How To Manage Body Acne

I speak extensively about facial acne on this blog, but in addition to tweaking skincare and make-up habits, people who suffer from Adult Acne also sometimes have to deal with acne on various parts of the body.

These breakouts on the thighs, back or chest, are caused not only by excess oil, but warmth from sitting, salt from sweat, and friction caused by the many layers worn during colder months bothering pore linings.  Friction is especially a factor in cases where exercise is not followed immediately by a shower.  Adding to the mix is one of the biggest issues of all; pore clogging ingredients in dryer sheets being deposited from clothes and bedding onto the skin. 

In order to feel confident baring your skin as the weather warms up, here are a few tips and suggestions on clearing up existing body breakouts and keeping them away for good.

Related:  Working Out with Adult Acne

• Use exfoliating body gloves or a scarf-shaped exfoliating cloth every time you shower.  Make sure you are gentle, and alternate between circular motions followed by up-and-down motions, to get the most thorough exfoliation possible.

• Use an alpha hydroxy acid acne body wash with your exfoliating gloves or scarf.

• Treat your body acne with 5% Benzoyl Peroxide (BPO) lotion at nght if you have many blackheads with a few blemishes, or a Mandelic-Lactic Acid Serum if you have more inflamed blemishes and irritation.  When using BPO, it’s a good idea to wear white to bed and switch to white bedding, as BPO has a tendency to bleach fabric, especially when it’s not yet fully absorbed.

• Wear breathable materials (preferably cotton or linen) that are not too scratchy or too tight.  Textured material and tight clothes create friction on the skin which irritates pore linings and worsens or prolongs existing breakouts.

Related: Causes of Springtime Ingrown Hairs

• When exercising, make sure that you leave enough time to shower and change your clothes immediately.  The salt from your sweat can irritate pore linings on your back and the backs of your thighs while sitting in your car or walking home.

• Switch to laundry detergents that are fragrance-free to prevent possible irritation of pore linings, as well as blemishes that are in the middle of healing, from the chemicals of fragrance.

• Stop using fabric softeners and drier sheets!  Both products, even the fragrance-free ones, deposit a film that helps laundry brush past each other rather than stick together to make static.  The ingredients that create this film also happen to soften your laundry, as well.  Thing is, this film, which also gets deposited onto your skin, happens to be extremely pore-clogging.  Use those nubby rubber “dryer balls” or tennis balls instead.

• Avoid regular hand and body moisturizers, because there are very few that don’t contain pore-clogging or pore-blocking ingredients.  If you really need one, you can instead use a hand and body moisturizer created specially for breakout-prone skin that contains replenishing lipids and powerful hydrators to soften and repair skin without clogging pores!

For breakouts on the back, a back facial is a great way to add hydration, extract blackhead impactions, and heal acne lesions while sticking to the above recommended body skincare regimen.  However, keep in mind that back facials should only be done after you have followed all of the above recommendations for at least one month.  If not, extractions are likely to end up unproductive, because the skin will be too stiff from dehydration, and pore contents will be too stiff to extract effectively.  

Your adult acne problem has a source, and clearing your skin requires finding that source and either eliminating it or healing it.  You can start right now by filling out my Eval by Email® Online Skincare Consultation Form created specially for ages Gen-Y to Baby Boom!

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