Living With Spots Can Be Devastating. (My Experience of Acne)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	My Experience of Acne
Date:	06/02/09 (453 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: So many as they occur just when teenagers have so much life to live.

I suffered with acne dreadfully in my mid teens and to be honest I don't think my mum really understood how I felt inside. She said she had it too but never said how she had felt-more concentrating on the idea that nobody was perfect and that I should accept it, and so I kept my thoughts inside. Eventually she took me to the doctors and he suggested using Cidal soap and a piece of lint (clean each day) to wash with. This I did and that was the extent of my therapies. There wasn't the internet then to look up answers, and so I suffered with them. Luckily there were non sufficiently bad to leave scarring visually, but that is only half the story as mentally they do leave marks, and I vowed if any of my children got the same thing I would really try to get inside how they were feeling to see if I could help them.

So the years went by and I qualified as a nurse and we learnt all about acne, and the causes, treatments, and so on, and I will outline these in a moment, but I want to follow this with some personal thoughts on the condition which I call my "little steps approach."

So What Is Acne?

First the Science.

In a nutshell it is a horrid unpleasant condition which comes along just at the precise moment no young person wants it. It is not about being dirty, eating chocolate, or chips, or any other rubbish you hear- it is simply the reaction of the skin to the production of male sex hormones. Interestingly these increase during the teenage years in both sexes, and the sebaceous glands are extremely responsive to these changes in some people. The problem is often much worse in boys which my son will testify to and it is often but not exclusively boys who will go on to need more intensive treatments. The sebaceous glands become extremely inflamed by these hormones called androgens and they produce a lot more secretions, this blocks their openings and it is bacterial action where bacteria are feeding on these secretions called sebum and then discharging waste products which causes the inflammation. So you see it has nothing to do with eating chips, or chocolate, or doing anything you shouldn't, it is quite simple the reaction of the body to rising levels of hormones. I think it is really important to educate parents particularly about this, as many teenagers feel they are responsible for their acne which simply isn't true.


Now The Mental Torture

Having acne is to many like a reason to have not just one but endless duvet days. Inside the mind of many teenagers with this condition is a feeling of loneliness and isolation. More so than ever as they are facing so many pressures from school than we ever did in the 70s to achieve even higher grades, and to pass even more slotted in extra tests. For many acne is the last straw. Above all else I feel we must comfort these teenagers and try to understand how they feel. My son was desperate to find a treatment which worked and despite being a very well educated and happy boy, a part of him was dying with the pain of going out every day, with what seemed like to me a mild case of acne. Being a nurse I had to be careful. He was pushing me to seek medications from the doctor straight away; I was not keen as I felt it was too early because at this stage he was only 14. To me his acne looked mild- but WARNING in his head these little pimples were like giant hummocks. I realised he was suffering in silence, so I started what I call my little steps approach, which I hope will be useful to other parents.

Before I describe it I just want to explain that my son is the last of 4 children, the others did have a few spots, but nothing which really worried them, although my daughter did at one stage have a small number which recurred on her forehead.

My Little Steps Plan

1. My son started with acne at 14 and at first the spots were small and not too severe. To me they were insignificant, to him they were like erupting volcanoes, so this is my first point. Keep an eye out for the start of acne and watch for the way it affects them. I made a big mistake here in failing to acknowledge the way he was feeling inside, which I regret, because I had experienced the same thing myself. I soon realised this and spoke to him about it. I explained to him that I wanted to try as many natural and over the counter remedies I could before approaching the doctor. I did this because he did not have severe acne, I could see this myself, but if you are in any doubt ask your GP because what you don't want is any long term scarring.

2. The first thing I did was to buy the Cidal soap which I had used all those years ago. It is antibacterial and so keeps the skin clean. It is useful, but only that- it is not going to make a lot of difference to anything but mild acne.

3. Next I bought many of the off the shelf treatments for acne such as Clearasil. These have their successes and failures most of which I feel may be more to do with the way the hormones are at the time of puberty. The thing is that like the menopause where hormonal surges are common as the reproductive system is fading, in teenagers these surges are the reproductive system building and these fluctuations are the catalysts which fuel the outbreaks which occur in flares. One cream would work for a time and then another would be brought in to try.

