It could well appear fairly trivial to some people however to a teenager the onset of acne can all too often seem to be the end of the world. Nearly all teenagers will get acne at some time and, in most cases, it is relatively mild and more of an irritation than anything else. In other cases however acne can be severe and cause a poor body image and even serious depression. In every case however there are a variety of steps which you can take to help your teenager in coping with the problems of acne.

A significant problem with acne is the fact 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 must therefore begin by arming yourself with the facts and here are several of the principle facts about just what causes acne and what can actually make an acne attack worse:

* Genetics - some children are quite simply more susceptible to acne no matter what they do.

* Too much scrubbing - many teenagers think than cleaning their skin well will help in getting rid of acne. While cleanliness is undoubtedly important, scrubbing the skin too hard can both cause problems with existing spots and also result in their spread.

* Popping pimples - most children cannot resist the temptation to pop 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 will only make things worse in the long term.

* Diet - the precise connection between acne and diet is not terribly well understood just at the moment but it certainly appears that diet has an effect on acne.

* Stress - whenever we find ourselves under stress the chemical balance in our bodies is disturbed and this can add to the problems of teenage acne.

* Makeup - a lot of children, of both sexes, will attempt to use makeup to hide their acne. This can however cause problems both in terms of the inability of the skin to breathe adequately and of acne reacting to the makeup chosen.

The first thing that your children must understand is that acne is a natural part of growing up and, particularly, of the hormonal changes which their bodies are going through. They also have to understand that some teenagers will be affected more than others and that, whether or not they are lucky, this is just a phase which will pass in time.

Next, you teenagers need to be taught proper skin care and this is best done from an early age, and before the arrival of acne if at all possible. However, if acne is already present it is still not too late and this is something which they must both learn and practice.

Children should wash their face each morning and again each evening with a mild soap and, when acne arrives, with a special acne soap which can be bought over-the counter at most supermarkets or drug stores. An important point to remember here is that washing twice a day is quite sufficient and that, although they might be tempted to wash more frequently this can actually dry the skin and make matters worse.

Over-the-counter acne soaps and washing will frequently do the trick, although this is not an instant cure and your children need to be both patient and persistent. Where this does not do the trick however you will need to talk to your doctor or dermatologist. Your doctor or dermatologist might well recommend some form of prescription medication which your teenager will again need to use for quite some considerable period of time before it does the trick.

Without question, the most important step which you can take towards assisting your child to deal with acne is to begin early. Your teenager might well be embarrassed by the arrival of acne and you might feel reluctant to step in and try to help if they have just a pimple or two. Starting treatment early can however frequently knock the problem on the head and stop it from developing into a surprisingly serious condition.

Parenting4Dummies.com provides a wide range of parenting tips and looks in some detail at the problems of parenting teenagers