Acne Magazine

For the past few years, I’ve suffered from periodic night sweats that range from mild to severe. By severe, I mean I wake up with my pajamas literally drenched, and the sheets where I laid also drenched to match.Many times a severe night sweat will wake me up out of a dead sleep, simply because I’m drenched and once the air hits me, I actually get cold.Unfortunately, this is a fairly common problem with women due to our tendency for hormonal imbalances, and also unfortunate is the fact that sweating makes our backs more prone to acne breakouts.When I have a run of night sweats, I can almost guarantee that my back will break out in those acne bumps that usually aren’t inflamed looking, but nonetheless they are visible.

We talked last time on how to get rid of back acne, or “backne” as it is affectionately called by some sufferers with a sense of humor, which often leaves people feeling defeated, because it is more difficult to reach and to treat that acne that is on the front of our body, such as our face or chest. 

Well, now I wanted to delve into the causes of back acne a little and see how we can possibly avoid back acne, or at least curb its severity by changing a few little things we do. 

We kind of talked about the importance of wearing light, breathable clothes last time in an effort to stave off too much sweating, which irriates the pores, and attracts dirt and grime like a magnet, which suffocates the skin, and begs for a clogged pore (acne lesion) to happen. 

People who bundle up a little too much may notice that their back acne flares up because they are too warm and are attracting dirt to this somewhat pore-sensitive area of the back.  You see, back acne is caused by overzealous oild glands in the back, which tend to flare up and produce too much oil on some people, while other people with facial acne may not have any problems at all on their back. 

It’s just a matter of what the oil glands are like at this particular location, there really is no other explanation for it at this time.   Another good idea for curbing the causes of “backne” is to take cotton pads and a gentle waterless cleanser or toner with you during the day and rub it down once a day between your morning shower and when you get home from work. 

This will help reduce the likelihood of buildup up the gunky stuff that makes your back breakout.

When my acne was in “full swing” as a teenager starting at about 14, and also in my adulthood into my twenties and late twenties, I mostly broke out on my face, but occasionally, I did notice I would get back acne, and it was very difficult to find a way to get rid of it since it was in a hard-to-reach place. 

The first important thing is, if you are a woman and you get back acne, make sure you are washing your bras almost every night, if possible.  I know this sounds like a pain, as I myself tend to wear my bras a few days in a row to avoid washing them too much, but there can be a significant amount of dirt and bacteria that build up on your bra and irritate your back, making it more prone to back acne when it rubs up against you. 

The primary cause of back acne is excess oil production in the back oil glands.  Since the back is a hard to reach area, it also doesn’t often get the thorough cleansing that something more reachable and noticeable, say our face, would get.  We need to make sure we are cleansing our back properly with a noncomedogenic acne body cleanser preferably. 

To adequately reach the back, we can buy a sponge on a stick, that allows us to reach between the shoulder blades where a lot of back acne occurs, and helps us to get rid of that built up bacteria, oil and dirt that ends to collect back there due to sweating and just regular daily activity. 

When it is hot outside, you will want to avoid wearing clothing that is too heavy for the season.  Light, airy fabrics will allow the back to “breathe” and not get congested with dirt, grime, grease and sweat, all of which are back acne irritants, and a key to getting rid of back acne by prevention.

You may also use a light toner on the back, at least the parts you can reach yourself.  Have your significant other doe it for you if you can’t reach the areas that are prone to break out.  The toner will just help to de-oil the skin back there and prevent future breakouts so that you have a nice, clean back when you wake up every morning. 

Yep, you read right “butt acne”.  This type of body acne, which occurs in one of the most embarrassing places, your derriere, is actually more common than you think.  I’ve actually gotten zits on my butt before, and I’m always mortified when I feel them in the shower, or happen to turn around in the mirror and see a bright red dot on my butt - a clear zit, just gleaming at me defiantly. 

I used to think acne was just for the face, but apparently acne in indiscriminant, attacking anywhere that is oily, where a pore might get clogged - and especially somewhere that rarely sees the light of day, is sat on often, and definitely sweat when we get hot.

Butt acne is usually caused by something a little different than the acne on your face though.  You have different, and more active, oil glands in the face which are more sensitive to excessive sebum and hormone fluctuations.  Butt acne is actually usually due to inadequate air circulation, friction, heavy clothes, and sweating. 

