Dear Skin Care Expert,

I am 13 years old and I just got my first pimple ever. I’m freaking out and wondering how I should take care of my skin to avoid getting more acne. Many of my friends are dealing with bad acne and I don’t want to have the same problem. I’ve always had clear skin before. Can you let me know how to take care of my skin so I won’t develop any more pimples? – New Teen in Tampa

Dear New Teen in Tampa,

As you already know – you’re not alone. Acne is very common in teens your age and you’re actually lucky that this is the first pimple that you’ve ever had. Thankfully, there are a variety of things that you can do to help prevent further breakouts. Here are just a few things that you can try.

First of all, make sure that you cleanse your skin every day, but ensure that you do it very gently. A mild cleanser is just perfect for facial cleansing. You’ll want to avoid using scrub pads and you need to make sure that you gently cleanse and avoid scrubbing at your skin. This can actually cause more problems for you, since it will exacerbate the oil glands to produce more oil.

Another thing that you can do is to make sure that you wash your hair about every day as well. Wondering how this affects your skin? Well, the oils from your hair can get on your face and cause more breakouts, so it’s important to make sure that you keep your hair clean as well.

You will need to avoid touching your skin as well if you want to prevent any more from developing. Don’t pick the pimple on your face or squeeze it to try to get it to go away. Also, try keeping your hands off of your face, since your hands often carry bacteria that can lead to acne.

Ensure that you carefully choose your make up if you wear it. Makeup often contains oil in it, which can make your skin worse. If you have to wear makeup, make sure that you go with makeup that is oil based. When you wear any makeup, you’ll also want to make sure that you wash it off at night before bed or it will clog pores and cause more pimples to occur.

These are just a few things that you can do to make sure that you prevent more pimples from occurring. However, they still may not be enough to totally keep the pimples at bay. Hormones can have a lot to do with it and you may also need to go with a good acne treatment, such as Exposed or Zenmed to help you keep the acne at bay for good.