Parenting: The Acne Obstacle

by Richard Kurtz

Your parenting responsibilities can be complicated when your child develops acne. After all, many adults never had to deal with the disorder as a child. It was more of a rarity back then. Many teenagers require support and guidance while going through a bout of acne. With their physical appearance impacted by the disorder, they are susceptible to teasing and school, which can motivate isolation and future problems. There is somewhat of an inbred tendency in parents to brush acne off as a phase in life that everyone goes through. This type of attitude will only worsen the ordeal for your child. We have some suggestions that will ensure your child’s successful triumph over pimples.

Acne needs to be treated rapidly and on a continual basis before it gives way. If you children ask for an acne cream, let them get it. The condition does not always go away on its own, and a single pimple can progress to five quite quickly. Poking fun at the situation is neither advisable. Telling your child to squeeze at their pimples for instance, is not comical and will lead to acne scarring. You should instead go with your child to a specialty skin store and help them browse products. Call an employee over for help or do some research prior to arriving at the establishment. You are much more capable of weeding out the good products from the bad than your child. Oftentimes, product manufacturers will stamp misleading graphs and statistics on the packaging that appear reasonable to kids. The funny part is that all over the counter products are basically a carbon copy of one another. They contain the same ingredients and thus will have pretty much the same overall effect. Benzoyl peroxide is inexpensive and the best choice. The lowest concentration you can find the better.

Once you have started your child on a treatment, monitor their progress closely. An alternative plan needs to be in the works in case the first one falls though. Let them know if you see any improvements. These types of comments can really motivate them to continue on with the medications. On the other hand, if things aren’t quite going as planned, just take a mental note for the future. At the same time, make sure they are not falling behind on applications or failing to adhere to application instructions. It is common to see new breakouts in the initial weeks. This means the medication is starting to work. You shouldn’t feel discouraged and neither should they. Give them a heads up if they beginning questioning the treatment.

While waiting for everything to come together, make sure to constantly communicate with your child to check on their emotional status. Are they being bothered at school or for some reason feeling less self-confident? If so, give them some tips to overcome these hurdles. The more emotional assessments you conduct, the better decisions you will be able to make in terms of treatment if any are warranted.

Three months following the start date of your treatment, you will need to conduct an evaluation of the situation. Are breakouts still coming at full force, or have they subsided? Is your child suffering emotionally from the outbreaks? If so, it is probably time to speak with a dermatologist. These physicians trained in skin care can prescribe powerful creams and antibiotics to combat the disease. If your child skin has cleared, you’ve done a wonderful job! The key to helping your son or daughter overcome their obstacles is to be supportive and encouraging of them the entire time, and acne is no exception.

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