisingly serious condition.