Teenage Skin: all links so far

teenage skin

• A teenager’s skin care routine & questions + a few suggestions

• Oral Antibiotics: Good for clearing up your skin or not?

• Product Recommendations—a teenager Q & A

• Starting your youngster on a skin care routine

• Teenage Skin Problems Q & As

• Teenage Skin—what you need to know

• Teens, Accutane, and Diet

also see

• Acne: all links so far

• Hormones & Skin Issues: all links so far

Teenage Skin Problems Q & As

Sometimes it seems a cruel joke is being played on teenagers. They’re at an age when they want to fit in, they want to look good, and coincidentally, it’s the time when their hormones are first starting to activate. It’s also a time they’re getting their first glimpse of freedom. They’re learning to drive a car and hanging out with friends after school. This freedom may also lead to poor eating habits—fast food, sugary foods, sodas and the like. Raging hormones, sugary snacks, and junk food are a recipe for potential skin trouble. However, your teen may have really good eating habits, yet still battle skin problems.

Although the following questions may be about a young female or male teenager, the answers apply to either gender.

My teenager is starting to break out. Is he too young to get a facial?

I do think it’s a great idea to take your teenager in for a facial. Here you will get expertise and advice from an aesthetician who has presumably worked with skin and knows how to guide your teen into better skin care habits. As long as your teen is having problems with his or her skin, a facial can definitely help.

As I tell any client, facials are beneficial on several levels and can indeed help with problems. But what’s most important is how you are taking care of your skin on a daily basis at home. The Basics 1-2-3 (cleansing, toning, and moisturizing) done on a twice daily basis, plus The Extras (exfoliating and using a clay mask), which can be done once to several times per week, can simulate some of the effects of a professional facial. 

My teenage son is developing acne. What should I do?

This is a tough one. During puberty, a young person’s skin can go absolutely haywire. And these skin problems may not be solely due to hormones. Does your teenager have a “clean” diet, or does he tend to eat fast food, sweets, and sodas laced with sugar or sugar substitutes? In my practice, I have found sugar to be a leading cause of problem skin. You said your son is developing acne. Although he is in the most difficult place (being a teenager) for his skin to clear up, you still have a few options to choose from.

You could do nothing. Obviously, this is not what you will do. But the truth is that as long as his hormones are in this super-active phase and if he does in fact have poor eating habits, your son’s skin will more than likely continue to be problematic. If you choose to go to a dermatologist, he or she may put him on antibiotics, or possibly Accutane. That is up to the doctor and his or her assessment of your child’s skin condition.

Tetracycline is an antibiotic that is commonly used to treat acne. It does not have the same side effects as Accutane, and may get your son’s acne cleared up, but maybe not. Accutane would be the last resort as far as I’m concerned because there are so many side effects. Taking Accutane might initially help clear up your son’s acne, but if he eats a poor-quality diet, and as long as his hormones are out of whack, the medication might just be a temporary fix.  However, some people (both teenagers and adults) have gone on Accutane and had their skin problems clear up—for good.

Another option is to try topical medications like Retin-A, a prescription topical retinoid cream, which may be effective on your son’s acne. Depending on what your dermatologist recommends, I would start with topical treatments, and see if your son can find some relief from his acne.

If your son does eat junk food and things that contain a lot of sugar, I highly recommend evaluating his diet, and see if you can encourage him to stay away from these problem-producing foods. If he will drink a lot of water, along with using skin products that will help promote a more bacteria-free environment, hopefully he will see improvement in his skin. I would go this route first (the dietary one) and see how it goes. If all else fails, there are always drugs he can take or apply topically, but they do have their individual side effects along with their ability to possibly help clear his skin up.

If you haven’t read them yet, I highly recommend the following articles:  

• Teenage Skin—what you need to know
• Oral Antibiotics: Good for clearing up your skin or not?
• Accutane: all links so far 
• The Basics 1-2-3 Program for proper skin care
• The Extras—Do more to have healthy skin 

If you’ve lucked out and your teen isn’t having any skin issues yet you want to start them on a simple routine, see:

• Starting your youngster on a skin care routine

Teens, Accutane, and Diet

My teenage daughter has had problem skin for several years. She has been treated by a local dermatologist with antibiotics and has been using special cleansers, but nothing is working. Now he wants to put her on Accutane, and after reading about the side effects of this medication I’m really opposed to it.

