Helping teens with their acne & rosacea problems has not been easy. A common complaint is that the common acne medications causes more facial dryness and redness. There are new medications that could help.
What about the quick acne-fixes advertised on television? “If a teen has mild acne, some over the counter acne products containing benzoyl peroxide may be helpful. But, it is very important before a parent agrees to spend upwards of $30 a month on some of the celebrity touted ‘miracle’ acne products, that for moderate to severe acne they are not a solution. Eventually they lose their effectiveness and don’t work,” explains Dr. Berson. “The reason is they lack the effective percentage of drugs to help them get the job done. That’s why they’re available without prescription.”
Seeing a dermatologist with your teen is not succumbing to vanity or over-reacting, explain the expert dermatologists who comprise the American Acne & Rosacea Society. “Acne can leave devastation in its wake, turning teens away from social interaction and worse yet, contributing to depression. It’s not something to be taken lightly,” says Guy Webster, MD, PhD and founding president of the Society. “When a teen begins to manifest acne lesions, a parent has to be vigilant and see how it’s affecting their child. The signs that there’s distress are often not that easy to discern and can be attributed to myriad other teen issues, but a conversation about acne is a good starting point. When over the counter acne products begin to show up in your teen’s bedroom or bathroom, it’s usually a tell tale sign that acne has crossed the line into being perceived as a problem.”
“Unlike the parent/teen dialogue about drugs or smoking, acne isn’t a conversation that ends with ‘just say no,’ ” says Dr. Webster. “It has to start with a parent just saying ‘yes,’ and recognizing that their teen may be in trouble.”