When I was my son's age, I never broke out. never. Then I turned 29 and started getting cystic acne. It was a shock to me. My mom used to get it when she was my age but hey, when you're young you don't pay attention to those things. It wasn't a big deal to me until I got mine. Major shock!
My son gets non cystic acne and it can be bad. He also gets it on his chest and back. I totally freak out. lol I take him to get facials as often as I can. I don't care how much it costs. Took him to the dermatologist but we both hated Minocycline. It didn't work for us. He also was using Altrin (or whatever that is called). It helped but he got lazy, stopped using it and the zits came back. I got a ton of face washes, biore strips..you name it and he has it. lol I try to get him to wash his face every morning and night but he's a lazy teen. Can't force him to do what he doesn't want to. I've gotten better about it and I'm trying not to be so obsessive. I just worry about my baby. But honestly, he doesn't seem to care about it. He always tells me he doesn't care and not to worry so much. I don't chase him around with the biore strips anymore or offer him money so that i can clean his face. haha yeah, I'm one of those mothers....
I will be so, so, so, so sad if my son inherits my cysts. I'd rather get triple the amount that I am getting then to have my poor child go through this crap. I will be so pissed at myself if he does...
u're a very good mother!
i hope ur son is fine!
They'll start exfoliating straight from the womb I swear!
I am a mother of two young girls. The minute they show signs of acne I will get them to a derm or medical esthetician to start a quality skin care regime. If its presented in the right way, you can avoid any negative association IMO.
I had mild to moderate acne. I also had/have skin picking OCD (which i realize is just a symptom of a larger issue but was not helped by the acne for sure). My parents did nothing for me and I kind of resent them for it.
My parents pretty much had the attitude that if they got by without dermatology, then I could too. We were not well off financially and by the time I was really having problems, there was a divorce and situational poverty resulted. When I had a child, I did not really think that he would have acne. My brother outgrew his quickly, my sister never had it, my parents were clear, my husband never suffered, my husbands parents were clear. Wouldn't you know it my son began developing acne maybe by 14 or 15 (much later than mine). I was devastated, he didn't think about it much. About that time I was really experimenting with going gluten-free mainly due to some digestive issues, but in a few months realized that it was clearing my skin. Not completely but mostly. We had been having conversations about acne, because I wanted him to know that he did not have to suffer with and there were things we could do if he was open to it. We tried a few over the counter cleansers and things that just made his condition worse. I told him that he could try going gluten-free because it really helped me. He tried it with great success. Discussing acne openly has actually allowed us to learn from each other ways to control our acne. It helps strengthen our bond as he becomes increasingly independent. It has helped his confidence because it doesn't embarrass him to talk about it.
To be honest, I used to think that I'll have children someday, but now I'm not sure if I ever want to have children. I believe the main reason I have severe acne is because I inherited it from one of my grandparents. So if I have children, I will probably pass my acne genes to my children or my grandchildren. I'm also unsure if I'm going to have children because I'm not sure how to deal with their acne if they get it. Based on experience, I don't like it when people imply I'm being ridiculous for getting distressed over my acne problem. My ex-boyfriend used to imply that. But when I used to have more acne, my mother would say things like "I can see your acne" every time she saw me. She still points out my acne occasionally, and I didn't like that either.
So if I ever have children and they get acne, I will probably tell them about my acne experience. I will also tell them that even if they're not currently bothered by their acne, it might still have a negative impact on them later as it drags on. (Because that's what happened to me). If they're still not interested in treatment, I'll probably let it go. If their acne bothers them, I will try topical medication on them first, and if that doesn't work, antibiotics.
