A 15 year old female comes to an appointment in the clinic you are working in. Her mother accompanies her to the appointment.
They are there to discuss getting rid of the adolescent\’s acne. You note that she has a cluster several pimples on her forehead, around her nose, and on her chin (3 clusters, one in each area). They are in various stages…some new, some are resolving. She is wearing foundation and eye make-up at her visit which she says help hide the acne. Over all her acne is typical in many ways. Mom feels it is a real problem and both she and her husband were picked on relentlessly in high school because of acne. She doesn\’t want that for her daughter. She requests she is put on medication to clear it up.
You also notice that the adolescent and her mother are quite tanned. You ask if they have been down south. Mom replies that they both tan well and so she and her daughter tan at the tanning bed once a week to keep their summer color up.
The adolescent isn\’t doing much talking and Mom is speaking on her behalf for the most part.
What are some things you are thinking about as you sit with this family?
What are your concerns.
What are the 2 main issues you would like to address at this visit.
Acne
Acne commonly occurs among adolescent girls and boys and it can be a source of stress to many. The cases study describes a 15-year-old female client who has come to the clinic accompanied by her mother. Her chief complaint is that she has a cluster of several pimples on her forehead, around her nose, and on her chin (3 clusters, one in each area). She is wearing foundation and eye make-up. The client and her mother indicate that they both tan at the tanning bed once a week to keep their summer color up.
From this information, the healthcare provider is thinking about three things as she sits down with this family. First, the patient’s acne could be caused by Acne vulgaris infection. This is a bacterial skin infection that occurs in almost 90% of adolescents (Ražnatović Đurović et al., 2021). Second, the acne could occur due to the skin’s response to the foundation and make-up that she is wearing. In a study conducted by Suh et al. (2021), the researchers found that continued use of cosmetics worsened acne in 38.1% of the study participants. Third, the healthcare provider is thinking that the patient’s acne could be attributed to prolonged sun exposure that occurs during tanning. Out of 171 patients used in a study conducted by Narang et al. (2019), 69 patients, representing 40.4% of the study participants reported that their acne was aggravated by prolonged sun exposure during summer.
The primary concern of the healthcare provider today is that the patient and her mother are not aware of the risks that her age, cosmetics, and sun exposure are imposing on the development of her acne. In this respect, the two main issues that the healthcare provider would like to address at this visit are; advice the patient to avoid using foundation and makeup on her face and tell her to limit sun exposure (Suh et al., 2021; Narang et al., 2019). As she does these things, the patient should cleanse her face twice a day with a facial cleanser, avoid rubbing, and apply a mild fragrance-free face moisturizer.
References
Narang, I., Sardana, K., Bajpai, R., & Garg, V. K. (2018). Seasonal aggravation of acne in summers and the effect of temperature and humidity in a study in a tropical setting. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 18(4):1098-1104. doi: 10.1111/jocd.12777. Epub 2018 Sep 20. PMID: 30238598.
Ražnatović Đurović, M., Janković, J., Đurović, M., Spirić, J., & Janković, S. (2021). Adolescents’ beliefs and perceptions of acne vulgaris: A cross-sectional study in Montenegrin schoolchildren. PloS One, 16(6), e0253421. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0253421
Suh, D. H., Oh, H., Lee, S. J., Kim, H. J., & Ryu, H. J. (2021) Relationship between acne and the use of cosmetics: Results of a questionnaire study in 539 Korean individuals. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 20(7):2172-2178. doi: 10.1111/jocd.13853. Epub 2020 Nov 30. PMID: 33206430.