[If you have taken your teen to the dr. for acne....]

Please keep us posted on how things go. I would definitely not hesitate to take my child in if we were dealing with cystic acne. I have heard how difficult it can sometimes be to treat.

 

My son has started to break out with puberty hitting. His is not cystic, but it is coming in exactly the way mine did-the oily T-zone. I was really looking at his skin in the orthodontist's office today. Many of the spots I saw were not actually acne. They are just dark marks left by zits, but they eventually clear up and get replaced by new ones :glare:. In the scheme of things, I suppose it's not severe, but I guess I'm re-asking the question in the OP. If it's not cystic, how long do you wait? I feel bad for him. I want him to have clear skin :(. We have done OTC meds, tree tea oil, and ACV. I bought zinc, but was afraid to use it after reading it increases testosterone---something I don't want to increase in puberty :tongue_smilie:.

 

I definitely will fully report back here! :-)

 

As for the cystic part, well, that's MY "diagnosis." I guess I just mean that it's more of those painful, red, "blind" zits than the simple whiteheads, you know? Not exactly sure it IS cystic, but I suppose I'll find out. And it's not terrible-- I just feel like we're heading down a bad path, and the more we mess with products the more it's aggravating her skin, which makes it worse.

 

Thanks for the support!

 

astrid

[I am a Republican and I wish...]

He has found God. Problem is, he was looking in the mirror...

 

:lol::lol::smilielol5::lol::lol:

 

OMG that made me snort water up my nose!

 

astrid

[A peek into our geeky homeschool]

Very cute.

Back when dd was homeschooling, our whiteboard used to have math problems and sentence diagrams vying for space with drawings of correct rear angulation and shoulder layback in canine structure. Ah, happy memories! Your son is a lucky guy!

 

astrid

[If you have taken your teen to the dr. for acne....]

No family history of acne scarring, though admittedly I got off pretty lightly in the teen acne department, and so did dh. She's our only, so she has no older siblings with which to compare. I called the doctor; we have an appointment for Friday morning. I have to take her out of school but you know what? I don't give a flying fart.

 

Thanks so much for all the responses here! You've made me feel so much better!

 

astrid

[I am a Republican and I wish...]

Hey now....dont' be hatin' on the BooBoo. Take the rest of the disgusting, narcissistic, ridiculously superficial and shockingly dim pagaent moms, but the BooBoo family are at least nice to each other. Superficial they ain't. :D

 

astrid

[Karma has been doing a really lousy job lately :(]

The evil girl and the two-timing boy are together. Sounds to me like Karma did your dd a favour.

 

Yes--- that was my thought.

 

She'll treat him like crap, and meanwhile he'll be sweet-texting someone else behind her back. Match made in heaven.

 

astrid

[I am a Republican and I wish...]

It would be a dream come true, wouldn't it -- but can't we send the entire cast of Jersey Shore, and a bunch of the women from those Housewives shows, as well? (If there's extra room, maybe a couple of those Toddlers & Tiaras moms and those fake Amish kids could go along, too!)

 

Oh heck let's just round up and send along most of the TLC, MTV and BRAVO casts for good measure! ;)

 

astrid

[I am a Republican and I wish...]

:lol: I deleted my original 'cause I thought I might get in trouble. But I just couldn't help it. Somebody smack my hand...

 

LOL! I'll shake that hand, not smack it! ;) (but I edited my quote as well......)

 

astrid

[If you have taken your teen to the dr. for acne....]

I really think you will not regret it. Part of why I waited so long was because I was afraid they would jump to strong, expensive medicines with bad side effects. They didn't. They started with a simple topical antibiotic. I truly just believe there was bacteria there that needed to be killed. I was fastidious about changing my pillow case, cleaning my skin, etc., but it just came down to something killing the bacteria for the most part.

 

This is what's been keeping me from calling. I guess I've seen too many Dateline NBC specials about Accutane depression. :crying:

 

astrid

[I am a Republican and I wish...]

:lol::lol::lol:

 

astrid

[If you have taken your teen to the dr. for acne....]

My skin was not horrifying, but it was trending worse. Several zits would be painful nodules with no "head." They are SO painful and take weeks to recede. At any given time I had about 7-9 zits in one stage or another; most were around my chin, my hairline or at my temples/ear.

 

I tried natural remedies for years and was sorry I spent so much time unhappy about it before I saw a doctor.

 

This is a good description of how Molly's skin is. Seems to be trending worse; I look at pics from freshman year and it was clear. Painful zits, lots of little red spots around her hairline, at temples.

 

I'm hoping dr. can help.

 

astrid

[If you have taken your teen to the dr. for acne....]

