It may well seem fairly trivial to many people however to a teenager the onset of acne can all too often seem like the end of the world. Nearly all teenagers will get acne at some point and, in a lot of cases, it is quite mild and more of a nuisance than anything else. However, in other cases acne can be severe and produce a negative body image and occasionally even serious depression. In every case however there are a variety of steps that you can take to help your teenager in coping with the difficulties posed by acne.

One significant problem with acne is that there are several myths about acne which your child is likely to hear at school or to pick up on such things as the Internet. You need to therefore begin by arming yourself with the truth and here are several of the main facts about exactly what causes acne and what sort of things can make an attack of acne worse:

* Genetics ? some kids are quite simply more prone to acne no matter what they do.

* Too much scrubbing ? many teenagers think than cleaning their skin well will help to rid them of acne. Although cleanliness is certainly important, scrubbing the skin too hard can both cause problems with existing spots and also cause them to spread.

* Squeezing pimples ? many teenagers cannot resist the temptation to squeeze their spots and this is one thing which we can all understand. Unfortunately, despite the fact that this may seem to make things look better in the short term, it is only going to cause more problems in the long term.

* Diet ? the precise link between diet and acne is not terribly well understood at the moment but there is little doubt diet has a part to play when I comes to acne.

* Stress ? when we find ourselves under stress the normal chemical balance in our bodies becomes unbalanced and this can add to the problems of teenage acne.

* Makeup ? a lot of children, of both sexes, will try to use makeup to hide their acne. However, this can cause problems both in terms of the inability of the skin to breathe adequately and of acne reacting to the chemicals contained within the makeup used.

The first thing that your children have to understand is that acne is a normal part of growing up and, in particular, of the hormonal changes which are going on within their bodies. They also have to understand that some teenagers will be affected more than others and that, whether or not they are one of the lucky ones, this is merely a phase that will pass in time.

Next, you teenagers have to be taught proper skin care and this is best done at an early age, and before acne arrives if possible. However, if acne is already present it is still not too late and skin care is something that they need to both learn and practice.

Kids should wash their face each morning and again each evening with a mild soap and, when acne arrives, with a special acne soap that can be purchased over-the counter at most supermarkets or drug stores. An important point to remember here is that washing twice daily is quite sufficient and that, desite the fact that they may be tempted to wash more often this can dry the skin and make matters worse.

Over-the-counter acne soaps and washing will often do the trick, although this will not work overnight and your kids need to be both persistent and patient. If this does not work however you will need to talk to your doctor or consult a dermatologist. Your doctor or dermatologist may well recommend some form of prescription medication which your teenager will again need to use for quite some time before it produces results.

Undoubtedly, the most important step you can take towards assisting your child to cope with acne is to begin early. Your teenager may well be embarrassed by the appearance of acne and you may be reluctant to step in and help if they have just a pimple or two. Beginning treatment early can however often knock the problem on the head and prevent it from growing into a surprisingly serious condition. Parenting4Dummies.com provides a wide range of tips on parenting and looks in some detail at the problems of parenting a teenager