Teen Acne
Nineteen year old Toni Marie Balingit has been struggling to get clear complexion for six years. At the age of thirteen, Toni developed acne and through the years it’s been a continuous battle trying to get her blemishes under control. She jumped from doctor to doctor, treatment to treatment, desperate for help. “I actually went through periods where I would cry, or really, really worry about walking out and like letting people see me. I’ve been through all these topical treatments, I’ve been through antibiotics, and for a period they worked, but sometimes you would like flare up and I then would give up I just didn’t want to deal with it anymore cause I wanted the quick fix,” says Toni.
New data presented at a recent meeting on clinical pediatrics at the University of California suggests that the lack of treatment efficacy is only one of the reasons that acne therapy often fails in teenagers. Poor adherence also plays a role.
"There is often a frustration on the part of the teens that they are just not noticing a change fast enough and often this leads to a lack of motivation to comply with the prescribed medications and thus treatment failure and really we see this more as a compliance problem then truly treatment failure," reports dermatologist, Dr. Mitchell Chasin.
During the onset of puberty the body begins to produce hormones called androgens. The hair follicles, the pores on the skin get blocked. The extra oil produced in puberty, mixed with dead skin and general dirt, block the pores and that trapped material reacts with bacteria causing swelling and redness. Treatments range from laser therapies to a host of topical ointments. But, adverse effects of therapy very often will lead patients to abandon their treatment.
"The topical medicines that we use they may make the skin dry, they may make the teen feel like their skin is greasy, they might have trouble applying make-up over the topical medicines," explains Dr. Chasin.
To help teens stick to their therapy, speak with your dermatologist and try to simplify the treatment regimen by using fewer agents. Minimize the adverse effects by keeping in mind that using more topicals will not improve the result, but will increase irritation. A pea-sized dollop will usually do the trick to cover the face. And apply topical agents to dry skin, waiting 30 minutes after washing.
Dr. Chasin emphasizes that acne treatment is not one-size fits all therapy. "The key is customizing it to the type of acne that the individual has, listening to them taking very good history, understanding where the problems were in their previous treatments and understanding their lifestyle, when you take those into account, we are very successful in bringing their acne finally under control."
A combination of laser treatments and topicals have finally gotten Toni’s acne under control. Toni said that her patience was put to the test, but she’s glad she stayed the course and followed through with her treatment. "It’s so awesome now, and like I didn’t believe but like you just feel amazing, you want to look in the mirror now, you want to go out, and do those things that you missed out on or like not worry about the one pimple on your face, that someone is going to be staring at. It just feels really good."
Dermatologists recommend that teens with acne wash their face twice a day, especially after exercise. Always wash before going to bed and use a mild soap. And, however tempting, try not to squeeze or pick blemishes, you may introduce more infection and make the spots worse, increasing the chance for scarring.
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