I took my then 16 yo dd to a dermatologist on my suggestion not hers. She is a picker. The dermatologist realized this right away- said she was too and put my dd on an oral med and a topical. We have had to tweak it a bit to make sure not to dry out her skin, but she is vastly improved. Incredible results really. DD also wondered if the dermatologist would laugh at us. Not at all. She was very understanding and said right away that my dd was the perfect candidate for treatment. Best money spent on a dr. in a long time! I would always take a child if they asked. And sometimes when they don't :)

 

She hasn't asked, but I know she's getting frustrated. She is so scrupulous about caring for her face and following the routines, completely removing makeup, etc., that I do think something more is warranted.

 

astrid

[I am a Republican and I wish...]

:iagree: As someone on the other side of the party line!

 

:iagree::iagree: As ANOTHER someone on the other side of the party line!

 

astrid

[If you have taken your teen to the dr. for acne....]

I guess I just don't know what is considered "severe enough to treat." Will they look at her and laugh at me for bringing her in? We HAVE tried a whole range of OTC stuff, and Molly has been super-vigilant about using the products correctly, changing her pillowcase daily, etc. NOTHING seems to work. I don't know what else to do at this point.

 

Thanks so much for the reply! It really helps a lot-- I just called the ped. but forgot that they're on lunch break until 2:15!

 

 

astrid

[If you have taken your teen to the dr. for acne....]

...at what point did you make the decision to do so?

How much time and how many different treatments did you spend trying to clear it up?

 

And how bad is "bad?" Molly has some along her hairline, typically one or two on her forehead, one on her chin. They're usually the painful, cystic type, though a couple of whiteheads are often present. Her skin is looking sort of red and blotchy. It's by no means "pizza face," but it bothers her.

 

We've tried grocery store prooducts: Neutrogena gentle face wash, etc, then gone through courses of Clinque's Acne System (or whatever it's called-- salicylic acid-based) for a month and then switched to the Target version of Proactive (benzoyle peroxide based.) I've read every thread on here about acne treatments, and Molly takes zinc with her daily vitamin.

 

So I think my next call is to the pediatrician. I'm hesitant because of the horror stories I"ve heard about those strong acne prescriptions. But there must be different options, no?

 

Any thoughts?

 

thanks,

astrid

[Neighbors, Dogs, and How to Keep the Peace?]

Some animals are born escape artists. This dog sounds like one. I do not think they sound negligent, they built a fence to keep him in, after all.

 

I think they sound negligent. Here's why:

 

The last three times the dog has got loose was out the front door or they were playing with him right outside their front door but w/o a leash. He may be just a great escape artist, but I would think since he always attacks my dog when he gets out that they would try harder to keep him contained when playing out front or opening the door.

 

astrid

[Tenement Museum in NYC?]

Anyone been? We're thinking of planning a day trip; Molly really wants to visit the museum, but it looks like some of the tours are for school groups, etc.

 

So what's the scoop on Orchard Street?

 

astrid

[Can we talk about the debate without politics?]

It was so distracting to see the clock! BUT, as I was watching, I did notice that you could see the clock far, far more often behind one candidate than the other.

 

And, just for the record, I'm so disgusted with the whole thing that I likely won't even vote for the offer of president.:glare:

 

You know, I didn't even notice the clock, and I watched every minute of it on CNN.

 

astrid

[Introduction and a name question]

Hello and welcome!

 

Not sure I'll be of much help with the name question, but off the top of my head I can think of:

 

Beatrice

Margaret

Clarissa

Rose

Maude

Millicent

 

 

I'm sure there are tons more-- I"m on the fly and typing on my phone!

 

astrid

[Can we talk about the debate without politics?]

I was watching on CNN last night and they did show the question on the screen. It was helpful.

 

 

astrid

[Undercover apostates (from Christianity) CC, obviously]

Ouch

 

astrid

 

ETA: You have obviously edited your post after I replied. I was responding to your comment that you could get Joanne a t-shirt that says, "apostate" and your questioning her about her understanding of the OP.

[S/O Dansko clogs]

Nothing really to add, except that I want these:

 

[Feeding my WTM Dog, Raw Food, Rabbit Question]

I got the ears from a friend who had extra in her raw delivery one month. She just gave me a bag of ears, so I don't know whether they were originally attached to the heads when delivered or not. They were frozen, though.

 

mmm....crunchy bunny ears!

 

astrid

[Christopher Walkem, Colin Farrell and Sam Rockwell recite lines from Honey Boo Boo]

Oh yes. You are understanding it correctly. I saw the episode. I think it was molten Shedd's Spread or something similar and a generous amount of ketchup-- stirred together, tossed with the spaghetti noodles and eaten from plastic bowls on the couch.

 

And I STILL say that family is more functional than most on reality TV. :001_smile:

 

astrid

[Feeding my WTM Dog, Raw Food, Rabbit Question]

ooh...I don't feed raw exclusively but my dogs think that bunny ears are like CRACK.

 

I'd say go with the heads.

 

astrid