Back acne is a problem that affects most people at one time or another. It can be embarrassing when going to the pool or beach and you remove your shirt or wear a bathing suit with back exposed. It can also be quite painful at times and irritating. The following article will give some valuable tips as to treatment and prevention of back acne.

Back Acne Causes

It is often difficult to pinpoint the exact causes of most types of acne, back acne is no different. What is known is that irritation can make it worse. If acne is showing up more persistent in certain parts of your body, such as your back, perhaps it has to do with certain clothing or maybe a backpack. Tight fitting clothing contributes to promoting acne, by trapping sweat against the skin and clogging pores. Sometimes back acne is just caused by a hormone unbalance or poor diet.

Back Acne Treatment

The first part of controlling back acne is cleanliness; you should wash daily with a cleanser that contains salicylic acid. You should also shower immediately after engaging in any physical activity in which you were sweating. Follow up your shower with a body moisturizer that contains Alfa Hydroxy acid. This will exfoliate skin and help prevent breakouts, without drying skin out.

At night time, before going to bed, you can treat back acne the same as facial acne by applying a zapping gel or a cream to your acne.

If your back acne is light to moderate you could use a Regimen. The Regimen works well but remember that it contains benzoyl peroxide and it will have a bleaching effect on any clothing that comes into contact with it. I would suggest wearing white shirts if you plan on using this as your form of back acne treatment.

For stubborn acne and severe cases you may have to get an antibiotic prescription, or prescription strength Retin-A. Acne on the back is much more resistant to treatment and the skin is tougher, so it will need to be treated aggressively. As a last resort, you could try Accutane.

One homemade remedy you could try is by using a combination of lye soap and tea tree oil. This helps oily skin and will help reduce acne and make your skin soft.

Back Acne Tips

- Always wear cotton clothing, loose fitting is best.

- You can apply powder to keep your back dry.

- If necessary apply anti-perspirant to your back, don't do this if you are going to engage in physical activity because sweating is needed to help cool the body.

- Always wear clean clothes, bras and T-shirts when working out and put a clean towel down before lying on exercise machines or mats at the gym.

- Shower as soon as possible after perspiring.

- You should probably change your shirt twice a day whether you exercise or not to avoid bacteria buildup that can further aggravate your acne.

Although back acne is not as severe as other types of acne but when not treated properly it sometimes leads to scars and cysts.