Hi there,
My daughter turned 10 in April, but over the last 12 months or so she has hit pretty much every aspect of puberty EXCEPT getting her period... Breasts, pubic hair, MOOD SWINGS (OMG!), body odour and in about the last 6 months, quite severe acne.
We've tried every supermarket product, as well as natural remedies (tea tree, coconut oil, aloe vera, raw honey) and a few pharmacy suggested products... None have helped. My poor little girl is starting to get emotional about it, it has knocked her self confidence severely, and some days she even doesn't want to go to school over it
Our doctor has put her on an antibiotic, which she has just started this week, but I'm told that a common side effect is photosensitivity. Living on the Gold Coast, even though we are very sun safe, she's very active and outdoorsy, so this is a big worry for me.
Just wondering if there are any other Mums/Dads/Carers who have had a child this young going through this? Did the antibiotics help? Did your child have to take them for a long period of time?
Just some other info in case anyone suggests.. She is very active, has a good diet, drinks plenty of water etc etc, the doctor said that's all great however won't have a huge effect on her skin. Also while I respect anyone's decision to use Proactiv (or something similar), it isn't an option for us. Thanks for reading :)
7 Replies
I had pimples really bad as a young teen, the only thing that cleared mine up was the Avon range of clearskin products.
BUT they don't sell it anymore.
Have you been to see a dermatologist?
Whats her diet like? i found my acne was because of diet soft drink and chewing gum because it contains aspartamene. I started drinking water instead and my acne cleared up within 3 weeks! and my hormoe levels changed and my body odour stopped stinking so much.
Oh yes! My daughter is going through it now and she's nine. I went to the Peadiatrician about early puberty, but she said the average age of puberty now is very young, and nine is nothing to worry about. I take her to a beautician to have facials every so often, and have their products. But washing her face etc has no impact on it forming in the first place, which is all about hormones! Acne is not about dirty skin.
I have acne and use Proactive, which I really like, although I skip the astringent toner part because it's just too much. There's an ingredient in Proactive that is like a bomb to acne, but watch out on younger skin because it's pretty strong! They have this pen thing which is for spots which is just awesome, so maybe just try that and see what happens?
There's not much that can be done diet wise, and it really doesn't make much difference anyway, in my opinion. I could be very wrong. I took my daughter of dairy for a while, and it seemed to make things better, but then it everything went back to normal after a while.
Our beautician told us to pack some face wipes in her bag for her to wipe her face when it gets really oily at school, but not to do it too much because it can spread the germs etc.
Good luck with this. It's such an emotional time for our kids, all those changes. One thing that is good, though, was that through facials (we also do some at home), we get to spend a lot of caring time together and it's really nice!
Oh and swims in the sea or baths with a cup of vinegar or a handful of salt is good too. And helps with the body odour a lot. My daughter uses the high strength deoderant every morning without fail or she ends up smelling like old shoes.
Please please don't put her on a contraceptive pill!!!!! They are so bad for our bodies an no women should be taking them for extended periods of time! Let alone a developing 10 year old.... Try pro active it's expensive but worth it I used it when u was twelve 14 and recently used it after pregnancy
Hi, I can help you with a range of products for your daughters complexion, natural, certified organic and NOT the contraceptive pill or anti-biotics! PM me, and I will give you all the info you need, it has been used successfully for a range of ailments, such as acne, scaring, sebum bumps, eczema, dermatitis, wrinkles, dark circles, from age ranges of babies, to toddlers to young children, to teens, to adult, to mature. Contact me if you are interested, there is also a 30 day full money back guarantee if they do not deliver, but I have not known anyone that has not had great results. Hear from you soon :-)
Can I say I was THAT child and unfortunately now my children are the same too. I saw soooo many doctors and dermatologists and tried every treatment under the sun. The only thing that showed significant difference was the antibiotics. I also had to be very careful when I did go on the contraceptive pill - some reduce acne and some increase it. Combining the antibiotics together with a great skin care routine helped me immensely. Now that my son is going through this, I thought there would be better products. We have had tried all the most known products and different prescribed and non-prescribed products. And yet here we are back to needing antibiotics. If he does not keep his skin care up, his acne certainly gets worse, but the improvement is amazing and I regret waiting the couple of years trialling everything else first. He will now have scarring. BUT every child is different. And you need to find what works for yours. There is no out of the box solution for all. Don't feel pressured into what other people think. Do what you feel comfortable yourself with. And you will see yourself if successful or not. And be prepared to trial many different things, and that you may need to change treatments as they get older too and the hormones continued to change.
I've only heard GREAT things about the arbonne products and they are all natural! Totally look into them :)
As others have said, do not consider the pill. My little sister was prescribed the pill at 14 for terrible acne only to have a new doctor recently freak out that she had been on it for 5 years considering it was a high risk drug for someone who suffered frequent migranes, a complication being stroke! And considering the amount of times she'd been to the clinic in agony from her migranes we are surprised no one picked up on it! We are very relieved she never suffered the complications. You could also get a referral to a dermatologist :)