7/6/09: Worst acne ever!!

I am handed a chart by the MA who informs me that the mother is already requesting antibiotics for her son’s acne. I open the door expecting to see a mirror image of myself at age 15 suffering through school with constant pustules, cysts, and other eruptions.

2 papules (bumps), 3 macules (colored spots, no bumps) clustered around the corner of his mouth, all healing well and probably receding.

I look at the forehead expecting the hair hiding a few jems; nothing! I pull up his shirt to look at his back and expect to see a new constellation of acne eruptions; denied again! At one time I would have killed to have skin that looked like this, yet these 5 lesions were the center of his universe and he could not look past the mountainous eruptions of 1 mm each.

We give him some education on acne, some facial cleanser, and instructed him to come back if things got worse.

3 hours later it all became clear: The mother of the prior patient returned to the clinic with her “next” patient, her husband. At 33 he had been fighting adult onset acne for several years (and was relatively poorly controlled). Just more proof we are a product of our upbringing, and it is only as big of an issue as you (or your mom) make it.