Acne tends to be something you associate with your face. Certainly, many teenagers go through long periods where acne is all they deal with every single day. It can be very damaging for your self-confidence, not to mention the fact that acne scars can linger for many years. Furthermore, acne can exist all over the body as well. More often than not, your back and chest are the two main areas to see it develop. What’s interesting is that body acne develops in people of all ages, and can actually be more common in adults. The good thing about body acne is that it’s not always visible. The bad thing is that there’s a larger area for it to spread, potentially making it worse – and harder to deal with. 

Fear not, for there are ways for you to combat body acne. A few proven ways will be listed below for you to look at, though it also helps to do your own research if you’d like more information on treatment options. You won’t find any medications listed in this guide as you need to get proper advice from a qualified professional for that. Instead, the ideas below are a mixture of natural things you can try, along with some products that might help. 

Avoid hot showers

The first thing you should do is cut out your hot showers. Showering for long periods in hot water is bad for your skin and will directly lead to acne. When your skin is subjected to lots of hot water, it starts to dry out and the natural oils are stripped away. Some of the good bacteria are also gone, which is usually in place to fight away the bad bacteria! When your skin is dry, it starts to produce more sebum. As anyone with acne knows, this is an oil that can clog up pores if too much is produced. Because you’ve triggered the body to produce more of it, there’s an almighty high chance you will end up clogging pores and causing a breakout. 

Additionally, hot water can exacerbate any existing acne spots on your body. It causes inflammation and redness, making the current breakouts even harder to control. Instead, it’s best to turn the temperature down and shower for less time. Your skin will thank you, and you should see the acne clearing up rather quickly. 

Shower after working out

You’ll soon note that a few of these suggestions revolve around showering! This is because it’s one of the most important things you can do to avoid body acne. Showering helps to clean your skin and remove dirt and sweat from your body. If you don’t shower, sweat dries on your skin, leaving lots of bacteria to fester. All sorts of dirt and grime follow, which is what makes pores clog up and kick starts an acne breakout. 

We’ve already mentioned how you should shower in terms of the temperature, but what about when? If you are working out or doing something fitness related, you should shower straight after it. At least, shower as close to the end of your session as possible. This minimises the time any sweat and bacteria has to settle into your skin and dry. A shower will remove it all right away, cutting down the chances of breakouts forming. 

Always have a clean pair of clothes handy

Moving straight on from the previous point, if you are going to the gym or working out, be sure you have a change of clothes. Let’s say you showered at the gym after a sweaty session. That’s fantastic, you have cleaned your skin and helped to get rid of/prevent acne breakouts. What do you think will happen if they put on your gym top yet again?

That’s right, you’re putting bacteria and sweat back onto your body, creating the same problem as before. In essence, you have negated the effects of the shower, and you’ll need another one right away. Instead, carrying a change of clothes with you is a smarter idea. This way, you can shower and change into fresh clothes to keep your skin protected and bacteria-free. 

Use AHAs and BHAs

We’re back on the topic of showering, and this is to do with the products you use in the shower. Regular shower gels are not going to cut it in the fight against body acne. They don’t contain any ingredients to help the situation, and some people find that the soaps and perfumes in shower gels actually make acne worse. Instead, you want to buy products that contain ingredients falling into either of these categories:

• AHA – alpha hydroxy acid
• BHA – beta hydroxy acid

AHAs are found in loads of different skincare products and are usually known as glycolic or lactic acid. The purpose of AHAs is that these acids can dissolve the very upper layer of dead skin cells on your body. In turn, this can prevent spots from forming and reduce redness. It’s a great treatment to clear up breakouts, but it also works very well at preventing them. 

By contrast, a BHA will work in a similar way, only on a deeper level. The most abundant BHA in the health & beauty world is salicylic acid. Products including this acid will exfoliate your skin, but deeper down into the cells than an AHA. This makes them more effective at getting into and unblocking pores or removing dead skin. 

So, use products containing a combination of these to treat your skin. Seeing as BHAs are more powerful, you should avoid using them every day. Perhaps exfoliating with a BHA a couple of times a week is the best approach. For AHAs, you can use these products daily. In fact, it’s a great idea to have some wipes that contain AHAs, letting you wipe down your back or chest if you can’t shower after a workout. This does a really good job of removing sweat and bacteria from your body if you’re unable to take a quick shower. 

Wash and rinse your hair first

One of the number one causes of body acne actually relates to your hair and the products you use on it. Usually, when most people shower, they follow a set routine. It goes a little something like this:

• Shampoo your hair and rinse it out
• Apply conditioner
• Wash your body while the conditioner sets
• Rinse out conditioner
• Dry off

On the face of it, that looks like a great routine, right? What could possibly be wrong with that, and how can it cause body acne? Well, it all comes down to washing your hair. Did you know that most shampoo and conditioner are not designed for your skin? In fact, they are designed to provide moisture and nourishment to your hair. So, when on your skin, they encourage it to become overly moisturised – usually meaning lots of sebum is produced. In turn, pores get clogged up, and the breakouts happen again. 

The problem is that you rinse off your conditioner after you’ve already cleaned your body. What tends to happen is the conditioner rinses off your head and onto your upper back, and you don’t properly get rid of it. Some still linger on the skin, encouraging sebum production to increase. Instead, you need to wash your hair before you start cleaning yourself. Get the shampoo and conditioner out of the way, and then you can properly rinse off and clean your body. You’ll remove any lingering conditioner from your skin, making it cleaner and less prone to breakouts. 

Try products with calendula in 

There are so many acne products on the market that contain harsh chemicals and do more harm than good. If you want to see results without damaging your skin, try to find more natural options. One ingredient to look for in a lot of skincare products is calendula. Now, there are lots of benefits of calendula for your skin, two of which are particularly important here. Firstly, it has anti-inflammatory properties, which is essential for treating body acne. It can reduce redness around the spots, making them less visible. 

Secondly, calendula is healing, meaning it can speed up the healing process in your skin. When combined with reducing inflammation, it makes this ingredient very suitable for clearing up body acne breakouts. There are tonnes of products on the market containing this ingredient, but it works well when used as a cream or moisturiser. 

Avoid heavy moisturisers

Speaking of which, here’s one final quick tip; avoid heavy moisturisers! Your skin still needs hydration, but heavy moisturisers are too thick and oily, leading to clogged up pores. Instead, choose something that’s light enough to not clog anything up, yet still provides hydration. 

There’s a lot to consume in this post, but it’s all very helpful if you suffer from body acne. While easier to hide than acne on your face, body acne can still cause self-confidence problems in many people. It can stop you from going to the beach, and it may impact your intimate life as well. With the tips above, you should be able to take control of your body acne and live without worrying about it anymore.