Helping Your Teenager To Cope With The Problem Of Teen Acne
It may very well seem relatively trivial to most people but to a teenager the onset of acne can all too often seem to be 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. In other cases however acne can prove to be severe and lead to a negative body image and occasionally even serious depression. In every case however there are several steps which you can take to assist your teenager to deal with the difficulties of acne.
One significant problem with acne is that there are several myths about acne which your teenager is very likely to hear at school or to pick up on such things as the Internet. You must therefore start by arming yourself with the facts and here are several of the main facts about exactly what causes acne and what sort of things can actually make an acne attack worse:
- Genetics - some kids are simply more prone to acne than others no matter what they do.
- Too much scrubbing - a surprising number of teenagers think than cleaning their skin thoroughly will help to rid them of acne. While cleanliness is unquestionable important, scrubbing the skin too hard can both cause problems for existing spots and also cause them to spread.
- Popping pimples - many kids cannot resist the temptation to pop their pimples and this is something which we can probably all understand. Unfortunately, despite the fact that this may appear to make things look better in the short term, it is only going to cause more problems in the long term.
- Diet - the precise link between acne and diet is not well understood at the moment but there can be little doubt diet has a part to play when I comes to acne.
- Stress - when we find ourselves suffering from stress the chemical balance in our bodies is disturbed 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 produce problems both in terms of the skin's ability to breathe adequately and of acne reacting to the makeup chosen.
The first thing that your teenagers have to understand is that acne is a normal part of growing up and, especially, of the hormonal changes which their bodies are undergoing. They must also understand that some teenagers will be affected more than others and that, whether they are lucky or not, this is merely a phase which will pass given time.
Next, you teenagers have to be taught proper skin care and it is best to start this from an early age, and before the arrival of acne if possible. However, if acne is already present it is still not too late and skin care is one thing which they must both learn and practice.
Kids should wash their face each morning and again each evening with a mild soap and, once acne appears, with a special acne soap which can be purchased over-the counter at the majority of supermarkets or drug stores. An important point to remember here is that washing two times daily is sufficient and that, although they might be tempted to wash more frequently this can actually dry the skin and make their acne worse.
Over-the-counter acne soaps and washing will often be enough, although this will not work overnight and your kids will need to be both persistent and patient. Where this does not do the trick however you should talk to your doctor or consult a dermatologist. Your doctor or dermatologist might well recommend some form of prescription medicine which your teenager will again need to use for some considerable period of time before it does the trick.
Unquestionably, the most important step you can take in assisting your teenager to deal with acne is to start early. Your teenager might well be embarrassed by the arrival of acne and you might feel reluctant to step in and assist if they have just a spot or two. Starting treatment early can however often stop the problem in its tracks and stop it from growing into a surprisingly serious condition.
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