The first question I would ask this woman is “how is your daughter’s diet?” What is bad in her diet? Other than raging hormones, chronic skin problems can surface due to poor dietary habits. My guess, especially since she is a teenager, is that she eats a lot of sweets. If you are sensitive to sugar and you continue to consume it, you will probably end up with (chronic) problems.

Diet may have little to do with her skin problems. She may be predisposed genetically to having teenage acne. This is always a possibility. But in all of my years in practice, I find that even when there’s a genetic predisposition, diet plays a key role in problem and acne skin—whether it is happening to a teenager or an adult.

I agree with this mother’s hesitation about putting her child on Accutane, especially because of all the possible side effects. Since she hasn’t responded favorably to previous attempts to clear her skin up, it indicates to me that she is probably continuing to feed the problem, which might be centered around sugar.

Accutane may indeed help this young lady’s skin to finally and totally clear up. But before subjecting your body’s health to this or any drug, wouldn’t it be worth it to try a new dietary plan and see what effects changing food has on the state of your skin? You may end up saving your skin and avoiding all the potential side effects of taking Accutane.

For information on a young person’s skin care routine, see:

• Teen Skin—what you need to know
• Starting your youngster on a skin care routine
• Oral Antibiotics: Good for clearing up your skin or not?

There are several articles about Accutane on this blog. Here are just a few:

• Accutane: What is it and what does it do?
• Accutane and Depression

A teenager’s skin care routine & questions + a few suggestions

The following email is from my niece, Nicole. She was 14 when she wrote this, and I think she exemplifies a lot of teenage girls and their quest to learn about skin care. She did have a skin care routine, but didn’t have a lot of guidance as to what to use other than from magazine ads and TV commercials. Here is her email, with her teenage humor intact.

So about my skin, it is pretty good. It’s normal and “well.” The only places that I have problems and have to watch are around the creases of my nose and the “middle line” on my chin. My forehead isn’t really a problem, and my skin is all around okay.

I wash both morning and night with Oxy Balance® Deep Penetrating Facial Cleansing Wash that contains 2% salicylic acid. It is a gel cleanser and it works pretty well. I also use a Clearasil® Stay Clear Zone Control Clear Stick. It also has 2% salicylic acid. Now that I am thinking, the rest of the ingredients (which aren’t on the package) are probably just alcohol, which is really cute.*
*These exact products are no longer available. They have morphed into new and slightly different salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide products.

So if anything I am doing is like horrible, or if you have any suggestions I would love it, because my system is of my own making, and I know that a little advice could probably go a long way.

Oh yeah, I do use a fruit scrub from Origins®, and I really like it. I also use a charcoal and white China clay mask, which I also like. If you have any ideas I would welcome them with open pores. (Ha ha.)

Nicole’s program is pretty typical for a teenager. She is probably getting most, if not all of her skin care information from TV and magazines. Neither one will give her much more than product marketing with a lot of advertising dollars behind them.

She seems to have a really good routine, probably better than some adults I know! She washes morning and night and uses exfoliators and clay masks. Overall she seems to have done a really good job of divining her own system, and as long as her skin stays clear, she can continue using what she’s using.

Although some of the products may be drying out her skin (especially those containing benzoyl peroxide), it doesn’t seem to be bothering her at the moment. My advice would be to monitor the situation, and if she starts to develop problems with her skin, I would get her on some better products that don’t contain drying ingredients. Knowing the pH of products is important and can help keep the drying out process from happening.

Of course diet is also going to play a key role in Nicole’s skin. Maybe not now, but at some point. As a teenager I had a horrible diet filled with sugar galore, and I had great skin until I turned 21. Then everything caught up with me, and I developed true acne. To tell a teenager not to eat sugar and other junk food is sort of ludicrous, but do watch the intake of certain foods if problems start occurring with your skin. Otherwise, enjoy your teen years!

For more information, see:

• Starting your youngster on a skin care routine
• Teenage Skin—what you need to know 
• Proper pH & your skin care products

Starting your youngster on a skin care routine

My daughters are still young—8 years old and 10 years old. When should I start them on a simple skin program?

The best time to begin teaching your kids about taking care of their skin is when puberty starts. It is during puberty that changes begin to take place, although not always in the form of breakouts and other skin issues. Usually before puberty the skin is functioning perfectly and there are few if any problems with a child’s skin.

