Body Acne Is Back: Plan of Attack

I realize how tacky the title of this post sounds and I apologize. It is an accurate summary of what I will be talking about though.

I had body acne before but it went away. Well, now it is back! This means that I have to have a plan for how I am going to get rid of it.

This post will go into what I am going to do and maybe it will help others that are dealing with body acne as well.

About body acne

A lot of people think that acne only happens on the face. They are really wrong! Acne can happen anywhere skin is (which is everywhere).

Common places for body acne include the chest (chestne), shoulders and back (bacne). People also complain (and laugh sometimes) about butt acne.

The main causes of zit formation anywhere are clogged pores, excess dead skin cells and bacteria. When it comes to what can cause these aforementioned causes of zit formation, you are looking at the following:

• Hormones: These pesky things seem to cause a lot of bad things to happen when they are out of wack and/or shifting. You tend to see this being the cause in women with PCOS who have a high amount of androgens or react poorly to the amount they have.
• Being a teenager: Walking the halls of a high school- you will see that this is true. Don’t actually do that though.
• Medications and steroids: This includes things like birth control, Lithium, testosterone, cold medicine, Adderall and thyroid medications.
• Mental health conditions (stress, anxiety and depression)- Our mental health can affect our physical health. This means that it can cause acne.
• Genes-There may be some genes that cause people to struggle with acne.
• Skincare products: Some products like soaps and oils can irritate some people’s skin which in turn can cause acne.

When it comes to body acne, there can be some other causes that are more specific to that type. They are as follows:

• Sweat left on the skin for too long: If you work out hard and sweat a lot, not showering afterwards can lead to acne.
• Laundry detergent issues: Our skin may not like some laundry detergent and thus acne may form.
• Body care products: Our skin may not like some body washes we use which may cause acne to form.
• Not washing bedding enough: Having dirty bedding may cause acne to form on your body.

Having body acne can be detrimental to one’s mental health just as acne on the face can be. Some may feel like they do not look very good in certain outfits and try to cover up. This also may make them shy away from certain situations (like going to the beach).

Luckily, the treatment options that exist for face acne are pretty much the same for body acne as well. Here are some of them:

• Benzoyl peroxide: Comes in creams, gels, patches, face washes and body washes by various brands.
• Salicylic acid: Comes in creams, gels, body washes, patches and chemical peels.
• Glycolic acid: Comes in chemical peels, body washes, face washes, lotions and serums.
• Niacinamide: Comes in creams, gels, lotions and serums.
• Retinol: Comes in creams, gels and lotions.
• Tretinoin: Comes in creams and gels.
• Mandelic acid: Comes in chemical peels, face washes, body washes, serums and toners.
• Adapalene (Differin): Comes in gel form.
• Antibiotics: These include clindamycin, doxycycline and erythromycin.
• Accutane
• Blue light therapy: Some spas offer this service or you can buy a blue light therapy wand/lamp on various sites.

My body acne situation

I have struggled with acne for a very long time but before it was only on my face. In recent years I have had pimples show up on my body as well. I have gotten them virtually everywhere except for my calves!

I went through a five month phase a while back where I was struggling with back acne a lot. It all seemed to clear up on its own which was great. Unfortunately, I am dealing with a lot of bacne again as well as chestne and shoulder acne.

I have different types of acne lesions on my body. They are as follows:

• Back- Whiteheads, papules and cysts.
• Shoulders- Papules and whiteheads.
• Chest- Papules

Ugh!

This time I do not want to wait for it to clear up on its own because who knows if that will even happen. That means I have to have a plan in place with products I am going to use.

There have been some products I have used on my body acne areas before but they really didn’t work. Here is what I have used:

• CeraVe salicylic acid body wash
• Alpha Skin Care glycolic acid lotion
• Kojic acid soap
• Makeup Artist’s Choice 5 Acid Body Peel
• Sulfur soap- Only very sporadically, to be honest.
• 30% glycolic acid peel

I believe that my body acne is due to my PCOS diagnosis. My hormonal levels have been in the normal range when they were tested but it is clear that my body is sensitive to the levels I do have.

My plan of attack

In addition to my acne, I also struggle with hyperpigmentation after the lesions heal. These dark marks are even harder to make go away so I will just be focusing on getting rid of the lesions right now.

My plan is pretty simple. It involves using a sulfur soap everyday on my areas with acne followed up by a fragrance free lotion. I will also be trying out the Mighty Patch on some of my lesions. If those aren’t working after several weeks, I will start using PanOxyl benzoyl peroxide body wash.

In conclusion

Body acne sucks! It is good that the treatments for our faces can also be for our bodies too though.

I really hope that my plan works and I am excited to get started. Look out for an update in a few weeks time if you are interested!

Do you struggle with body acne? If so, what are using to clear it up?

Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Some of the links on my blog might be affiliate. This means that if you click on them and make a purchase- I get some of the money.

#acne #skincare #skinproblems #tretinoin #beauty #pcos #pcosawareness #hormonalproblems #pms #pmddtreatment