Acne on the Back: Causes and Treatment

Acne isn’t limited to one’s face. In fact, it can be manifest on several other parts of one’s body, including the back. Back acne, often termed Bacne, tends to form on the back, buttocks and upper arms and take-several-forms i.e. cysts, blackheads, pustules and pimples, which are painful and form-deep-under the skin’s surface.

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Acne on the Back: Causes and Treatment
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Acne on the back tends to occur around puberty, when the sebaceous glands, tasked with sebum production, commence functioning. When sebum is produced in significant quantities, hair follicles and pores can become clogged, attracting bacteria. Subsequently, this can lead to acne. Read on for a more comprehensive glimpse at back acne causes and treatment.

Causes
Acne on the back has the same causes as acne anywhere else on one’s body i.e. sebum overproduction coupled with-dead skin-cell-proliferation, bacteria, hormonal imbalance, dirt etc.

Hormones
Hormones play a significant role in back acne formation. Oil-production is triggered by androgen (male sex hormones). At the onset of puberty, androgens stimulate the sebaceous glands located in the hair-follicles to produce sebum, oil tasked with skin and hair lubrication.

While male abound in androgen, women-do-as-well, and hormonal imbalances bear the potential to trigger acne on the back break out in either sex.

Ideally, sebum produced would move up hair follicle’s shaft and subsequently exit out the follicle’s pores. However, these pores can become clogged upon sebum mixing with dead skin cells and dirt.
Once blocked, sebum accumulates in the follicle, realizing whiteheads or blackheads. If the follicle ruptures, a cyst, nodule or pimple will form.

Proliferation of Bacteria
Propionibacteria-acnes (P.acnes)-are-bacteria-routinely-present-on-most-skin. P.acnes population grows out of control in individuals with acne. Oil and dead cell’s plug within the pores creates an anaerobic environment where oxygen-can’t get into-the-pores.

P.acnes tends to thrive in such surroundings and their population grows. They digest oil trapped within these pores, subsequently producing a fatty-acid-waste that irritates the lining of the pore, causing redness & inflammation.

Excessive shedding of the skin
The epidermis constantly shades dead skin through the desquamation process. Dead skins often fall away from stratum corneum & are replaced by new-cells. In acne-skin prone skin, this process usually goes awry, with 4-5 times more skin-cells being produced than in normal-skin. In essence, acne prone skin produces-more-dead-skin-cells than it is typical, and the skin-cells are not being-appropriately shed thus leading to back acne eventually.

External causes
Back acne can also be as a result of exposure to chemical compounds, particularly in polluted water and air. For instance, contact with dioxins can lead to chloracne in men.

Treatment
Over the counter treatment
These products can be utilized in controlling mild Bacne flare-ups & include-ingredients-such as salicylic acid, sulfur, resorcinol and benzoyl peroxide. Salicylic acid can be utilized in daily-wash. What’s more, pads with benzoyl peroxide/salicylic acid can also be wiped over the affected regions.
Part of treatment will also entail utilizing lotions containing alpha-hydroxyl-acid, such as lactic or glycolic acid. This is more of topical treatment.

Proper skin care is advisable for individuals with back acne. This entails routine skin washing with a gentle cleanser, showering immediately after exercise, not picking or squeezing Bacne lesions and-avoiding-excessive-sun-exposure.

Common treatments include Retin-A, Accutane and Oral antibiotics. Accutane is usually utilized for severe back acnes.
William Joseph
About the Author:

William Joseph likes to write about acne of the causes and treatments to control or cure this and if you want to check his website Treatment for Acne Where he tries togive many treatments for the types that you have Acne on the Back

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