Clean skin is important regardless of age, so if you wanted to teach them how to properly clean their skin, that would be a wonderful first step to their eventual skin care routine. I’d recommend having them cleanse in the evening before bedtime. After a day of school and outdoor activities, learning the importance of going to bed with clean skin will benefit them in the future—especially when they start wearing makeup. One of the biggest skin care no-nos is to go to bed with makeup on!

Later on, when they get a bit older, and especially if one or both of them starts having problems with their skin, you can add products and procedures that will benefit whatever is going on. Eventually they will want to do The Basics 1-2-3 (see link below) throughout their lives along with exfoliating and clay masks (The Extras). For now, simple cleansing is a great start for your young girls.

My teenage daughter is just getting interested in taking care of her skin. Do you have any suggestions as to what a young lady should do?

If your daughter has clean, blemish-free skin, she probably doesn’t need much in the way of a program other than a good cleanser. If she is wanting to start a skin care regime or is already wearing makeup, then here is what I would recommend for a teenager with clear skin. 

• Have her use a gentle cleanser, like Cetaphil, which you can find at any grocery or drug store. 
• Follow this with a toner that does not contain alcohol. I recommend putting the toner in a spray bottle. 
• As far as moisturizer, she may not need one yet, but if so, you may have to experiment before you find one that works for her. It shouldn’t contain much oil, and certainly not mineral oil. 
• At her age, she really doesn’t need eye cream. She can start using it after she has turned the corner on 20 or so. 

Remember, as a young person, your daughter’s skin is probably functioning perfectly, more so than at any other time in her life. Once she passes into the childbearing years, her skin will be subject to changing due to hormone fluctuations. If she’s already well into her teen years, she may not experience breakouts due to hormone fluctuations since she, no doubt, is already having hormone surges.

For more details on what to do and what not to do for your teenager’s skin (whether problems are present or not), see:

• Teenage Skin—what you need to know  
• The Basics 1-2-3 Program  
• Product Recommendations—a teenager Q & A

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comment:

1. 
   Marine March 24, 2015 at 8:11 PM

   My daughter is 14 and very involved with taking care of her skin. She always gets compliments on how clear and glowing it is. I introduced her to cleansing, masks and facials last year and how she has good habits for life.

Oral Antibiotics: Good for clearing up your skin or not?

Below are two stories of clients who have been on antibiotics for their skin problems (long-term) and the issues this course of treatment can bring. Hopefully this will be helpful information to keep in mind if you are on antibiotics for your skin—especially if you’ve been taking them for a long time.

Sara’s story. My client Sara has been on tetracycline for at least two years for problem skin. However, after talking with her, I found that her skin problems are very intermittent and occasional. Once her dermatologist suggested Accutane, but Sara’s problems weren’t severe, and from what she knew about that medication she thought Accutane sounded like overkill. She went on to tell me she had a hysterectomy at 27 years of age due to complications with her ovaries, and since then she has had over eight surgeries for endometriosis. This information shows something is inherently out of whack with Sara’s body. Most likely she has a hormone imbalance, which can adversely affect the skin.

She called me wanting help with occasional breakouts that came in the form of deep cysts about once a week. We discussed diet, and she didn’t have too much sugar in her diet although she did admit to her one bad habit: Diet Coke®. She drinks about 6-8 per day. These may not be causing her skin troubles directly, but they surely aren’t helping her overall health. Diet or not, carbonated beverages—especially consumed in excess—can be harmful to the delicate balance in our bodies.

As an example of why being on antibiotics can affect you adversely, recently Sara burned her arm, causing a fair-sized wound. She went swimming, as she usually does for exercise, and wound up with a large infection at the sight of the burn. She called a doctor friend of hers who proceeded to tell her he couldn’t believe she had been on antibiotics and still developed an infection. The body gets used to anything, and it can get used to antibiotics if they are used for an extended period of time. That is one reason I am so against long-term antibiotic use for problem skin. It is only treating, temporarily at best, the symptom and doing nothing to protect or enhance the body’s immune system—something you need if you get sick, or in Sara’s case, sustain an injury.

She told me sometimes she doesn’t take the antibiotics and nothing bad happens with her skin. Maybe she could stop altogether and see if her skin problems persist. I can tell you this much: her problems will persist if she doesn’t locate and isolate the offending party (which could be a hormone imbalance, diet, stress, lifestyle habits) and eliminate or in some other way alter it to end the skin reaction. Long-term use of antibiotics for skin problems is a slippery slope.

