Back acne and acne on the chest, shoulders, and even buttocks is a fairly common problem. In fact, even people who have clear skin on their face can have quite severe back acne or acne elsewhere on their body. It’s understandable when you consider that these areas are covered with thick skin that contains thousands of oil-producing glands.
The bad news is that back acne treatment is often harder to accomplish than treating facial acne. Back acne is typically more severe and may involve cysts and nodules, rather than simple white- and blackheads. The good news, though, is that there are back acne treatments that work.
Identify your Acne
Most facial acne consists of whiteheads and blackheads that may be unsightly, but usually don’t hurt much. On the back and body, however, you’re more likely to find cystic acne. This is a more serious type of acne that involves large, painful pimples with no obvious “head.” Before you try out any back acne treatments at home, consult a dermatologist to determine the type of acne you have. While back acne, body acne and facial acne all have the same root cause, topical treatments may not be effective on cystic acne. You may need antibiotics for a truly effective back acne treatment.
Be Kind to Your Skin
If you’ve ever had facial acne, you may have noticed that scrubbing and over-cleansing only makes matters worse. The same is true of back acne and body acne. The skin on your body may be stronger than the skin on your face, but that doesn’t mean it can stand up to a lot of scrubbing. Be gentle while cleasing to avoid irritating your skin and preventing it from healing. The skin on the neck, in particular, is very delicate and really shouldn’t be scrubbed at all. Use just a washcloth or bath sponge on this area.
Also try to avoid carrying anything on your back or shoulders, such as a backpack or purse. The straps rub against your skin and cause irritation. Don’t carry anything on your back for a few weeks to see if it helps your back acne.
Keep your Back Comfortable and Clean
It’s easy to keep anything from touching your face, but unless you walk around naked all day, you can’t do the same for the rest of your body. The solution, then, is to let only the most skin-friendly material come in contact with your back, shoulders, and anywhere else acne is a problem. Stick with cotton clothing, rather than wool or synthetics, and use powder to keep your back dry.
If you perspire a lot during the day, change shirts twice a day to keep bacteria from building up and aggravating your acne. When you work out, make sure the T-shirts and bras you wear are absolutely clean and shower as soon as possible after your workout.
Body and Back Acne Treatments from Nature
If the body or back acne your trying to treat isn’t too severe, the natural treatments recommend for facial acne can also work. Ordinary garlic, which disinfects and acts as an astringent, can work even on stubborn adult back acne and body acne. Just cut open a garlic clove and rub it gently on your skin to cover the blemishes with juice. It may take a few treatments for the acne to disappear, but you should see improvements within days.
Tea tree oil not only dries up excess oil, it also disinfects the skin to give it a chance to heal. Soap that contains a significant amount of tea tree oil is useful if you have blemishes on large areas of your skin, while bottled oil works well for spot treating the occasional pimple on your shoulder or arm.
Taking a bath in skin-soothing herbs like camomile and lavender can help reduce swelling and pain caused by more severe acne.
Because acne is more than just a skin problem, topical herbal treatments for acne and acne medications like Accutane may not have any lasting effect. Simple, natural dietary and life-style changes, however, can clear up acne faster than you might think. Using these methods also means you won’t be wasting money on chemical treatments that only harm your skin. Try an herbal acne treatment for temporary relief, but also take time to learn about how caring for of all aspects of your health can stop acne quickly and permanently, so you can get your self-confidence and your life back.
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