Teenage acne

Your daughter's pediatrician should be able to recommend a dermatologist. My daughter is a little older and has been very diligent about her skin care, many of her friends who had bad/severe acne admitted to not putting in the time it takes to keep it under control. Neutrogena and Clean and Clear products worked for washing, and hydrating, and light moisturizing twice a day, carry skin wipes to use during the day; do this in addition to topical treatments. A lot of it may be hormonal, that just takes time. Good luck.

Dr Curtis Raskin is great. He may be a little far from you as he’s located in Concord but he’s one of the few dermatologists that don’t push any products and focuses on the issue. 

Also, I do recommend seeing a dr if all other OTC options aren’t working. My mom took me when my acne got really bad and only the Rx stuff worked. 

Take her to a dermatologist. I highly recommend Dr. Joseph Chao in Berkeley. He is young and personable and my daughter loves her clear skin.

Acne is complicated - there are many types and it can take a while to figure out the right treatment for your child. Personally I think it’s totally worth seeing a dermatologist - our ins covered it. No OTC drugs worked for my son - who BTW is a very healthy eating athlete. Acne is bacteria and it also can have a genetic link, even if you and your husband didn’t get it as kids (I and mine did not). Our pediatrician recommended Dr Icecreamwala in Berkeley (real name!) and she put him on a prescription cream that started working in about 2 weeks. His skin looks a ton better. As soon as summer and heavy sun exposure is behind us, he may start retin A - if this drug doesn’t clear his skin completely. She’s board certified in pediatric dermatology and says it’s safe and very effective. Good luck!

I'm sorry your daughter is suffering from acne. Aside from being physically painful, acne can be emotionally and socially painful as well.

My daughter also has suffered from severe acne, beginning around age 11. She is now almost 17 and has beautiful skin; she works hard to keep it that way. At the young age her acne started, I didn't want her to be on medication for it. We tried a number of approaches over the course of a year or more. What ended up working was Zapzytz (https://zapzyt.com) very simple, pure products that I found through a search on EWG's Skin Deep website (https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/?URI=%2Findex.php). Zapzytz is available through Amazon, and sometimes at Walgreen. At the beginning, I worked with her morning and night to properly care for her skin. She started seeing improvement within several days, and consistent results over the course of a month or so. As I began stepping away, she saw the impact when she didn't keep up the care routines that worked. It motivated her to stick with it.

As my daughter got older and began wearing makeup more regularly, we again went to EWG to research products. She's settled on Glossier (https://www.glossier.com) and Milk Makeup (https://www.milkmakeup.com) products which are popular with the young "in" crowd, look more natural than most makeup, and don't trigger her acne.

One additional note: acne products with benzoyl peroxide bleach fabrics. Consider using at night and switching to white bedding for these acne-prone years.

I highly recommend Shannon at Studio Abasi in Berkeley. She has her own products made locally and if you use them according to her directions they work. No pills involved. Our son had severe acne and he went to her place for several facials and used the products daily. He cleared up within a few weeks. He continues to use the products on a daily basis and I'd say he's 90% better. He's not perfect because he eats dairy and sometimes forgets. He's 16. 

As an adult, who has suffered from acne my whole life, I recommend seeing a dermatologist. If it's severe acne, nothing else will work. I have tried everything. Have your daughter bring in what she is currently using to treat her acne. The dermatologist might give your daughter a topical treatments first, but if it doesn't work, keep going back. Dermatologist have a lot of options. I recommend Dr. Julia Graves 510-452-0060

 A dermatologist can definitely help.  Both my teens see Dr. Irvin Epstein, Jr. in Oakland.  Busy office and there is often a wait but he’s really good.

Both of my daughters see Dr. David MacGregor (or his physician assistants Leslie Bowler and Christina Tucker). My oldest has severe, cystic acne and the youngest has moderate acne. Within two months of following their "regime", they both have beautiful skin. Some time between 13 and 15, hormones really kick in and you often need medication to get things under control. Don't be surprised if they recommend a topical antibiotic, Retin A and birth control pills. Having clear skin is important for a person's self esteem. Good luck!  http://450derm.com/

You probably don’t need a dermatologist, her pediatrician will be able to prescribe something. Teenage acne is a very common problem. Nothing works 100% (except time), my son had some improvement using  Differin which his regular Dr. prescribed. There are also oral meds her doctor may recommended. Vigilant washing morning and night with Clean and Clear also helped a lot. 

Our son goes to Dr. Dunn at All Skin Dermatology in Berkeley. We love her. She is patient and listens well. Highly recommend her practice. 

ACUTANE, ACUTANE, ACUTANE! Run, don't walk, to the dermatologist. I like all the docs I've met at our dermatologists office- Ingrid Rosebourough & Leslie Plotke. Offices in Lafayette and downtown Oakland. Both of my kids and my niece have used this medication which is a miracle drug. It is a hassle- a blood test and a doctor visit and an online "quiz" every month. The hassle is because If you were to get pregnant while taking this medication, the fetus would have serious malformations. The side effects of the medication (extremely chapped lips) are a hassle and can be unsightly. My daughter started this the summer between 7th and 8th grade. After 5 months, my daughters face was glowing and smooth and soft and acne free. Five years later she had another flair up of acne and took it again- this time for only 3 months. I cannot recommend it enough. My husband has been literally and emotionally scarred from teen age acne and impressed upon me how urgent it was to address acne when our kids acne became bad. Good luck.

I would take her to a dermatologist right away. Acne is a miserable condition to live through. I had scarring acne in my twenties, eventually taking Accutane after oral antibiotics failed. When my 15-year-old son's acne got bad, I took him to UCSF pediatric dermatology. I wanted to go directly to Accutane, given my experience, but the doctors convinced me to have him try oral antibiotics, benzoil peroxide and tretinoin for four months first. To my surprise, his acne completely cleared up. The doctors just took him off the antibiotics, keeping him on the topical medicines. They will re-evaluate if the acne comes back. One of the things I appreciate most about the UCSF doctors is how serious they are about preventing scarring.