My personal experience with antibiotics is limited since I haven’t taken them for many years, but in the past whenever I would take antibiotics, my skin would break out. I wouldn’t get a huge breakout, but I’d always get one or two really deep, red papules (also considered “cysts”); the kind of blemish that doesn’t have a head and cannot be extracted. It is also the kind of spot that tends to take a long time to go away. I think this is because my body was trying to throw off the toxic effect of the medication.

In the short-term, antibiotics can be helpful and useful. It is their long-term use and abuse that I disagree with, as in Sara’s case and many other stories I have heard from clients over the years. Take notice of how long you have been taking antibiotics for your skin and consider finding alternative ways to ensure clear skin. This includes putting on your investigator’s hat and trying to discern what the cause of the breakouts are in the first place. As a side note, I suggested Sara go to an acupuncturist to see if that would make some headway with her hormonal concerns.

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A teenager’s story. Linda’s son, Michael, has had problem skin his whole teenage life. He has been on tetracycline (a commonly prescribed antibiotic) for years and now, at age 19, his skin is a mess. The antibiotics have long since stopped working and his dermatologist is suggesting Accutane. His mother is, to say the least, disappointed and unsure of what to do.

Linda told me Michael eats a diet rich in poor-quality foods. She insists he doesn’t drink sodas and juice at home. Teenagers and soda pop pretty much go hand in hand, so if his friends are drinking sodas, he probably is too. Although she makes her own house as sugarfree as possible, the world is a huge candy store just waiting for teenagers to come and partake.

I told Linda that her son can continue to stay on drugs his whole life, but until he stops feeding the problem—literally—the skin troubles will continue. Due to his age, his hormones may still be surging and will settle down with time, but in the meantime it would be great if he could learn to change his eating habits.

The special challenge with teens is not only are their hormones kicking in, but they don’t usually eat a balanced diet. Even some adults have a hard time understanding that what they are eating may be affecting their bodies, their health, and their skin. And in my experience, I find most teens haven’t made that connection yet either.

One positive thing about Michael is he is coming to his mom and expressing disgust with his skin. That’s actually a good sign because it means he will be open (to some degree) to changing his ways and listening to helpful advice. Here is a fact that has repeated itself to me over and over again: If people see improvement after making a change (like cutting back or quitting sugar), they are more prone to continuing to change. If no improvement is seen (like after buying expensive but ineffective products, for instance), then they are less likely to keep changing.

The point to this story is to say that taking antibiotics won’t necessarily clear up your skin. It may be a temporary fix, but unless you change your eating habits (or just grow out of the teenage hormonal years), antibiotics aren’t a cure-all. And they can actually affect your body’s immune system by weakening it. Start at the source and see what positive changes you can make that will surely result in positive changes in your skin’s health—and of course for the health of your entire body.

For more information, see:

• Why you want to get Acupuncture
• MYTH: Food doesn’t affect skin
• Sugar & Skin Problems

Teenage Skin—what you need to know

Many of my clients have asked what they can do for their teenagers’ problem skin. Or sometimes they simply want to start their teens on a good skin care program, but don’t know where to begin. Whether your kids have problem skin or not, there are some basic habits teenagers should try to develop that can have a positive effect on their skin. I have written this section specially for them.

1. Keeping your skin clean is of paramount importance. Generally, you use soap to wash your face. This presents problem number one. Almost all soaps have high alkalinity. Alkaline cleansers should not be used, especially by people (young or old) having problems with their skin. Alkalinity strips all surface oil and water off your skin, leaving it depleted. The oil glands will usually pump out more oil to compensate for the loss.

Adding to this excess oil, your skin might become dehydrated from the soap. So your face may feel dry (although it’s simple dehydration), yet will look and feel oily at the same time. Confusing, isn’t it? Liquid Aveeno or Cetaphil cleansers would be good alternatives to soap. They are inexpensive and do a good job of cleansing. 

So keeping the skin clean with a non-alkaline cleanser is the first rule to follow. Just as I would instruct adults, you should be washing your face both in the morning and in the evening. Getting into good skin care habits early on will benefit you down the road.

