Acne in late teens

Has he been to the GP?

there's not the whole lot that you can get over the counter. It is usually face washes and creams with salicylic acid. They take a while to work and it is trial and error as to which one would suit.

I would strongly advise to go to your GP and ask to have a look and see what's the story. My niece had a fierce problem with acne, had tried all possible creams, washes, tonics, etc, but nothing worked. GP put her on antibiotics and it cleared within week or two.

My son had acne as a teen, turned out to be allergy to dairy products. He had a glass of milk most mornings and quite a few pizzas plus ice cream. Once he cut them out for 5-6 days it cleared up.

At 20 now too many pizzas or too much ice cream causes it to flare again.

Had this and my daughter had same.

You need to get referred to a dermatologist consultant. Roaccutane is the only thing that truly works. It cannot be prescribed by your GP. It is a course taken over months and the amount given is related to your weight.

It has a terrible reputation for depression but I would argue that you are at a low point when you get to Roaccutane and have tried every other potion and lotion and advice.

I don’t know where you are based OP but we went to Prof. Ann-Marie Tobin in Tallaght hospital privately and it worked wonders for my daughter. Best of luck to you and your son.

I had very bad acne as a teenager, all over my face and back

Started very early with me I was 10 and it got so much worse until I was 15 and my parents decided to bring me to my gp to get it sorted.

Didn't matter how much I washed my face, ate properly or drank water it would not go.

It really can effect a person's confidence it definitely did mine. I got social anxiety from it and hated my picture being taken because I felt ugly. Imagin been 15 and feeling that way

My gp referred me to some specialist at St James and they gave me an antibiotic, after a few weeks it was all cleared up.

I was actually amazed how fast it went.

Bring him to his gp and get it sorted OP

Bad acne can lead to bad scarring , I have some scars from it but I got lucky and there barely noticeable because I got it treated before it got even worse, but I do have a friend that didn't get it treated for years and he's quite badly scarred around the cheeks and neck from it.

It won't.

I'm 45 and male and have suffered from acne since I was 12.

It is now very, very slight, but at its terrible cystic height from my mid teens to mid 20s absolutely no lifestyle change made the slightest bit of difference to it, only very, very strong drugs did and they had very unpleasant side effects of other sorts too.

So stop telling people to wash their face and give up chips and chocolate and drink 8 gallons of water a day - sometimes chronic acne is just that, overactive sebaceous glands that become readily infected and only anti-bacterial medicine will help.

On the bright side, my skin has been so oily my whole life that by the time I'm 70 I'll still look about 48, so all is never lost!

Well the doctors and specialists seem to think differently thankfully.

Acne is lifestyle related. It's hormonal changes and imbalances.

The righteous descend on boards.I hear tapping under the table and people holding hands.Oh,I forgot a garlic solution cures Covid

No it's not.

Its best to ask the GP for a referral to a dermatologist. Severe acne can be treated very effectively these days so there is no need to suffer through it.