Zap Your Zits Away

Being the parent of a teenager can mean having a lot of tough conversations. One of these conversations may center on the subject of acne. When your child sees the first zits appear on his or her face, it can be traumatic. Your child may be experiencing a myriad of different body changes, and this will be one of the most unwelcome. Your child may have a lot of questions about zits. Did you have them when you were younger? Will they go away? Will they get worse? It’s important that you be on hand to talk about zits with your child.

How to Talk to Your Child About Zits

When you see zits on your child’s face, you don’t want to come right out and start talking about them. Your child may be very sensitive about his or her appearance, and this could alienate your teen. Instead, take it as a sign to be on alert and ready for when your child does want to discuss the issue. Most likely they will want to go out and get some pimple cream. If you see pimple cream appear in your bathrooms already, it may be time to carefully bring up the subject at the appropriate moment.

What to Tell Your Child About Zits

It’s important that you start by telling your child that getting acne as a teenager is perfectly natural and that almost everyone gets some level of acne at some point in his or her life. Let them know that you understand how distressing it can be, but that zits do fade away eventually, and even if they come back, most people experience less and less acne as they leave their teenage years. The next thing to tell your children is that it is very important that they not attempt to squeeze or pop their zits. Except for engorged pimples with white tips that can be lanced or burst with the application of heat, followed by thorough antibacterial cleaning of the area, zits should not be popped. To squeeze or pop a pimple can force acne causing bacteria deeper into the skin, causing worse acne or even cysts. Furthermore, popping can cause acne to fail to heal properly, resulting in relatively permanent acne scars. Finally, popping and squeezing zits isn’t even completely effective on most pimples.

How to Care for Your Child’s Skin and Zits

After you’ve allayed your child’s fears and your concerns about his or her zits, it’s time to talk about solutions. If your child has just one or two zits, it’s possible that an over the counter pimple cream containing benzoyl peroxide will be sufficient. If the acne is more chronic or severe, you may wish to consider a complete acne care system. You can find out about Proactiv and other systems like this online. Whatever you decide, it’s important to make sure that your child practices good skin hygiene, washing with soap and hot water on a regular basis, and showering after sweating or getting dirty.