Jaime Lewis (Host): Maybe you've noticed your preteen child or grandchild becoming very interested in skin care lately. While it's wonderful to see young people invested in the health of their skin, the trend has some physicians concerned about what's in those formulas that have become so popular and how they're being used.

Today, we're joined by Dr. Teresa Wright, Chief of Pediatric Dermatology at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. She's here to discuss what is and isn't safe for your preteen skin. This is the PedsPod by Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. I'm Jamie Lewis. Dr. Wright, thank you for being here.

Dr. Teresa Wright: Thank you for having me.

Host: So, I have a preteen who is interested in skincare right now, certainly more than I was at her age, but as a physician, what skincare trends have you seen that preteens are gravitating toward that caused you alarm?

Dr. Teresa Wright: I think the biggest thing I've seen is that these really quite young children are developing the idea that they need to have these really complicated skincare regimens and they're wanting relatively expensive products and they're wanting a lot of them to use. And in many cases, these are products that contain ingredients that are really too harsh for the skin of younger children, and there's a real risk of causing irritation or contact dermatitis or allergic reactions, so that's my biggest concern.

I think there are a variety of different trends, so to speak. But in general, what they all have in common is just this emphasis on you have to have all these different products and you've got to go to these beauty stores and buy these expensive name brand products. And I think that is just something that's not really needed for younger kids. These are products that were developed for adult people who have adult skin concerns like fine lines and wrinkles or sagging skin or discoloration from age spots and things like that.

Host: You touched on what some of the risks are that come with these formulas. Can you go in depth a little bit more on that? What are the risks of following these trends if you're a preteen?

Dr. Teresa Wright: I think it really just all boils down to irritation. Most of these active ingredients, things like retinol or different topical retinoids or other ingredients like niacinamide, vitamin C, peptides, you know, again, those are formulated for adult skin, which is typically going to be less sensitive. And when you use those kind of products on children who in general have much more sensitive skin, they're much more likely to see excessive irritation or even potentially an eczematous contact dermatitis or even an allergic reaction to ingredients in those products.

Host: Have you personally seen any patients with issues using these types of products?

Dr. Teresa Wright: I haven't seen a lot of these reactions myself, I've had quite a lot of parents ask me about these products because their kids are bugging them to take them to Ulta, Sephora, and spend a lot of money on these products. So, parents want to know if these are things that they really should be spending money on or allowing their kids to use.

I certainly have colleagues who've seen kids with these problems, having reactions or having excessive irritation, and it's been something that I've seen conversations about in groups of dermatologists or heard talks about. So, it's something that physicians and dermatologists are definitely seeing. I just haven't seen a whole lot of patients coming in with these kind of problems myself.

Host: But concerns from parents says something. Well, you mentioned a couple of chemicals, but can you go a little further with the chemicals that preteens should avoid in these products?

Dr. Teresa Wright: Sure. I think the biggest thing, the main one is probably the retinol, right? So, there's a whole class of medicine that's topical retinoids that we use for acne, but we also use for signs of aging. So, a lot of adults continue to use them for other concerns other than acne, but they can be really irritating. They kind of work by exfoliating dead skin cell layers. And when you're young, and you have that youthful plump skin, you don't necessarily have a lot of extra dead skin cell layers to get rid of. So, that's probably the one that can cause the most irritation, you know, and just be the harshest in general.

And then, there are a lot of other ingredients that are potentially used, but some, that come to mind. I mean, hyaluronic acid is really popular. It draws moisture to the skin, but it is a form of acid. Depending on how much of it is in a product, it could potentially cause irritation.

Niacinamide is something that's used for kind of brightening of the skin and helps fade dark spots, along with vitamin C also does that. Those are also things that can be irritating, especially to, again, young skin that tends to be thinner and more sensitive. And then, there's something just called peptides, which are various proteins that are added into some products that are targeted toward concerns of adult aging skin. So, all of those are things that could potentially be irritating for children with more delicate skin.

Host: Well, what key things do parents need to know about finding the appropriate skincare products for their child?

Dr. Teresa Wright: I think, especially for younger children, so even before kind of the pre-adolescent where you might start to see a few little pimples, sometimes we'll see kids, especially girls by about eight or nine or certainly ten years old, they may start to get a little bit of blackheads, showing that they're kind of pre-pubertal and the skin's starting to get a little more oily, and they're starting to show signs of some early acne. But I've heard about kids as young as six or seven wanting to use these expensive fancy skincare regimens.

So, I think the basics are you just want a mild cleanser, and you want a mild moisturizer, and you can get away with just doing like a lotion that already contains sunscreen, because sunscreen is really important, especially for the face on a daily basis. And then, maybe a lip balm, but that's really all they need.

And then, if they start to get just a little bit of acne, then you can add in a wash that contains some salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide. And usually, if they're just getting a few little blackheads, that'll be enough to treat that. But really, it's all about just mild cleanser, and then some kind of moisturizer with sunscreen, and then maybe some lip balm. And you can buy all of those at the drugstore. There are really good skincare product lines available at the drugstore. You don't have to go and spend a lot of money on these fancier product lines.

Host: Well, Dr. Wright, thank you for this. It's so informative. You're probably saving lots of parents money and lots of kids the irritation that some of these formulas make happen.

Dr. Teresa Wright: I hope so.

Host: Thank you so much.

Dr. Teresa Wright: Thank you.

Host: That was Dr. Teresa Wright, Chief of Pediatric Dermatology at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. Want to hear from more experts on the Peds Pod? Visit lebonheur.org, click on News and Events, and scroll down to Podcasts.