<p>Proactiv works great for both of my daughters! The older one has been on it religiously for 4 years and never breaks out. She just returned from London over the weekend and still has no luggage. Luckily, we had an extra supply of Proactiv at home for her. The younger one just uses it occasionally and has almost perfect skin. We are huge believers in the power of this product!</p>
<p>Never used Proactiv, but apparently it moisturizes your situation and preserves your sexy. :D</p>
<p>I agree that hormones/puberty are what bring on acne. One of my sons had terrible cystic acne on his back and neck (strangely not much on his face) at age 12-13. All of his shirts were stained on the back. People were constantly asking him what was wrong with his neck–it looked like a constant case of poison ivy. First he tried topicals at home, then the antibiotics, and when nothing else worked, he used Accutane. It was 6 months of chapped/bleeding lips, monthly blood tests, etc. But 5 years later, his skin still looks great–rarely a pimple, though the dermatologist said he could need a second treatment around 18/19. It was expensive, but I’m glad he was able to have the treatment. The doctor said if untreated it would probably spread to his face as he got older/hormones got stronger. Obviously looking better has helped his self-esteem. Now my D has mild acne that flares up (as for most girls) before her period. I reassure her that the dermatologist told us that 80% of teenagers have acne, and it doesn’t matter what you eat. It is “normal.” She heard the Pro-Active ads and she (and her 12 year old bro. who is overly upset by pimple or two) wanted to try it. We just found a similar and cheaper product that claimed to work “BETTER than Pro-Active” at WalMart and I was willing to buy that. Not sure if it helping yet, but, personally, I don’t think their acne is bad enough to need treatment. </p>
<p>There is just so much emphasis on looking good. My FIL really has a “thing” about acne–as if it is some sort of moral failing–didn’t want to see his kids/grandkids with it, would nag them about it, tell them they’re eating wrong, not washing enough, they’re dirty, etc. (I don’t think a 9 year old boy is washing any better or eating better than a 12 year old–it is just that the 12 year old has hit puberty!) In my family it was just part of the teenage years and my parents never mentioned it. Funny how people have different reactions. . .</p>
<p>For the kid’s first pimple, I would buy a face wash with .05% salicylic acid. I have some Aveeno wash with this amount, and it is just right for me. When I get an actual outbreak, I use the Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash with 2% salicylic acid. This is drying on my skin, so I use it in the morning and then wash with Cetaphil at night. </p>
<p>Luckily, I’ve never had severe acne. It seems like more and more kids these days are using prescription meds for moderate to severe acne, but Accutane sounds scary to me.</p>
<p>I’m tellin ya try rubbing alcohol! Just try it once and you’ll be amazed at how well it works. I asked my dermatologist and she said there is absolutely nothing wrong with it as long as you aren’t dousing yourself every hour.</p>
<p>I used to have crazy acne and absolutely hated it. Ive tried EVERYTHING and the only thing that truly wrks is accutane. It is expensive but long term its soooo worth it.</p>
<p>Proactiv didn’t work so well for me, but there isn’t a miracle cure for acne, and I’m sure it works well for some people. The Murad acne treatment system worked fairly well for me. It’s three steps, plus a spot treatment, and it calmed my skin down a bit. It is pretty expensive, though.</p>
<p>As far as over-the-counter treatments go, the Clearasil Ultra spot treatment claims to give you “clearer skin in three days”. It’s also not a miracle cure, but when I put it on at night I definitely notice a difference the next day. That might be a good option for your son, NYMom. </p>
<p>My skin had been slightly problematic until recently. I tried tons of creams, lotions, spot treatments, and astringents, but nothing helped. Finally, at the beginning of the summer I got fed up with it and stopped doing much to my face at all… And wouldn’t you know it got noticeably clearer! I think I was trying so many things on my face that I was just aggravating it even more. So for anyone who’s tried lots of products-- give it a rest for a while and see what happens. Right now I just wash my face twice a day with a normal gentle cleanser and keep a spot treatment on hand so I can dab it on the occasional problem area.</p>
<p>For mild acne I agree with Raindrop. Also, I would not use the Dove soap on face because of the lotion in the soap—can make the skin more oily. Dove is great for sensitive skin, just might not be the best for acne.</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone else has really mentioned using proactiv, but I will say this much. I don’t have full blown acne by any means, but the little break outs and stuff from time to time. Proactiv keeps my skin pretty much clean all the time. Plus, the moisturizer keeps my skin feeling good. My face always feels and looks clean. It does the job for me. I’ve been using it for probably 2 years now and it works great. It’s expensive, but it’s worth a try.</p>
<p>Both my son and daughter had significant acne (son also had wonderful baby skin beforehand), they tried proactiv, antibiotics, etc, they both also were eventually prescribed accutane, they both had weird reactions, my daughter lost the ability to cool down when it was hot and this lasted for 6 months after she came off, and my son became extremely lethargic (comatose), neither of them were on it for more than 3 weeks, but it did clear the acne up within a few days.</p>
<p>My daughter’s acne cleared up on its own, but she had been on the acutane for about 3 weeks. My son’s acne became quite severe and I read all I could
on the internet, and decided to try some zinc vitamin pills and some brazil nuts (as it seemed a fairly benign treatment) and it did seem to help. He also cut down on milk consumption (he had been drinking quarts). It is now six months since he started the Zinc and Brazil nuts and his skin has cleared up. Perhaps it would have on its own…who knows.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone. I think I’m going to need to start trying some of the suggested treatments advice any day now. The skin on my son’s nose is losing the baby-skin quality and starting to look a bit oily. No real breakouts yet, but I am going to talk to him about starting to take care of his skin. </p>
<p>I won’t be able to try Brazil nuts, BHappyMom, because my son is allergic to nuts!</p>
<p>BP dries up skin excessively; it is not a great idea at least for a long time period. Try ordering acne care kit from murad.com and make sure your son reads the instruction and follows it - it is an amazing product! Whatever topical regimen you choose, change it every several months because it becomes less efficient over time. In case you choose Proactive, Costco started selling it recently at a discount price. Good luck!</p>