Butt acne is usually just little bumps on the buttocks, but occasionally you will find yourself with an inflamed zit, which on the rear may likely be due to a clogged hair follicle since the pores back there can get clogged easily by sweat. 

Recommended treatments for butt acne are salicylic acid solutions and benzoyl peroxide creams, preferably applied at night, when they can go to work undisturbed by sweat, friction or heavy materials.  You may want to go without underwear, as some acne products will actually bleach your clothes if you put them on right after application.  You can see recommendations here : Body Acne Products .

It’s that time again. Summer skin care routines should be implemented. The sticky, hot days of summer, with their increased humidity and sun exposure can cause some serious damage to our skin, especially those of us that have acne and sensitive skin. So, what should we do to minimize our chances of sun damage, and also minimize our chances of new breakouts?

I’d like to discuss this in depth over the next posts, but unfortunately I’m running low on time right now. I’d like to especially focus on the three big no no’s of summer acne skin care :

1. Using the wrong sunscreen
2. Wearing the wrong types of moisturizers for acne prone skin
3. Overdrying our skin in an attempt to have less surface oil and shine throughout the day.

Until next time….

Body acne is a prevalent problem, but it is generally less-discussed because it is usually not as visible as facial acne is, and is not as common.  You see, we have all of our acne-causing oil glands centralized on our face mostly, and although some of these oil glands can cause trouble in other areas, like our backs, they are most likely to cause acne on our faces.

I’ve run across a lot of men with back acne, but I can honestly say I don’t know that many women with the back acne problem.  Why would this be?  I’m not really sure, but I think it may be due to men’s and women’s oil glands being located more prevalently in different areas of the body, as well as a hormonal difference. 

Perhaps women are more affected hormonally in different bodily areas - this can be for any number of reasons, but we’ll leave that for another discussion.  Acne can really be a problem anywhere on the body, but the face and the back are the most commonly complained of. 

If you have back acne or body acne, the treatment tends to be a little more agressive (ie drying) than it would be on the face.  Reasons for the difference in treatment approach between body acne and facial acne are:

1.  The skin on the face is more delicate and sensitive.  Since we are also concerned with aging of the face, wrinkles, and skin damage, we would likewise want to treat acne a little more “gently”. This is exactly why an internal supplement for acne is preffered for the face, with mild treatment products used topically to complement what the supplement is doing in the body internally to prevent inflammation and reduce acne lesions.

2.  Body acne is generally less visible than facial acne, and so can be more agressively treated, with less concern over possible redness or irritation caused by a topical product which can dry out the skin.

3.  Body acne may actually be slightly tougher to treat, since particularly back acne can result in some fairly big acne lesions that run deep are are hormonally charged and more painful.  In other words, back acne and body acne is a slightly different “breed” than facial acne.

I’ve put together a new page that I feel reviews one of the best body acne treatment systems today.  People are reporting excellent results with this system, which is offered by a company who actually makes a body acne treatment system as well as a facial acne treatments system.  Here’s the review : Body Acne Treatment Product Reviews

Body acne is one of the most prevalent and embarassing acne problems that exists for many men and women in today’s society. While it may not be as visible as facial acne, it certainly does make you want to “cover up” in the summer months, and be less carefree about what you wear.

One of the biggest offenses against your skin that perpetuates bodily acne breakouts is wearing too heavy of clothing when the weather is warm. Overheating and excess sweat and oil production can trigger back acne, chest acne and even neck acne in the blink of an eye! Make sure you are dressing appropriately for the weather.

Also, be cognizant of the types of body moisturizer you are using, especially in the summer. This goes for your sunscreen as well. Read the labels. Common body acne irritants in sunscreens are PABA and cocoa butter, both pore clogging and irritating ingredients that can trigger and prolong body acne breakouts.

As for your regular moisturizer, choose a lighter allover moisturizer in the summer months - one that does not contain a lot of oils, but rather is water based and has a lighter “whipped” texture. This type of moisturizer is much easier on your pores and doesn’t clog them like the latter.

Buy a good body soap. Believe it or not, body acne has gained so much attention in the past few years, manufacturers have heeded the call and created lines of body washes and special soaps geared specifically toward people with body acne problems.

With all the new products out, there really is no reason to suffer through body acne and covering yourself up all the time. In addition to external body acne treatments, you can also look into a natural acne supplement to help fight it right at it’s source.