I’m not sure if you’ve already done this step or not, but if you haven’t got them on good ph balanced face wash, that will make a huge difference in the effectiveness of the other treatments. Drug store brands like cerave (my fav) or cetaphil or vanicream don’t seem very gendered (to me), and some I think even have ‘mens’ lines. My other fav (k beauty brand) is CosRX, and their packaging is generally neutral/medicinal, and are fairly available in the USA these days.
And I know this is not the question exactly but if irritation is an issue, especially with what treatments are being used, contact therapy (applying product then washing it off after 15/30/whatever minutes) is great for benzol peroxide, retinol products (I use OTC differing, it’s good) , and probably a bunch of other stuff. Some people can work their way up to leaving it on longer, but also some treatment is better than none. And not walking around with peeling skin make actually using the treatments more appealing.
Eta: oooops a bit of cross posting, disregard as necessary.
Poor kid! That does sound pretty miserable. I remember my face going all red, and lots of dry skin everywhere.
It’s probably more fuss than it’s worth, especially if they are already not into daily washing, but it might be worth asking your doctor about how long they’d have to leave it on for a contact therapy application. I think at 2.5%, they would have to leave it on for more then 5 or 10 minutes, which seems like a bigger ask from a kid who is already not into it, so possibly not something they’d do anyway. I am making a ton of assumptions, but I think you’d get more mileage out of putting effort into more frequent skin washing, and more frequent clothing/bedding changes.
Idk if this is useful info for you or the kids would find it motivating, but this website is my first stop recommendation for acne treatment and what got me started figuring out how to clear up my skin: Acne.org Regimen - Clear Skin Routine Also has advice for how to slowly introduce benzol peroxide to minimize irritation.
Which reminds me that a moisturizer might help with the irritation? My go-to here is also cerave.
ok, current plan is more frequent pillow case changes, I’ve put ‘face washing’ on their chore list, and reminded them of the face wash products that are in their bathroom. (wash, cleansing pad, moisturizer).
for weekly facial’s, I’ll look at some of @ElleP suggestions. I think the enzyme exfoliant works well, I think the fruity scent - they did not care for.
And I will look into a retinol step, which we currently don’t have.
For the back, I think we are going to do alternate-day 2.5% with moisturizer, with just moisturizer on the off days. That way it’s a daily thing. If it’s every other day treatment, we will forget. If there is something to do daily, it will become routine.
I also struggle with back acne from exercising/sweating a lot, and what has worked for me is the Panoxyl 4% Benzol peroxide face wash, used as a body wash. I find it’s gentler than the 2.5% benzoyl peroxide treatment. I also use the Neutrogena stubborn acne body spray if I can’t shower right away and I’m sweaty, and it’s really been helping.
