• Question: How do you reduce teenage spots

    Asked by Aoife to Anne, Florence, Mark, Neil, Sinead on 17 Nov 2015. This question was also asked by Edel?☄, Megan?.
    • Photo: Sinead Balgobin

      Sinead Balgobin answered on 17 Nov 2015:

      Let me tell you, they’re not just for teenagers 🙁 The things nobody tells you!

      As a general rule of thumb, keeping your face clean is the first step- it seems obvious but keeping the levels of oil on your face low is key to avoiding spots. Try to avoid washing to harshly (using exfoliating products) because they will hurt your skin and might make the spots worse. Keep your skin moisturised, but try to avoid oily products. Also always remember to take off all your make-up before bed! Use few oily products on your hair too, and keep it clean since these oils and products can get on your skin too. Even something as simple as changing your pillowcases more often can help, because a lot of sweat, oil and dirt can wipe off onto them when you are asleep.

      Over-the-counter products like benzoyl peroxide work to dry the skin and kill bacteria, and can be a good treatment. If you have serious acne, your doctor can prescribe stronger topical treatments.

      Acne can be caused by hormonal changes too, and for the girls, if you are having real trouble with acne (and have tried anything else) your doctor might prescribe the birth control pill. This works to keep your hormones in check.

      Sometimes spots are also caused by stress, which is unfortunately pretty unavoidable for you guys with exams, dealing with hormone changes, dealing with other people in general and figuring out what to do with your lives… But try and find an outlet (sports, music, reading, video games- whatever you do to relax).

    • Photo: Florence McCarthy

      Florence McCarthy answered on 18 Nov 2015:

      Spots are a normal occurrence of everyday life and tend to be caused by pores in the skin becoming blocked and a build-up of the natural oil which our skin uses to keep us moisturised. One way is to ensure that you do not allow your pores to become blocked by washing regularly wild mild detergent (soap and water) and by not aggravating the skin so a blockage can occur. Ideally use a little make-up as possible as this is a common source of blockage and if you do use some ensure it is removed completely before you go to bed. Spots will still happen as you cannot stop all of the blockages but remember they happen to everyone and they will go after a day or two.

Comments