I have a 13 year old daughter with acne on her T zone. How do I get rid of it before I make a dermatologist appointment? We tried Acne Free and Neutregena 3 Step so far...
Any help is appreciated.

At her age, it's probably hormones. The bad news is, it will only continue as she gets older. I'm over 30 and still break out NOTICEABLY more around the time of my cycle. In the meantime, I would try Proactiv, the real deal, not some knock-off brand. It worked for me like a charm for maybe two years, then it just stopped working. We used to call it Face Crack. The more you use it, the more you need it -- but when it worked, it worked!
Now, I am on Retin-A (prescribed) and I use the Clinique 3-step system for acne. It works, but I still break out around my cycle. Hope you find something.

My oldest has acne. He tried the Proactive, Neutragena, and Walmarts brand. Nothing worked. He's currently on tetracylin and it's working somewhat. We'll see what the dermatologist has to say on his next visit in 4 weeks.

I went on accutane as a teen & LOVED it!!!
i tried everything and nothing else worked.

My daughter's face is very sensitive. Any acne medication makes her break out worse. We finally found a cleansing bar that helps along with an antibiotic lotion from the doctor.

In this day and age, there is no reason for kids to suffer with acne. And if you have insurance you should just take her to the dermo.

My kids were put on a combination of Cleocin and Differin. Works wonders and everything was covered with co-pays.

I know there was some type of issue with Accutane and it making people depressed and/or suicidal. Also I think females that are on Accutane must be on birth control, as it can cause serious birth defects. Be sure to check out any medicines that your child is taking for side effects.

Good luck!

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I had extreme acne as a teenager and was put on Tetracycline. It worked wonders for me, usually noticing a difference within the first week. I have heard since then that it can cause yellowing of the teeth later on in life. My own daughter has bouts of acne and we've tried the Burts Bees roll-on, which seemed to help, as well as applying apple cider vinegar....she couldn't handle the smell though.

At a well child check 2 years ago my 14 yo dds pediatrition put her on Differin and BenzaClin. She just gave my 12 yo the Differen. They are expensive, but they seem to work.

DH had severe acne as a teenager and is more sensitive to my dds acne than she is. I have the opposite. I never had an acne problem, I have really dry skin and see the dermotologist for that. Seems you can't win!

Lisa

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We buy a generic tube of cream with 10% benzoyl peroxide at Walmart -- $2-3? It works wonders on my 13 yo face! He had acne really bad before started to faithfully use the cream.

My 14 yr. old DS has had numerous dermo appts. Each one has a $30 co-pay, plus the co-pays for the meds-$40 for name brand His problem is not so much on the face, but on the upper torso. Each treatment makes it better for a little while, then it comes back, full-force. Toonces, you must have great insurance coverage. I think you are a wee-bit out of touch w/ the gen pop.

While is its all so natural for teenagers and pimples. Both my dd;s loved and have had much success with proactive as well. Its true miracle, do u know that they sell it right in the middle of the malls in vendor type machine. Another thing to always remember is to wash your face at least 2 times a day. Again my dd;s love neutrogena and always if they wear make-up not to wear it to bed and to try to use a make-up remover as well if possible.One thing for me while I do wear a little bit of make-up can do it in five minutes, the one thing I have not worn in about 25 years is any foundation. Hth.. peace .. Catherine

Not out of touch, just have different insurance. The coverage I get is basically why I work where I do...It sure isn't for my salary! I work for the school board but I do insure my whole family. And trust me that great insurance does come at a cost. Without going into specific coverages, my family plan runs me about $1000 a month, and that's just for my husband and children. My employer pays for my share, so yes, it's good coverage, but it ain't cheap!

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My son uses Benzaclin. It's prescription and I have a very high co-pay on it, but it works and helps my son's self-confidence, which is well worth the 50.00 co-pay (a jar lasts two months).

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My dd is only 10 and started having problems with acne about a year ago...yes, it's true. Unbelievable to me that it started so early but we tried the Neutrogena, Clinique face wash, etc. We finally ordered Proactive and it's wonderful for her. I don't know if it would work for everyone. Her acne was not terrible but was getting that way and this clears it up. She had several breakouts the first day she used it and within 2 days they were all gone. It's not terribly expensive, IMO and truly has been worth every penny for her. I know you can get a starter kit for around $20 that way you're not out much if it doesn't work. And if I'm remembering correctly, they have a money back guarantee if it doesn't work. I never had acne so this is all new to me.

For a 13 year old Id maybe try a year to go with over the counter stuff, but if it gets real bad
I would just go to the drs and not waste your money on over the counter stuff.



I have a 18 year old dd with acne we tried the cheap stuff (proactive and over the counter stuff)at 1st then finally went to the dermatologist, some things worked for a while then it just wont work, so then we would try something else, till the last resort was accutane, that is no longer just filling it and your done,
you have to keep a journal they give you and go to this website and log on all this information, go on birth control, and monthly go for blood work, then you have to wait a month to go on it.
I said to my daughter If we have to go thru all these steps just for this medicine maybe I better read up
more on what this stuff does to you, well she never went on it I got a little scared of the side
effects for my daughter, it just scared me, but one of her friends had good results so it just
wasnt for us.
She stayed on the birth control and its keeping her face and back clear.

Bath and Body Works sells Patricia Wexler products, she make a line of Acne products, works wonders.

I would go to the dermatologist, and see if they can put your dd on one of the $4 Wal-mart antibiotics. Also, watch what she is putting on her face to be sure it is does not contain mineral oil. That will clog pores, and makes matters worse.

Don't let her go to bed without washing her face at night, and never with any type of make-up on her face. Good luck.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I have the acne form of rosacea and not even antibiotics helped very much. Pills twice a day and topical gel.
Well, I noticed an add for eucerin redness relief soothing cleanser. It's specially for rosacea, but I'm off the pills and hardly ever have to use the gel either. There's no harsh chemicals in this stuff. I would certainly give it a try. I use it a couple times a day. I had the normal acne growing up and believe me the rosacea acne is so much worse. You have nothing to loose eccept about $9.00 if it doesn't help.

We've had great success w/ Cleocin and a Retin-A cream. Both are prescriptions but they've worked great.

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"To any critics who say a woman can't think and work and carry a baby at the same time, I'd just like to escort that Neanderthal back to the cave." - Sarah Palin

I recommend Spironolactone (pill) . Acne medicines you put on your face will just irritate the face and make the condition worse .If she must use a facial medicine I recommend Skinoren Cream (20% azelaic acid).Its very gentle and extremely effective but not as effective as Spironolactone which will completely wipe it out..
Everybody I know including myself has had success with Spironolactone.It is not an antibiotic,antibiotics are not a good thing to take and only give temporary results if any.Spironolactone will lower her testosterome hormones which is the cause of acne.I can guarantee you that Spironolactone will work. It takes about a month for it to clear up on it,but it will eventually clear it up completely.

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Acne.org - Spironolactone Reviews

Overall, the reviews look pretty good, but it definitely does not work for everyone and has side effects that people need to be aware of.

Everything has side has effects that you need to be aware of in case you didn't know.
Not too many people have experienced any side effects from it though.
And is has worked for evryone I know that has tried it.

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After many visits to a dermatologist, someone we knew recommended Mary Kay acne gel and it worked great. All 3 of my kids use it and it works great.