How to Get Rid of Back Acne

As we move into the warmer summer months, we tend to show more and more skin. This means plenty of things in the world of beauty – we’re stocking up on self tanners, body moisturizers and sunscreen, but if you struggle with bacne you’re probably also stocking up on clothes that will strategically hide your breakouts. We spoke with dermatologist Dr. Jody Levine during Eucerin’s first skin summit about a variety of topics, but the one that we’re concerned with right now is clearing up all of our skin – from our face to our backs.

Below, Dr. Levine answered our questions from what product ingredients to look for and whether you’ll want a spray or a lotion – as well as why you’re probably getting bacne in the first place. Read on to cure your back acne problems once and for all!

With bacne, the first thing I focus on is the wash that you use in the shower. Benzoyl peroxide is an ingredient that I actually don’t recommend often because I think it’s very irritating and I don’t even like it on the face, it just dries you out, but I love it for the body. For body acne, use a benzoyl peroxide wash. I’d say a 10 percent benzoyl peroxide wash, you put it on, you leave it on for a couple minutes while you wash other things, and then you wash it off.

So that would be number one. Number two, is my approach to acne in general –  I like to try to get rid of dead skin, because dead skin clogs the pores, and then that, together with oil and bacteria, is what makes it difficult. So I like glycolic acid and salicylic acid products, I actually make and sell in my office a spray that has glycolic and salicylic acid, and I have people just sort of spray it on, because it’s very hard to reach your back. And if you do that twice a day, use the benzoyl peroxide, and if you can manage to put sort of an antibiotic lotion on top of it, that’s what I usually do. If it’s out of control, that’s when I move to oral antibiotics if necessary, but usually the first few things take care of it.

The other thing that I know is the sun makes any spot scar, it makes pigment stay in your skin. So if you do have bacne and you’re wearing a tank top out in the sun, and you have a brown mark from a pimple, it’s going to make it stay. So you really have to wear sunblock over your back, not just for protecting yourself from the harmful rays of the sun, but also to prevent that bacne from scarring.