I started my 15yo son off with a VDH razor and so far things have gone pretty well. Until this week... He now has a pretty bad acne out break. Any recommendations on shaving with acne? I have CRS and don't remember what I did to deal with acne and shaving. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I've heard alum can help. Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap seems to help control mine. I would say probably stick to 1 careful, no pressure pass or even avoid shaving the area until it clears up a bit and watch for soaps or other products that may cause him to break out.
I would suggest a dermatologist. They can evaluate and treat problems sometimes with a simple soap change, over the counter meds or sometime a script. Back in the day we use to fight it but these days a Dr. can usually clear it up easily.
I had this problem in high school. For me, it was a constant new outbreak of pimples that shaving seemed to exacerbate. The best solution i could find without going to the dermatologist was to try avoiding bad breakouts with the razor if possible. If not, only go 1 pass over those spots, which I'm sure is all a 15 year old really needs. I ended up going to the dermatologist and getting on acutane, which has solved all my acne problems since (8 years ago). If you're family is against that, which i know a lot of people are, make sure he's washing his face with some type of light face wash twice a day and keeping his hands clean and avoiding touching/picking at his face at all times. To this day i use clearasil rapid action daily face wash. Hope it gets better! p.s.- I still have a pet peeve about me or anyone else touching my face unless they have just washed their hands even though my acne has been cleared up for years!!
If the acne is severe, go to the Dermatologist and tell them you want on Accutane. If it's not severe, go anyway.
I don't remember ever having to deal with acne. I would suggest addressing the cause of the acne. I am not sure how you would shave the effected areas, other than very carefully. That would be a tough problem to deal with.
My acne is pretty mild, an occasional pimple here and there. Even with a straight razor, as long as I keep the pressure light, I find I can generally go right over the pimples without cutting myself. When I get lazy and let my beard go for a week or so, I typically find a pimple or two after shaving, often times intact
To my way of thinking, traditional wet shaving does a lot to lessen the causes of acne. Acne, if not caused by, surely seems linked to the cleanliness of the face. Think about what most of us just call "getting ready to shave". We wash our face, maybe use a hot towel, maybe use some pre-shave oil, and then apply a decent soap before running the razor across our face. Afterwards, we rinse thoroughly, maybe use alum, maybe use use witch hazel, maybe use a moisturizer. This is the type of skin routine that I think best benefits those with acne. The only actual part of wet shaving that seems harmful to the face is the actual shaving, while the rest is designed to improve the condition of the skin. Assuming he has not seen a dermatologist, my suggestion is that he do a shave prep every morning and again at night, paying attention to proper moisturizing. Whether he shaves one of these times or not should depend on his beard .
+1 I agree with Mark completely. As my daughter approached the teen years, along came the acne trouble. Not wanting to smear chemical of all sort on her face, she began a regimen of three daily face washes with warm water, a mild natural soap, followed by a light pass or two of the alum block. This proved to reduce her trouble by 70-80%, and she hasn't looked back.
