Acne!

If you have a budding adolescent, you’re probably already fielding acne anxiety. For many adults, the adolescent years can feel like a gauntlet that we all had to survive and acne is just one of the many tribulations that beset people in the adolescent years. But should we allow nature’s hazing to run it’s course? And when and how should we intervene? Hint: diet changes won’t help.

Seattle Children’s Hospital lays out some guidelines and busts acne myths to help you support your tween and young adult navigate skin dysphoria. Acne has clear and measurable negative emotional impacts on young adults. Helping empower your kids to manage acne and minimize its impact on their lives is a valuable coping mechanism that can then be applied to other situations of stress and discomfort. It also helps to remind kids that when they see clear-faced peers on television and media, this is the result of make-up and digital image correction.

If you scroll to the bottom of the article, you’ll find a series of photos that break down what medically constitutes mild, moderate, and severe acne as well as the preferred interventions at each level of severity. These interventions are the current guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. To listen to an interview regarding the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for treating acne, you can find that here.