4. The next thing we tried was a product from Lush which I can highly recommend because it was our life saver for almost a year. It is the Warrior Fresh Face mask. Containing garlic this treatment was extremely effective and what it did for us was to get us over the period when his acne was getting more severe, but when he was still in my opinion too young for more aggressive treatments. At times with this product the spots would fade to almost nothing and the chocolate face mask they also do was highly effective as well.

5. Freederm. We then moved to the pharmacy only products because the spots were getting worse and we tried this. This is a form of vitamin B3 and it reduces the redness and inflammation of the acne. It didn't really touch them sadly and it was binned after a few weeks.

6. The next treatment we tried was Quinoderm. This medication available from the pharmacy contains benzoyl peroxide and potassium hydroxyquinoline sulphate. The peroxide unblocks the sebaceous glands and both chemicals have antibiotic properties. This was the most effective treatment outside of the doctors, and it held it in check for a good few months. Be careful though as it bleaches clothes, bed linen, and towels -we had many ruined towels!

7. We also tried various tea tree based lotions which did help at times as well.

8. As my son was approaching his 16th birthday we had a long chat. He explained that he felt it was time to ask the doctor for antibiotic help. I explained that I agreed that the time had come as well. With the history of what we had tried behind us I felt that he was in need of some long term medication to control the condition. His acne was moderate with no scarring, but I felt he was suffering too much with the feelings associated with it to keep going on other treatments. I also felt at 16 he was mature enough to make up his own mind about treatment and to understand any risks.

9. He was prescribed Tetracycline antibiotics which he has been taking now for over 6 months and he is almost 17. The treatment is working well and the outbreaks are controlled well. He is happier knowing he is doing something above and beyond the more natural and non prescription treatments and the results are encouraging. We could have also tried antibiotic cream which is a half way house but decided to use the antibiotics as the acne was getting angrier. The treatment can have side effects but normally these are mild but be aware of them and also the advice given on when to take the tablets. This is vital.

10. As he has only moderate acne it is unlikely that we will need to consider specialist help in the form of Roaccotane which is a very strong treatment highly effective but with side effects. This would be my last piece of advice in the review as it is an option some with severe acne have to take. Roaccutane is a medication which lowers the production of sebum in the sebaceous glands themselves. It is known to cause birth defects in pregnant women so is reserved for severe cases only.

11. There are other options as well for girls in particular who can take certain forms of the contraceptive pill which also work by reducing the effect of the androgens. Another thing I should say is that all skin does respond to some loving kindness so drink lots of water and plenty of fruit and vegetables and generally get lots of sleep. It won't cure it as I said earlier but it can help you cope better. Sunshine helps too but be careful if you are on Tetracycline as it can make the skin more susceptible to burning.

12 One final point many of the treatments I have described take a few weeks to work.You have to persevere for some time with each before moving on.In the case of the antibiotics it takes several months to see a noticable sustained improvement.

The important thing with teenagers I feel is to really listen to them because every pimple is a mountain, every spot a volcano, and every day is a battle to many of them which if you have never had acne you can't even begin to comprehend how they are feeling. You have to balance the side effects of medical treatments against the hope that in time the condition becomes less severe. You can battle on with chemist shop lotions and potions up to a point and this is fine for mild cases, but there may come a time when the benefits of a prescription may outweigh the disadvantages of waiting and seeing for too long. I think we got it almost right, though in hindsight I wish I had taken him to the doctors 6 months earlier, but you have to look inside their heads to really get a picture of how they are feeling which can be difficult.

Above all I would say talk to them and try to understand what having acne feels like because my son will tell you pimples are not pimples they are giant peaks.I hope I have helped my son to cope with his acne and I hope this might help someone else going through it. They are not- no NEVER just spots.

This review is also published on Ciao by myself under my user name there Violet1278.

Summary: Listen to teenagers and see it from their side.