picking at acne

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
picking at acne
7
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 1:21pm

I have a problem with my 13 year old son picking at his acne. He says it itches and dispite our efforts to get him to leave it alone, he is constantly dealing with fresh scabs due to him picking at it. Connor also has anxiety disorder and has always (since he was a toddler) had a need/compulsion to rub his face).

Any ideas on how to either help with the itching or to at least step up the healing process. He does use acne pads three times a day. Could this by drying him out too fast, would using a moisturizer make the acne worse?

I'm open to any ideas. He's got a major part in the school play and every other week his face is scabbed over or bloody due to him scratching and picking at it. Warning him about scaring hasn't helped btw.

stacy

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-05-2006
In reply to: ma2connor
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 3:03pm

Offer him a certain amount of money or something significant if he stops for a week or two and again every two weeks and as long as you see improvement in his complexion. I did this for my daughter who was chewing her nails to the quick. She was 12 when I offered her 40 dollars if I say all of her nails growing to a certain length. She did it. It took about a month and she stopped chewing. Unfortunately she started again when she was 14. Now I just live with it but I can understand why you would want your son to stop.

What about giving him something to do with his hands when he is idle. I.E.: When he is watching TV, listening to music, reading, etc. You could give him a couple of scrunchy balls. You know the kind that you squeeze for stress? Or an eraser to pick apart little piece by little piece. I see kids do this in school and put the pieces in a pile. Some kids rip apart a piece of paper into tiny pieces while they are listening to something or someone talk.

Hope this helps.Good luck to you.

Avatar for kel7col4
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: ma2connor
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 6:58pm

Has your son seen a dermatologist?

DD14 has acne and we tried everything over the counter and nothing helped and actually made it worse, I even put her on the pill thinking that would be the magic trick. She finally went to the dermatologist - where she was put on a heavy duty anti-biotic (doxycycline), given a medicated cream (differin) and cetaphil face wash and moisturizer. She was originally supposed to take the anti-biotic twice a day but it was making her quite sick in the morning and was just recently able to start the double dose and I do think I see a difference. She's never had really bad acne, just pretty good breakouts around that time of the month...

Kinda got off track, sorry, but I tried everything w/ dd too - not only w/ her face, but whenever she would get stressed, she would pick scabs. There was a time when she was in 6th grade that she went through an especially traumatic time and her legs were nothing but scabs - it was horrid. Her chest and arms were pretty bad too. I tried everything under the sun to get her to stop - money, yoga, keeping her hands busy, etc and nothing worked - ha the only thing that actually worked was covering her legs in bandaids lol! It was insane lol....

But yes those acne pads are quite drying and from what I read while researching could make things worse. Kind of like a viscious circle - the pads dry out the skin, the skin produces more of the bad stuff, thus more acne, more pads, etc etc....or it could be he just has super sensitive skin....I tried with all my might not to have to deal w/ a dermatologist and right now I swear by them.




iVillage Member
Registered: 12-24-2006
In reply to: ma2connor
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 9:41pm

A dermatologist was our last resort, also. What a difference it made! DS-17 seems to have naturally grown out of his acne now, thank goodness. (he was also a big picker)

zz

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2004
In reply to: ma2connor
Sat, 01-20-2007 - 11:23pm
Take him to your doctor to get him on some acne medication.
He can go on an antibiotic. There are cremes he can use.
I would not get him a moisturizer without making sure that it will not cause more problems.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
In reply to: ma2connor
Sun, 01-21-2007 - 8:17am

I think you are right. It's time to bring this to the dermitologist.

stacy

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-19-2003
In reply to: ma2connor
Sun, 01-21-2007 - 9:52am

Look for an acne treatment that isn't so drying. Something like Proactiv for example. Another one that I found good was a facial cleanser called Spectragel -- very soothing. I dealt with acne as an adult for 4 years (due to hormonal changes when I was pregnant with my daughter) and I found that astringents make the face feel tight and dry.

If you fear infection from the picking always ensure you have good hand soaps and cleaners in the house and that he washes his hands and cleans his nails frequently. At 13 he is too young to understand all the warnings. Heck adults don't heed warnings.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2005
In reply to: ma2connor
Fri, 01-26-2007 - 11:24am

Trust me, as someone who had severe acne, and now has scaring....you have to get it treated. I was also a picker, and it had to do with my low self esteem and nervous habit. I finally got mine under control in my 20s with Acutane.
DD (14) started breaking out really bad last year and we now use ProActiv. It has helped tremendously. Another good option would a dermatologist. You don't want his face to be scared for life, so do him a favor and treat the acne not the habit.
HTH!
Good luck