BEING a teenager and dealing with raging hormones can be tough, as can being a parent or grandparent or carer to one.
You can end up worrying incessantly about your adolescent, especially when it comes to their wellbeing.
NHS GP Dr Zoe Williams answers health questions sent in by readersThe Sun
I won’t tell you not to worry about them – I know that’s impossible!
But hopefully you have a strong enough relationship with them that you are able to raise important topics that may affect them, from eating disorders and mental health, to safe sex and acne – like one parent has flagged this week.
Not sure where to start? I’m always here to help and can offer advice and support if your teen’s health is concerning you.
Just get in touch. Meanwhile, here’s what else readers asked me this week . . .
Q: MY teenage daughter has really spotty skin. What can she can do about it? It’s affecting her confidence a lot.
A: While teenage acne is extremely common, it should be taken seriously if it is affecting a young person’s mental health.
Your pharmacist can be extremely helpful in advising what treatments would be best.
There are a number of acne medicines – most are topical so are used on the affected area – that can be bought over the counter.
During puberty the oil glands on our faces can become overactive and block the pores.
Spots are caused by inflammation from a build-up of bacteria and dead skin cells. A good routine of cleansing and moisturising might help, as will drinking lots of water.
If she is wearing make-up, ensure she washes brushes and sponges as these can be breeding grounds for bacteria. Likewise, trying to avoid touching her face can help.
If these measures aren’t working, then it’s back to the GP for prescribed medication.
There’s lots more on acne in my book You Grow Girl, which also covers puberty, confidence and relationships.
Perhaps plan a girls’ night with some homemade face masks to have fun and maybe boost her confidence.
There are natural ingredients we know are good for skin, including honey, aloe vera, avocado, oatmeal and cucumber, so she can get creative by Googling different mask recipes to find one that appeals to her.
Q: I AM 76 years old and have a constant gnawing, throbbing ache in my left lower abdomen, despite an ultrasound and CT scan being clear. What could it be?
A: There are a number of things that can cause pain in the left lower abdomen.
These include diverticular disease, hernias, colorectal (or bowel) cancer, scarring from previous abdominal surgery, as well as pain originating from muscles and connective tissue.
In a person of your age, it is important to rule out cancer if the medical history and examination fit with a possible cancer diagnosis.
The gold standard investigation to rule out colorectal cancer is a colonoscopy.
This test shows the inside of your bowel by inserting a tiny, thin camera tube into the anus and up through the large bowel so the doctor can visualise what’s going on.
In some hospitals it is now possible for doctors to perform a “virtual colonoscopy” using CT scans and I do wonder if this is what you had?
An ultrasound scan could rule out a hernia. The most common cause of these symptoms in someone your age would be diverticular disease.
Diverticular are little pockets or bulges that occur in the walls of the large intestine as we get older.
Often these don’t cause an issue and don’t give us any symptoms, but when they become infected or inflamed, it’s called diverticulitis.
Symptoms include lower left abdomen pain, constipation or diarrhoea, or both, and sometimes blood in your stool.
However, CT scans are usually very good at detecting diverticulitis, so a normal scan is quite reassuring.
Negative tests often provide reassurance that there isn’t anything too serious going on, but symptoms themselves can affect quality of life.
So if your GP is happy they have ruled out any serious disease, then the next step may be to treat the symptoms you’re having, either with pain relief, cognitive behavioural therapy or dietary changes.
Q: FOR years I have suffered with deep itching in my feet. It can start at any time and in any part of my feet.
I can be itch-free for a couple of months and then the itching will start and will happen daily for a couple of weeks, although it mostly comes on at night.
The itching can be so deep beneath the skin and so intense, that sleep is impossible. It can last for a few hours.
When it comes on while driving I have had to pull over in the car until it eases. I have been given quite a few causes of this – diabetes, nerve ends, diet.
I mentioned it to one doctor who laughed and said she had never heard of it.
I regularly see a chiropodist and as of last week, she indicates that I have no fungal infections on my feet. Any ideas?
A: As your feet and the skin in particular have been examined closely by a chiropodist, and no abnormalities have been found, this sounds most likely to be peripheral neuropathy.
It’s a type of nerve damage and affects around one in ten people in the UK.
Diabetes is a major cause, but there are many other causes too, for example, an underactive thyroid, various nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin B12 and folate, and sometimes an overconsumption of alcohol.
If you find blood tests don’t show anything, it’s severe, not getting better and there continues to be no skin problems, you could ask to be referred to the musculoskeletal or neurology team at the hospital.
They may be able to offer you nerve conduction studies which see how the nerves in the feet are functioning.
It might be worth keeping a diary to see if there is any correlation between certain activities and the symptoms flaring up.
It’s important you follow this up though and make sure you are referred on.
As GPs, we see a lot of conditions and we can’t be experts in all of them, so it’s important that you get help for this as it sounds like it is affecting your quality of life.
GettyBeing a teenager is a tough time and acne can make it even harder[/caption] Read More