How to Treat Baby Acne

Acne is the most prevalent of skin diseases. In the United States alone, almost 17 million people suffer from it, no matter what their age or ethnicity. We hope the following information will be help for parents in knowing how to treat baby acne.

The most common age for acne outbreak, however, is teenage years, and that surprises no one. Only about 15 percent of the population between 12 and 24 will be free of acne. What is surprising, however, is that a baby can get acne, as can an older adult get adult acne. Acne usually goes away by age 30, although there are plenty of people that still have acne, or even have their first outbreak in their forties or fifties.

Althoughthis type of acne is quite common, this fact will not help parents because they will worry all the same.  They just need to know how to treat baby acne in order to help their child.

Some babies have acne as soon as they are born, although most get it when they are two or three weeks old. It usually is present on the baby’s cheeks, forehead, chin and back.

Baby acne is usually tiny whiteheads that have reddish skin around them. If the baby is fussy or hot, or the skin gets irritated by drooling, milk that she or he has spit up, the baby acne can be worse. A strong harsh detergent used to wash the baby’s clothing can irritate the acne as well.

Baby acne usually only stays around for a few weeks and there is no clear answer on why it happens at all. Some doctors theorize that it has to do with the hormones the baby receives from the mother before birth. Others say it could be caused by the medications the mother to be is taking.

How to treat baby acne, like the teenage or adult variety, should not be vigorously scrubbed. A gentle washing is what is called for. Should it happen to be so severe that the parent is concerned about possible scarring a physician may subscribe or may recommend an over the counter treatment of benzyl peroxide.