2. Rinse off your face immediately after exercising. This is very important. All that salty sweat is basically toxic waste (toxins) being released from your body. It is coming out of your body, and you need to complete the elimination by thoroughly rinsing your face with water until you can’t taste the saltiness anymore. Many clients who were experiencing sweat-related problems had a significant reduction in their breakouts using this quick rinse-off method. 

3. Don’t wash too much. If clean is good, then surely washing several times throughout the day must be better, right? Well, it’s not. Since soap dries out the surface of your skin, you are essentially forcing your oil glands to pump and pump and pump to keep the surface lubricated. Even using non-alkaline cleansers can overstimulate the oil glands, giving rise to oilier skin. Although it is important to keep the skin clean, you don’t want to create more oil. Washing twice a day is a good guideline—and always after sweating. If you feel the need to wash another time in the day, then do so. But in general, don’t wash too much.

4. Abrasive scrubs are out if there are problems with infection (red bumps, pimples, blemishes, zits, and/or acne). Blemishes can easily be opened up or irritated with the abrasive particles contained in a scrub. Like open wounds, a scrub can leave these blemishes subject to even more infection and makes them take longer to heal. If no infection is present, scrubs are fine to use—as long as they are used with care. You never want to rub too aggressively with a scrub. Please be sure your skin is already wet when applying the scrub. Never use one on a dry skin. Why? Too much pulling and not enough glide.

5. Pimple-drying agents should not be used on problem skin. This includes oxy products, blemish pads, etc. These products are very harsh, to say the least. They’re being used on skin that is infected and inflamed. This tissue needs soothing, calming, antibacterial products used on it, not harsh, caustic creams.

6. Food does affect your skin. There are plenty of books and many doctors who will disagree with me on this issue. However, I have seen too much evidence to believe otherwise. It just doesn’t make sense that what you eat doesn’t affect everything about you, including your skin. It’s like saying I can fill up my car’s gas tank with orange juice, and this won’t affect how it runs. A car requires a certain type of fuel to run efficiently, and so does your body. If you put low-quality foods into your system, sooner or later your system (your body) will rebel.

During the teen years (I know this was true for me), eating healthy, well-balanced meals isn’t necessarily the norm. There tends to be a lot of sodas and sweets, and usually a more than occasional fast-food burger and fries. Even if your stomach can survive this, it is doubtful your skin will—not for any extended length of time. I think your body can tolerate all kinds of abuse for a short period of time, but after your time is up, your body will rebel. It will start creating symptoms of overload. One of these “symptoms” is breakout.

And to top that off, kids are bombarded by advertisements in teen magazines to use oxy this or “zit remover” that. As I’ve said before, these products do little more than irritate the skin and put the irruption in a dormant (inactive, not cleared up) state. Become aware of how food may be affecting your skin.

7. Don’t pick. I know this is an impossible request. I feel it is my duty to at least address this issue even though I’m quite sure faces will be picked at by their owners. It’s human nature. But truly, my recommendation is to leave your face alone.

When to start your kids on a skin care program. When your children are starting puberty, it would be beneficial to start them on a good skin care program. If they aren’t having any problems with their skin, have them begin washing their face with a non-alkaline cleanser. Do this at least nightly, and for an even better routine, morning and night. That’s a good start, and later down the road you can add other products (toners and moisturizers, exfoliators and masks) when needed.

At such a young age, and if no problems are present, their skin is functioning optimally and won’t need a lot of extra care. And when I say morning and night, I completely understand the likelihood of that is low. Many of my adult clients don’t wash twice a day. Hopefully you can get your kids to wash at least once and hopefully two times every day. Miracles do happen :+)

If your teens are having problems, it’s time to get them started on a good program of cleansing, exfoliating, and using a clay mask to help keep their breakouts to a minimum. Exfoliating and using a clay mask are additional steps that can help make a difference in their skin.

Numerous clients have found good results for their teenagers’ skin by following the previously mentioned steps. Not all teenagers are going to follow a skin care routine, but I have found if they see good results from following a simple program, they will be more prone to following through with it on a regular basis.

For more information, see:

• Starting your youngster on a skin care routine If by chance (or luck!) your teenager does not have any skin issues, this will give you some added tips and suggestions for a simple, daily routine.
• CLEANSERS 101 to learn more about what cleansers to use and get information on how to determine the alkalinity of any product.
• A Note to All Pickers—you know who you are!!! for more information if you just can’t stop this habit.