Acne commonly rocks up on your face but for some people, it can rock up on their back, chest or upper arms. Whether acne rocks up on your body or your face, the causes and treatment principles are all the same.
In this post, I’ll review the causes and treatment of bacne. Ensure that the products you’re using on your body are non-comedogenic and not harsh on the skin. Comodogenic products clog your pores & contribute to acne.
What causes back acne?
Our skin Has pores filled with hair follicles. The follicles have sebaceous glands (oil glands) attached to them and they secrete sebum (oil). The oil nourishes and moisturizes the skin, it also forms part of your skin’s protective barrier, so it’s needed to keep your skin healthy!!
The oil glands can become overactive and start secreting excess amounts of oil or produce a stickier oil that clogs the pores. Dead skin cells also accumulate inside the pore, adding to the blockage.
Now we have bacteria that live on our skin, it’s supposed to be there, to keep our skin healthy. Now, in this blocked pore filled with sebum and dead skin cells, an anaerobic environment is formed (no oxygen). This becomes a perfect environment for the bacteria to multiply, it produces excess waste products as it’s breeding and eating and these start irritating the lining of this pore and this triggers inflammation and white blood cells to rush to the area to heal the irritation.
The white blood cells start fighting the bacteria (as there’s too much of it), and that is how a pimple is formed. The white puss you see inside a pimple is your white blood cells fighting infection and the redness is the inflammation caused by the immune response and irritation from the bacteria.
How do we treat back acne?
- Change up your body wash/soap: Our skin has an acidic pH, which makes sure that the bacteria that live on our skin don’t multiply as it loves an alkaline environment. Make sure that you don’t use alkaline soaps on your body and that your body wash respects your skin’s pH. Washing with harsh (alkaline) soaps will dehydrate your skin. Your skin tends to produce excess oil when it is dehydrated
- Exfoliate the body: Exfoliating will make sure that there’s no build-up of dead skin cells and that the pores stay clear. Alpha hydroxy acid or beta hydroxy acid exfoliators are best as they go into the follicle and clear up dead skin and oil. Avoid granular exfoliators if you get a lot of whiteheads as they can spread the bacteria that cause acne
- Moisturise: Make sure that your moisturizer is non-comedogenic and doesn’t contain any nasty ingredients that will irritate or clog up your skin. Moisturising will hydrate the skin and combat any dehydration thus preventing excess oil production.
So in conclusion, to prevent and treat back acne, you have to wash your body with a soap-free body wash, exfoliate 2-3 times a week and moisturize daily with a non-comedogenic moisturizer.
Don't forget to download your list of nasty ingredients to make sure that your products are not making your acne worse.
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