Skin Deep: Acne, Teens and How Moms Can Help

The teen years are never kind. Mood swings, growth spurts and acne outbursts are all things us adults are all too happy to forget. As a mom, you can’t do anything about your teen’s temperament or the fact that you totally embarrass them simply by opening your mouth. But if you’ve noticed an increase in acne breakouts or skin irritations on your teen’s face, there may be something you can do besides espousing hand and face hygiene and spending thousands on acne treatment.  Check the surface of their favorite device, their cell phone.

As your teen presses that phone against their face, natural oils and dirt builds up with everything else that phone has touched such as a table top, loose change…or worse. While they wash their face daily (you hope) the cell phone until now isn’t so lucky. Over time, all that yuckiness is transferred from the phone to their face, which doctors have warned can lead to a variety of skin conditions from mild acne and to staph infections.
Many people, especially teens, go months or even years without ever cleaning their cell phone. And  we all know, teens use their cell phones for hours on end, sending a mind numbing 2,700 text messages per month, calling friends, and if you’re lucky, you.

Since various tests have  shown an average cell phone is the most germ infested item we touch every day, containing more germs than a toilet seat or the bottom of your purse, the bacteria that accumulates on the device from daily use and reaches our face, mouth and ears is increasingly threatening to our personal hygiene, and can lead to skin conditions and infectious diseases for teens and adults alike.

Luckily, the solution is simple. All you need to do is encourage your teen to practice good “mobile hygiene”, and clean his or her cell phone once in a while, just like we wash our hands and clean other personal items. By doing so, and perhaps referring them to cleanmycellphone.com, you not only sound cool because for once you’re the one who knows of the latest cell phone trend, but you’re also helping them protect their health as mobile technology increasingly enters every facet of their daily lives.

Help your teen more effectively fight acne in today's mobile age by cleaning their cell phone.

Tell us moms, what do you think is the best way to encourage your teen to clean his/her cell phone?