Homemade remedies for teen acne?

[ajrsmom]

My son is dealing with teenage acne. I've bought him acne pads and face wash to help with it but neither is working all that great. He also has acne on his back that he's becoming self conscious over.

Does anyone have any tried and true remedies that you've used or your kids have used?

How about name brand products that won't cost me a fortune?

[Lewcas]

I sympathize with your son. Most teens' acne settles down eventually, but I'm 52 and I've been dealing with it for 40 years.

By trial and error, I've gone through many, many prescription and non-prescription, expensive and cheap, products. Many only seemed to make the breakouts worse.

Since I was about 25, I've been using non-prescription 10% benzoyl peroxide lotion (Oxy10 is the usual brand). I wash my face with it morning and night; it has to be rinsed off very thoroughly, or the skin will turn red and dry. It also bleaches fabric, so I buy inexpensive white washcloths to use, instead of good colored towels.

I've also found that other "beauty care" products can make my acne worse. Since I'm not a scientist, I haven't run tests to make sure, but I believe that the ingredient propylene glycol causes further breakouts on my skin. Again, after much trial and error, I use White Rain shampoo and conditioner, VO5 when White Rain is not available, and try not to use anything else. (We recently stayed in a hotel, and I think two nights of using free hotel shampoo was responsible for new breakouts.) I also use Dial soap only--no fancy smelling soaps or body washes. In addition, I only use Almay makeup, though I imagine that's not a consideration for your son.

Well, that's the distillation of one person's experience. I wish your son the best of luck. Do see a dermatologist if all else fails, though.

[Pag36]

My almost 13 yr old g~son is now getting it on face and forehead. So far nothing has worked for him. Going to watch this thread carefully

[ajrsmom]

I'm going to buy him the OXY10 to see if it will help.

We already use White Rain coconut shampoo and condition - and I add tea tree oil to it - a teacher told me a while back to use this to help ward off lice if any of the kids in school happen to get it. I don't know if it's a wives tale or not but we've never had to deal with it yet from school. Does that count for White Rain shampoo?

I think that he might have a reaction to something in Clariton allergy meds. He takes that to fight allergies and it really helps but I've noticed that his back breaks out during that time. If it's not one thing, it's another.

[mom2-4]

As a teen I did not really have to deal with the acne. But, when I got older, about 30, I started getting acne. I tried many things. What seems to work best for me is washing my face with shampoo, of course not a moisturizing shampoo, followed by ivory soap. When it is really bad I will add some rubbing alcohol, which I try to use very seldom, along with peroxide.

[Lewcas]

Hi, ajrsmom--

If your son tries OXY10, just make sure he understands that it has to be rinsed off REALLY THOROUGHLY--can't just flip a washcloth over his face and go. More bad things may happen if it's left on the skin. My 13-yr-old son has just begun getting blackheads on his nose, and I have him trying a milder product first--but I have to push him to use it and then rinse properly. Aah, boys!

Another type of product that has given me breakout probs is sunscreen. So far, I've found that I can use Aveeno baby sunscreen without any difficulty.

BEST OF LUCK!

[Lewcas]

You wondered about White Rain and lice. I haven't heard that one before, but I can tell you that our household has never had to deal with lice. (Knock wood!)

[bluebird]

Been on this road three times with three kids. What works for us is Benzoyl peroxide wash by prescription, Clearasil Daily Clear scrub and a no oil moisturizer. The wash is around $15 with our copay but a bottle lasts a year. My dd uses pure handmilled soap no breakouts on her back. My son uses shower gel and his back is a mess. Oh tea tree oil on bad breakouts.

[ajrsmom]

Originally Posted by bluebird

Been on this road three times with three kids. What works for us is Benzoyl peroxide wash by prescription, Clearasil Daily Clear scrub and a no oil moisturizer. The wash is around $15 with our copay but a bottle lasts a year. My dd uses pure handmilled soap no breakouts on her back. My son uses shower gel and his back is a mess. Oh tea tree oil on bad breakouts.

Is it safe to use tea tree oil on your face? I have a doc. appt. coming up so I'm going to ask my doctor about the prescription stuff.

I have to keep on him to use the stuff, too, so I will watch the OXY10 if I decide to get it. Yes, Boys!!! What a handful!!

I've used those blackhead remover strips that goes on your nose and then you wet them and wear them until they're dry and then peel them off. They work pretty well. I still get blackheads on my nose. I've had to deal with adult acne more than I ever did as a teenager. The only time that I would get one big zit on my chin would be at period time. Now that I'm headed the other way, I have to deal with zits and cramps. I can't win. ROFL!!!

And....as soon as my son goes through the teenage woes, I get to look forward to my daughter going into it. UGH!!!

[afpresley]

i will just tell you this that tea tree oil is good for anything put that stuff in a bottle mix with water and spray yourself and those little hateful bugs like mosquitoes and knats well stay away of course it sure dont smell like avon but it does the work and not only that but put it on cuts and burns i keep a bottle all the time you cant beat it for fever blisters. i live in tennessee in a beautician told us to get some tea tree shampoo for lice because we were afraid of our kindergardener would bring them home, we have used it for acne i had told my brothers grand son about it. it didnt hurt anything he just went girl crazy this summer and his hormones went crazy i dont think tea tree is good for your hormones thou. and putting this on his acne was the last thing on his mind.